Duke Memorial Outreach
Meet Jaylynn Byassee, Minister of Adult Discipleship and Witness
I am so grateful to be joining the staff of Duke Memorial as your new Adult Discipleship and Witness minister. I look forward to serving the church in these areas since I feel very passionate about them! Discipleship is an on-going, life-giving part of being a Christian. Being spiritually formed enables us to go forth stronger in God's word and vibrant for sharing the grace and love of Christ abundantly.
Duke Memorial has been an important place already in my family's life: my two younger children have been a part of the PMO program and Duke Memorial Weekday School. My husband is Jason, whom I met at Duke Divinity School. He now works as Director of the Center for Theology, Writing and Media at Duke Divinity School. We have three lively boys, Jack (7), Sam (almost 6), and Will (almost 3). Will continues the Byassee tradition of attending Duke Memorial's preschool next fall.
I am a member of the Western North Carolina conference, and have had the privilege of serving in this North Carolina conference over these past years. I served as pastor of two churches in Caswell County from 2001-2004. I also served as pastor of a smaller church in Winfield, IL, when our family lived in the Chicago area prior to moving back to Durham. Some of you may know that I most recently served as Associate Pastor of Trinity UMC (our neighbor!). Trinity church has been a wonderful place for me to serve, and I am very grateful to have been in ministry there this past year. Trinity, however, was unable to support my previous position in a full-time capacity, and my heart was ready and willing to be in full-time ministry in the local church. I am thrilled that it could be so, and still in Durham! I am also working towards my calling as an ordained minister, and serving full-time will help further this process.
I have truly enjoyed being back in Durham and have a heart to reach out to Durham in ways that challenge and inspire us to utilize the gifts God has given us--with our time, energy, money, and prayer. I have also recently returned from a medical mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya. I know that Duke Memorial has a history for serving God in missions, and I hope that we will be just as active globally as we are locally!
As Minister of Adult Discipleship and Witness, I hope to help resource and support the current Adult Sunday School classes, as well as help to implement further classes. I am also eager to encourage the wonderful small groups you have begun in the past year, and launch new studies and groups to help equip all members of Duke Memorial that we might all grow in our faith, be challenged in God's word, and go forth with fervor for God's people.
Thank you for giving me this exciting opportunity to serve in this way!
MERCI Center Needs
The MERCI center, our Annual Conference’s center for disaster relief work, has been running full throttle in the effort to meet the needs of the Haiti response. They have shipped 73 tons of supplies and have more than that to ship now. There are two desperate needs to be met for the current pace to continue.
- Volunteers who can spend several days working at MERCI in Goldsboro once they become trained and accustomed to the procedures of receiving, sorting, packing, weighing and shipping of the massive amount of material that has been so generously donated.
- MERCI has reached the bottom of the stack of usable cardboard packing boxes to transship the materials. A source of low cost quality boxes is needed.
Contact: Ann Huffman at MERCI 1-888-440-9167
Volunteers Needed
Urban Ministries needs volunteers to help with its food pantry and clothing closet on the second Thursday of each month. Volunteers pack groceries for waiting families or help those families find appropriate clothes. Hours are from 1:30- 3:30 p.m. For those of us blessed with sufficient food to eat and clothes on our back, this opportunity is an ideal way to serve those in need.
For additional information, contact Frances Mock, who also volunteers on the second Thursday of each month.
