Meet St. Joseph's, Durham

By the Rev. Karen Barfield

St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church is a small mission in Durham, rooted in prayer and building relationships with our community, particularly our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness. 

Each weekday we pray Morning Prayer at 7:30 followed by breakfast (currently about 30 folks each day) and Evening Prayer at 5:30. We offer Holy Eucharist on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 with prayers for healing, followed by a potluck supper and class. All are welcome to join! We are always in need of extra hands to help prepare breakfast and share conversation with our neighbors. 

We continue to discern how to better welcome people in our community. We are in the final stages of raising money for a wheelchair ramp to make our worship space more accessible, and, having just received some monies from a local Presbyterian church, will purchase a portable ramp to make our parish hall accessible. Some day we hope to have a fully accessible bathroom, which will involve converting an old classroom.

This past summer St. Joseph’s hosted several community conversations amongst our neighborhood churches, businesses and folks experiencing homelessness about how we want to live together in our little neighborhood. Everyone appreciated getting to meet one another. It is easy to just pass by our neighbors on the street without ever having a conversation. I have enjoyed meeting business owners and hearing their struggles as well as their hopes. We will continue periodic conversations and cookouts.

As a community St. Joseph’s is entering a more intentional period of discernment to listen for the stirring of the Spirit to hear how God is calling us to use our gifts in this time and place. We look forward to the journey. Please check us out on our website to lear more.