In addition to the events listed in the Schedule of Events page, there are lots of other things going on in, around or involving the Duke Lutheran Community.  This is the place to share them!  It may be an announcement, good news to share of a personal nature, a prayer request, a burden to share, or it might just be a recommendation for a really good movie or performance.

Here is what is currently going on...

1. As Lutherans, we try to reach out whenever possible to the other parts of the Body of Christ, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will bring us together in peace and harmony.  Again this fall, we are taking an active role in planning and carrying out a Service of Lessons and Carols on December 6, the weekend before Christmas Break begins. 
   
   
2. Duke Lutherans have once again  "adopted" a Durham family for Christmas, through the Duke Community Services Council.  We will gather both funds and gifts in kind from our students, then take a shopping excursion to purchase gifts for this single mother and her three young children.  We will wrap the presents at a party graciously hosted by Mark and Tiffany Kolba (a young married couple who met through Duke Lutherans) on Friday, December 4, 2008 and deliver them on Monday, 12/7. 
   
   
3. Twice each year, once in the fall semester and once in the spring, Duke Lutherans go to the Durham Community Center to help prepare and serve a hot lunch to over 150 homeless people.  This year date of fall service is November 21.
   
   
4. On Friday, October 9, Duke Lutherans joined with the Westminster Fellowship (Presbyterian Campus Ministry) and other campus religious groups in sponsoring a "Contra Dance" in the Great Hall. Think of the group dancing you might see in a movie of a Jane Austen novel, with a bit more of a flavor of country fiddle. Over 70 student and others attended and had a wonderful time.
   
   
5. Our commitment to engage in continuous service to our community continues.  Students make weekly visits to residents of the Hillcrest Convalescent Center, to Reality Ministries (an after-school program for middle and high school students) located across the street from Durham School for the Arts, and to EK Powe Elementary School for an after-school program for elementary level students, many of whom struggle academically. Because the students are at these sites weekly, many new and meaningful relationships are formed. We are very excited to have this chance to respond to God's great gift of Grace to us in Christ by serving those who might otherwise be strangers to us.
   
   
6. On September 11-13, 10 Duke Lutherans traveled to Carolina Beach near Wilmington for our annual Fall Beach Retreat. We spent a delightful two days playing on the beach, relaxing, eating together, and reflecting on our lives at Christians at Duke. The theme for the weekend was "Finding...", and there were specific study sessions on "Finding Your Limits," "Finding Gifts and Vocation" and "Finding Peace Amidst Stress." Thanks to students Erin Landis, Scott Myers and Alix Jacobson for assisting as moderators of the three sessions.
   
   
7. As always, early fall brought the excitement of new students arriving at campus. Duke Lutherans were present at the Graduate Orientation Fair, the Religious Life Open House and the Student Activities Fair, to be sure incoming students were aware of our presence.
   
   
8. The summer may seem to be a slow time on campus, but the following all took place last summer among the Duke Lutheran community:
   1. Anna Brown ('11) led a medical/public health mission to Honduras through the Duke Engage program.
   2. Lailai Sun ('12) spent the summer in northern China, visiting extended family and teaching English at a local university.
   3. We rejoiced in the marriage of Maria Happel, a graduate student in biology, and Clayton Traver, who began graduate studies in Library Sciences at UNC-Chapel HIll in the fall. They met while at William and Mary and were married in St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, just across the street from that campus in Williamsburg, Va.
      
      
9. It was a delight to see the growth of the Duke Lutheran community during the 2008-9 academic year. Attendance at Sunday worship and dinner gatherings ran at twice the levels of the prior year. Even more importantly, there is an excitement about the group and about learning together that seems to lift us all up - new members of the community and those who have been around a while.  Other weekly gatherings include a book study group (we did "Lutheran Questions, Lutheran Answers" by Martin Marty this spring and are doing Anne Lamott's "Traveling Mercies" this summer) and a 9:00 pm gathering every Wednesday on East Campus, providing a great opportunity for our freshmen Duke Lutherans to get to know one another.
   
   
10. Each year, Duke Lutherans close their year with Senior Night. Last spring, we worshipped outdoors at the home of Campus Minister Bill Dahl, had a fabulous Mediterranean meal, and bid farewell and godspeed to our two graduating seniors, Jenny Terrell (off to a year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps. in Washington, D.C.) and David Coccarelli (off to Milwaukee to work as an electrical engineer with GE). We miss them both.
    
    
11. April, as they say, is the cruelest month. Exams and final papers loom. So, a group of 10 Duke Lutherans took off for a one night retreat to Camp Agape, an NC Synod camp about one hour from Duke. We hung out, watched "Edward Scissorhands" (much to the chagrin of some of the males in the group), did trail maintenance on Saturday morning, spent a couple of hours negotiating a ropes/challenge course in the afternoon, and returned to Duke refreshed and ready for work (more or less).
    
    
12. We are pleased to acknowledge the continuing participation and support of the members and staff of Grace Lutheran Church, LCMS, in Durham.  Pastor Brian Chestnut continues as a repeating guest presider and preacher at our Sunday worship gatherings this spring.  The congregation has made a financial commitment to our ministry and is looking for other ways to be involved, for example as surrogate parents to our students.  In addition, Kathy Peterson, a member of Grace, has graciously agreed to serve on the Lutheran Campus Ministry Committee of St.  Paul's.  Thanks to all at Grace, and in particular to Pastor Bryan and Kathy  for their efforts.
    
    
13. Anyone visiting this website should be aware of the critical role being played by Eric Taylor.  Eric is a member of St. Paul's who works as an IT Support Analyst for Orange County, North Carolina, but who has been generous with his time in helping with the entire process of obtaining our own domain name ("DukeLutherans.org"), of desigining the pages found there, and of the coding and programing required in order to make it all possible.  By reaching out to us in our need and committing his own time to working with us, Eric is embodying the fundamental command of our Lord to love our neighbors.  Thanks, Eric, for all your good work, and thanks to your wife, Jennifer, for loaning you to us!  This year, Eric is also being assisted by John Overcash ('08), who has volunteered to take responsibility within the group for website and communications.
    

If you have news of any event, occurence or opportunity of interest to fellow Duke Lutherans, please submit your information to Duke Lutheran News so that we can share it with the community.