Meet St. Luke's, Durham

Nurtured in Jesus, we welcome radically, serve gratefully and love abundantly. This is our mission statement at St. Luke’s, and we strive to live into this mission statement every day.

This fall, we have been living into it in an exciting new way, with a pumpkin patch fundraiser. St. Luke’s has the good fortune to sit on one of the busiest streets in Durham, Hillandale Road, which connects I-85 and northern Durham with the city’s largest employer, Duke Hospital. With so much traffic passing by our campus every day (and getting stopped in traffic right at our driveway), we are blessed with the kind of visibility that few churches have. We decided it was time to take advantage of this visibility to raise some additional funds to support our mission.

What has surprised all of us is how the pumpkin patch has proven to be so much more than a fundraiser. Within the congregation, the work of planning and then running the pumpkin patch has brought together many members who had not previously known each other, or not known each other very well. When the day came to unload close to 2,000 pumpkins from the truck, we were joined by some young and willing hands from the Johnson Service Corps and the Duke Episcopal Center. We had wondered whether we had the people and the energy at St. Luke’s to staff the pumpkin patch six or more hours per day for 19 days. But many times we’ve found that the “official” volunteers are joined by others who just enjoy the fellowship. Even before this year’s pumpkin patch ends, many of us are already thinking about how to have a bigger and better one next year.

Perhaps the most unexpected connection we’ve seen is with our neighbors in Durham. Many people stopping by to purchase a pumpkin live quite nearby, and have known about St. Luke’s for years, but have never visited our campus. The whole experience has been a win-win-win-win for everyone concerned: they get a great pumpkin while they and their children enjoy a visit to our campus, and we raise some needed funds as we engage with some really nice neighbors we’re meeting for the first time. More often than not, people leaving with their pumpkins tell us they’re looking forward to shopping with us again next year.

If you happen to be in Durham between now and Halloween, stop by St. Luke’s, say hello and see if there’s a pumpkin you like. We would love to welcome you!