Dear friends,

With shock and dismay, we learned in January of yet another attack on a Jewish congregation in the midst of their worship. Many of our Jewish neighbors in faith in Durham were deeply disturbed, their sense of security in their sanctuaries shaken. We understand. Like us, they seek to be open, welcoming communities; but this very openness was violently exploited. We feel and must communicate our solidarity with them. . . . .  

Read entire statement HERE.  

In the coming year, we encourage you to find opportunities to build friendships, to read and study, and to work together across faith lines. If you are interested in working with us to consider congregational opportunities for such study and growth, please let us know. We would love to partner with you.   In the months and years ahead, we hope to find even more ways to stand with, beside, and behind our Jewish neighbors as friends in faith and partners in ministry in Durham. Let us as a historic faith community face this challenge with the same courage and commitment as our predecessors faced their challenges.  

With hope for our future together,
Mindy Douglas, Pastor                    
Jerry Postema, Elder    

You are invited to attend a two-session presentation on how the nervous system operates under stress and how it can be supported during trauma. The workshops will be held outside at FPC, weather permitting, or in Watts-Hill Hall.

Speaker: Jane Austin, Coach, Spiritual Director, and SEP (Click here to read Jane’s bio.)  

After the workshop, you are encouraged to sign up here for a 30-minute, one-on-one session with Jane, which are being held on Tuesdays in March..

About the Workshops: “Stress? Who me? During a pandemic? In the face of grief and loss? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Or maybe you do. And here’s the thing: Times of stress can adversely affect the nervous system unless we learn to recognize certain signs and signals. In this workshop, you will be empowered with knowledge and tools to manage your own nervous systems.  “When you learn to touch into your sensations, feelings, thoughts, and perceptions without becoming activated, your capacity grows, and you become more resilient.” (Peter Levine, In an Unspoken Voice) As with most things, the way out is the way through. This workshop will be about taking the path of the way through hard times.   

Please join members of FPC for one or both workshops.   No fee to attend. Love offerings accepted.

The Poor Peoples Campaign March on Washington (PPC) is on June 18, 2022, and we want to get as many people from FPC to come with us.

The Racial Equity Taskforce has made arrangements with Rally.co for a bus to depart from FPC’s parking lot and travel up and back on June 18^th. It will be a full day and an opportunity to meet and march with Bishop Barber and thousands of others from across the US who come to Washington DC to highlight the poverty, racism, inequity, and injustice people face every day in the US and the systems that enforce and perpetuate it, and we want to demand a change. We have a core group who have committed to going, and we hope that you will join us in person and in prayer.

To reserve your seat, you’ll need to go online to book it and pay $95 for the roundtrip fare. When we fill this bus, we understand that the Rally.co will add another bus to depart from FPC. We hope to fill several. We don’t want the cost to be a barrier for anyone who wants to attend.

If you need financial assistance, please contact our pastor Mindy Douglas.  Given our pre-dawn departure, we’ll need to prepare a breakfast bag for each rider and ask for people to volunteer to do that and donate food/drinks for snacks and sandwiches. If you would like to be a part of that activity, please contact Jane Williams, Jon Abels, or Kathy Krahenbuhl. More details will follow.

We also welcome contributions to sponsor other riders, including those from other congregations in Durham who wish to join us. To make a financial contribution you can go online at FPC to see various ways to donate to the “PPC Bus Support” or send a text at (919) 373-3254 and write the dollar amount you wish to give (e.g. $95 PPCBus) and send it. You can also leave a check in the mailbox at church for business manager Tom Bloom with “PPC Bus Support” written in the memo line. Thank you for your support and participation.

As the number of COVID cases spikes in Durham and our hospitals swell to their capacity (and beyond), we have been advised by our COVID team that for the safety of FPC and our larger community we need to move back to virtual worship.  

This announcement, made at this late hour on Saturday, January 8, will not reach everyone before tomorrow.  Therefore, we will not completely shut down in-person worship. We are, however, urging everyone who gets this message to worship from home tomorrow. 

Beginning on Sunday, January 16, and until further notice, only worship leaders and tech support will be in the sanctuary.   As a reminder, our worship service is available through our website: www.firstpres-durham.org – click the worship button and then the “Watch on YouTube” button. You can find the bulletin there as well. We also invite you to sign in, so we know you are with us.  You can find the service any time after 11 a.m. tomorrow.  

It is disappointing, to say the least, to have to return to online worship, especially during this season of celebration of our 150^th anniversary, but I am glad that the option is available to us. I continue to be grateful for the incredible work of our tech team – Jody Maxwell, Keith Rokoske, John Fricks, and J.L. Klink, who make it possible for us to share worship from many different places and spaces.  

May God be with all those who are sick or who are caring for the sick. May God be with us all.  

Grace and peace to you,

Mindy Douglas, FPC Pastor/Head of Staff

The FPC Wind Quintet will provide music during worship. The Chancel Choir is on holiday break.

The last Hunger for Change offering for 2021 will be received this Sunday. Thank you for helping to combat hunger locally and around the world by giving to this special PC(USA) offering.  

All Faith Formation classes are cancelled this Sunday, December 26.

Worship is at 11:00 a.m. in-person and live-streamed. Masks are required when inside the building.