When the Rev. Don Southworth, new lead minister at Eno River Unitarian Fellowship on Garrett Road, moved from Atlanta to Durham recently, culture shock was not one of his first reactions. That came, he said, with the move from California to Atlanta, where he was minister of a congregation for five years.

Southworth jumped right into the Bull City's faith community last week, attending his first meeting of Durham Congregations in Action at Judea Reform synagogue.

He brings to his Eno River congregation 20 years of experience in middle management in the corporate world, as well as seminary training at the Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, Calif.

"I was a mid-career changer," he said.

"I did not grow up in a particular tradition," he said. "I had no experience with religion until my mid-20s when I got interested in spirituality. I was somewhat biased against religion, but Gandhi and Martin Luther King helped me to be open to religion."

Southworth first visited Eno River in March when he was one of four pre-candidates for the position. He registered some concern at first, he said, because the congregation was much smaller than the one in Atlanta, but he soon found that Eno had plenty going on.

Southworth said he uses valuable communication skills he developed in corporate sales and marketing, telling stories and using real-life illustrations in his sermons. In his first sermon at Eno, he spoke from what he called Scriptures of life and, being a big baseball fan, he preached about life lessons learned from baseball.

Yes, he's seen the Durham Bulls play, and he loves the movie "Bull Durham."

Coming from Atlanta, one would think he might be missing the Atlanta Braves baseball team, but not so.

"I learned to respect the Braves while I was in Atlanta, but I am a lifelong [San Francisco] Giants fan so it won't be too hard giving them up."

Southworth, 48, and wife Kathleen have been married for 21 years. They have a son Justin, 25, in California and a son Lucas, 18, who lives at home.

Some music just for the children

Duke Memorial United Methodist Church is now registering for fall KINDERMUSIK classes for newborns through age 5.

The themes are Village, Sign and Sing, Milk and Cookies and "Hello Weather, Let's Play Together."

Classes begin the week of Sept. 18 and are held at the church, 504 W. Chapel Hill St., between Duke Street and Gregson Street in downtown.

For more information, contact Jill Newsome at 683-3467 or jillnewsome@dukememorial.org.

Vicar to be installed at St. Paul's Lutheran

The installation of church Vicar Kristin Hunsinger will be conducted Sunday during 8:30 and 10 a.m. worship services at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1200 W. Cornwallis Road.

During her year in Durham, she will serve as vicar at St. Paul's and as Duke University Lutheran Campus Minister. Upon completion of the year, she will return to Columbia, S.C., for her final year at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Hunsinger, a Valparaiso graduate, and is one of two students on full scholarship at the seminary.

New education director at Judea Reform

Judea Reform Congregation on Cornwallis Road has welcomed a new education director to its staff this summer. She is Stacy Lubov, whose main charge is to be principal of the Religious School on Sunday mornings and to work with the Hebrew School on Tuesdays in Durham and on Thursdays in Chapel Hill.

"There are so many things I love, but the favorite part of my work is helping students and families get the tools to express their Jewish identity and practice a relationship with prayer and with God in ways meaningful to them," she said this week.

The synagogue's Sunday school targets children from two years old through seventh grade and will be using a relatively new curriculum this year, she said. She described the course of study as "spiral," meaning that each year children will learn about the same topics -- for example, the Jewish holidays, telling stories and learning about ritual practices -- but every year the content will be age appropriate. In such a curriculum, skills accumulate in much the same way as they do when children are taught math or reading.

Right now, Lubov is busy with school registration for the coming year, which begins Sept. 10. Also, Jews around the world are preparing to celebrate the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 22 and Yom Kippur on Oct. 1.

New to the South, Lubov said the thing she's noticed most is that there are fewer Jewish resources available.

"I have worked in places that had long-established Jewish communities, so some of the challenge is to develop some of that here," she said.

Lubov is a graduate of Brandeis University, where she majored in history and Jewish Studies. She has a master's degree in social work from the University of Chicago and for two years was a student in rabbinical school. She decided that Jewish education was a better fit for her, and for 15 years she has taught across the country.

Dream on at Duke Memorial UMC

A three-sermon series on "The Power of Vision" by the Rev. Jim Bell, senior pastor at Duke Memorial United Methodist, begins on Sunday at 10:55 a.m.

The sermon is titled "Dreams and Visions" and will examine how the Holy Spirit empowers people to dream dreams. Subsequent titles are "God's Vision of Hope" and "A Vision for Our Church."

The proposed mission and vision of the church is the result of a process that has taken almost a year among individuals and groups in this church.

The Vision Team used congregational meetings, focus groups and surveys to encourage participation in the process.

The team intends for this mission and vision to provide the congregation with an energizing focus for ministry and the foundation for strategic planning in the future.

The church is located at 504 W. Chapel Hill St., downtown.