Pastors Wanda and Earl Boone lead a church and an outreach ministry operating from a building that for many years was Hartman's Steakhouse at 1703 E. Geer St.

The building is now undergoing renovation to accommodate the Boones' new outreach venture, "One Durham, Everybody Eats Restaurant."

The restaurant will be similar to an eatery in Salt Lake City, Utah, established by Denise Cerreta, a chef who has agreed to move to Durham with members of her staff to assist the Boones in opening, hiring and training workers.

"This historic property that once served 500 customers each night in nine separate dining areas will again potentially serve 500 citizens a day," said Wanda Boone.

"We believe that we should minister to all of Durham," Wanda Boone said, "not just to our immediate congregation."

Earl Boone said the idea of growing and serving organic foods is motivated by the couple's belief that eating healthy foods can have a significant impact on the way individuals live.

"When people are careful about what they put in their bodies, they are less likely to do drugs and other harmful things to their body in general," he said. "This restaurant is unique in Durham. It is an idea that can do something about hunger, a local problem even in an affluent area such as this."

The menu will have no prices, but those who eat will be asked to contribute based on their ability to pay and on how much they value the food, Earl Boone said. "This is not a soup kitchen," he said.

A campaign to raise $50,000 for renovation and equipment is under way.

The projected opening date for Everybody Eats is Aug. 1.

At His Feet Ministry is the church served by the Boones, who are co-pastors. They take turns preaching and teaching on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m.

"It is an independent full gospel, Bible-based church," Earl Boone said.

Mission's Victory Program to honor grads

Will Saunders, who turned 21 last week, was among a group of 11 who graduated on Tuesday from the Victory Program at the Durham Rescue Mission.

Arriving at the mission in January 2007, Saunders' life was on the brink of disaster because of his addiction to prescription narcotics. He found out about the mission and its program from his brother, who had heard mission founders Ernie and Gail Mills talk about the program.

The Victory Program provides six months of classes, including Bible study, and six months of working a job, either in the community or at the mission.

Saunders will be working in the mission's apprenticeship program in the development department while attending Durham Technical Community College in the University Transfer Program.

Among the other graduates are Montorio Calhoun, working at Rescued Treasures Thrift Shoppe; Lamin Dibba, encourager at the mission's men's campus; Richard Farthing, living at the mission; Jack Holsombeck, working in hospitality in the area; Larry Lee, employed at Silverline Window Co.; Norvel Lewis, working at Johnson's car dealership and engaged to be married; J. Allen Mullins, reunited with his wife and living in Virginia, and employed with an HVAC company; Tracy Pipkins, employed at Silverline Window Co.; Michael Pritchett, working in the mission's maintenance department; Patrina Wooten, working at Silverline Window Co.

Pentecost, Mother's Day dual celebration

Sunday is Pentecost, the day in the church calendar that marks the "birthday" of the Christian church. The scripture is from Acts 2, the passage that tells what happened when the Holy Spirit paid a surprise visit to some early Christians. It was a day to remember, prompting the disciple Peter to get up and explain in a loud voice that the believers who were speaking in different languages were not drunk but filled with God's spirit.

This year, Pentecost, which comes 50 days after the resurrection and 10 days after the ascension of Jesus, coincides with a national holiday, Mother's Day, a special day established by a decree signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

A blurb by a member of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church, which appeared this week in the newsletter from Calvary United Methodist, notes that the celebration of moms everywhere is one of the Big Three holidays for the church -- Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day. And in some parts of the country, Mother's Day attendance surpasses that of Christmas or Easter.

The Rev. Laurie Hayes-Coffman, pastor at Calvary, has issued an invitation to the public to be a part of the church's Mother's Day Pentecost celebration.

The church is at the corner of Trinity Avenue and Elizabeth Street.

Preacher of peace leaving Durham church

Pastor Kate Spire of Peace Covenant Church on N.C. 54 will be leaving Durham at the end of June. She has accepted a call to be the full-time pastor of a Brethren Church in Peoria, Ariz.

Spire came to Peace Covenant five years ago as a part-time pastor. After she leaves, the church will be served by an interim pastor. The Church of the Brethren denomination will arrange for the interim, Spire said this week.

Church of the Brethren, with headquarters in Virginia, is part of the historic peace church and is marking its 300th anniversary this year. The historic peace churches include the Quakers, Mennonites and Brethren.

"From their inception, these churches have held that all war is sin," Spire said. "There are other denominations that have a peace stance, but we are the only three churches founded on that principle. We want people to know that we are not just against war," she said, "but that we are for peace."

Next week, some Durham neighborhoods will see peace signs, planted in conspicuous places with permission by members of Peace Covenant. The project is called Plant a Sign for Peace and is part of the denomination's 300th anniversary celebration.

"We want the hundreds of peace signs to be a reminder that there is another way of living," Spire said.