The center is the final piece of a $10 million project that included the addition of an Early Childhood Pavilion at the Lerner School 14 months ago.

The contractor, Whiting-Turner and architect Richard Gurlitz estimate the facility will be ready for occupancy late in the spring of 2011. The completed Levin JCC will feature a full gymnasium, fully assessable swimming pool, a health and fitness center and a food bank.

In addition, the JCC will house the new Center for Interfaith Dialogue and the community's first Holocaust Education and Israel Cultural Centers. The Durham Chapel Hill Jewish Federation and its affiliate organizations including Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Community Foundation will relocate their offices to the Levin JCC.

"We are very excited with the potential the Levin JCC holds for the entire community, regardless of race, religious affiliation, age or physical ability," said Shelly Katz, executive director of the Jewish Federation.

Paul Zalon, president of the Federation, said: "Having grown up in Durham, this has long been a dream of mine and I want to thank the generous donors who have gotten us to this place in history. This is truly an historic turning point for the Durham and Chapel Hill communities."

The Jewish Federation and the Lerner Jewish Community Day School are partners in the building the center.

The federation is the umbrella organization that represents the Jewish community of Durham, Orange, Chatham, Person and Alamance counties.

Moving day

Two United Methodist Churches in the city will be getting new pastors Tuesday, the official moving day for pastors in the North Carolina Conference. Another Durham UMC minister will be assigned to serve a church in eastern North Carolina.

After three decades in Durham, the Rev. Larry Bowden at McMannen UMC will be moving to First Church near Edenton and his wife, the Rev. Julia-Webb Bowden will become associate pastor at Hertford UMC.

Bowden came to Durham in 1980 to attend Duke Divinity School After graduation; he served at Mt. Sylvan UMC as associate and as senior pastor at Pleasant Green, Resurrection and McMannen UMCs.

Webb-Bowden has been pastor of the Mt. Tabor Charge and the Rougemont Charge in northern Durham County as well as serving most recently in two executive positions with The Society of St. Andrew for 14 years and in development at Urban Ministries of Durham.

The Rev. Tom Supple of Macedonia UMC in Cary will be the new pastor at McMannen UMC, 4102 Neal Road.

The Rev. Duke Lackey, pastor of Trinity UMC in downtown, will be leaving after six years in Durham. He will be moving to Surf City to serve Avent Ferry UMC, located just before you cross the bridge to Topsail Island.

This is the church that holds Sunday worship with communion on the beach at 8:30 a.m. from May through October and a regular service in the church at 9:30 a.m. The founder of the church and its first pastor was the Rev. Tom Greener, who now is pastor of Durham's Mt. Sylvan Church at 5731 N. Roxboro Road.

New apartments

Housing for New Hope recently held a dedication ceremony for Williams Square Apartments, 24 efficiency apartments for homeless people with disabling conditions located at 501 E. Carver St.

The complex also includes a community center providing space for meetings, laundry and kitchen facilities as well as offices for staff.

Named in memory of Alphonso Williams, a beloved member of the Housing for New Hope community, the new apartments increase the availability of this type of housing that is critical to ending homelessness in Durham.

The development budget was $2.2 million with money coming from both public and private sources.

Construction school

St. Philip's Episcopal at 403 E. Main St. in downtown will hold Vacation Bible School with a construction theme for preschoolers, 3- or 4-year-olds, through rising sixth graders

The dates are June 21-25 from 9 a.m. to noon. To register visit www.stphilipsdurham.org or call 682-5708. This school is free and open to all children.

"Under Construction VBS" was developed by Habitat for Humanity International. Students will learn about building community through the themes of sharing, caring, learning, worship and celebration.

As part of the curriculum, the children will visit some Habitat houses on Friday and possibly meet some of the families.

"We plan to quickly tour a house that will have just been completed on East Main Street, then spend some more time out in the Habitat neighborhood of Hope Crossing off Junction Road," said Molly Reingruber, director of children's ministries at St. Philip's.

The kids will also get to see the community garden, play on the playground and share snacks with any neighborhood families who wish to join them, she said.

Evangelistic endeavors

Calvary United Methodist, 304 E. Trinity Ave., has launched new evangelistic endeavors including PB&J (Pool, Beer and Jesus), Church of the Holy Pancake and a Praise Mob.

PB&J, dreamed up by Dawn Dreyer, Luke Hirst, Marsha Michie and Sara Smith, has held two gatherings at the Green Room located on Broad Street near the corner of Club Boulevard, with pastor and parishioners displaying previously unseen bouts of coolness along with curiosity seekers who heard the Good News via Facebook, e-mail or personal invitation.

Playing pool, darts, shuffleboard, Ms. PacMan and general carousing lasted late into the night (10:30 p.m.), and the first event was followed by an impromptu breakfast hosted by Dawn Dreyer with help in cooking and cleaning by Sara Smith and Ali Linn.

Smith is the member of this group who is a chef/caterer and is organizing the Church of the Holy Pancake, a once a month event. This is not the typical church breakfast, but a gourmet brunch as an attempt to bring those folks reluctant to walk into a church into an easy setting with those who do go to church.

"Our attempt in these endeavors is to reach out to folks who don't do church, but long for a spiritual connection with a compassionate community," said the Rev. Laurie Hayes Coffman, Calvary's pastor. "We believe they like to have fun like we do and need to know they are loved by God like we do. These are acts of hospitality to place the welcome mat a little further out than the doors of the sanctuary."

Michie, a recent Ph.D. recipient in anthropology from UNC, has started a Praise Mob of folks who want to occasionally sing some upbeat contemporary praise songs in worship. The name is patterned after the youth culture's "flash mobs" where Twitters text their friends to all meet at a location and playfully do an activity using a song, dance or whatever.

The Praise Mob has infused our worship with some fresh energy and uplifting sounds," the pastor said.

The church also has new T-shirts. One reads: "We're all a little cracked" based on the Leonard Cohen song "Anthem" that has as lyrics, "Forget your perfect offering. There's a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."