Duke Memorial United
504 W.
Welcome and Opening
Prayer
Pastor Jim Bell warmly welcomed attendees to
Executive Director Spencer Bradford opened the meeting with the reading of the DCIA Affirmation and then proceeded to welcome guests.
Community Announcements: Several opportunities for ministry and community involvement were announced, including the Foster Grandparent Program, founded to help children and families who need the kinds of support that caring seniors are particularly able to provide, such as:
· Offering emotional support to child victims of abuse and neglect;
· Tutoring children with low literacy skills;
· Mentoring troubled teenagers and young mothers; and
· Assistance caring for children with illness or disabilities. .
Foster Grandparents are individuals age 60 and over who thrive on direct interaction with children and believe they can make a difference in their lives. Income-eligible Foster Grandparents receive a modest stipend to help offset the costs of volunteering.
Meals on Wheels, which delivers lunches to homebound seniors, still needs more drivers and deliverers. A copy of their annual report was available.
Lloyd Schmeidler, Executive Director of Urban Ministries, announced the organization’s need for a program director to replace Spencer Bradford.
Youth Team
Announcements
President Pebbles Lindsay Lucas reported on the activities and plans of the interdenominational youth teams who work together in service projects. Among planned projects for the coming year are a mural painting project and delivery of holiday meals to seniors.
YO-Durham Report
Susan Blackmon and a team of student presenters provided a
multi-faceted report on the accomplishments of the YO:
Susan discussed the upcoming phases of the YO:Durham Program, including group mentoring and internships, which will be launched early this fall. Individuals and congregations who have expressed an interest in forming a mentoring team will be contacted in September about forming their teams. Susan also introduced YO:Durham’s Mentor Program Coordinator, Krystal Foxx, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate now pursuing a Masters of Public Administration at NC Central. Her service is being supported by the Public Allies program which trains and subsidizes interns who work in service organizations dedicated to social justice and poverty alleviation.
Executive Director
Report
DCIA’s new Executive Director, Spencer Bradford, former program director for Urban Ministries and Pastor of Durham’s Mennonite Congregation, shared his vision for DCIA. The full text of his address is available at the website, www.dcia.org. The following excerpt provides the nugget of this inspiring and practical vision:
The matrix through
which I see Durham’s needs for our ministries is that which Martin Luther King
Jr. described 40 years ago (just a couple of years before the initial
gatherings of churches began in downtown Durham that would eventually become
DCIA) as the “triple evils” of poverty, racism and war: “forms of violence that
exist in a vicious cycle. They are interrelated, all-inclusive, and stand
as barriers to our living in the Beloved Community.” DCIA has a
mission to move us nearer to God’s Beloved Community by addressing these evils.
For a more complete version of the speech, go to http://dcia.org/DOCS/Triple Threats and Divine Response.htm.
Prayers were offered for those in need and the meeting ended with a closing prayer led by Spencer Bradford.
The next monthly meeting will be
The meeting
officially adjourned at
Respectfully Submitted,
Lucy Haagen
Secretary