A 1,000-member church in northwest Durham County will mark its 50th year during its Sunday service, beginning at 10:30 a.m. in its Family Life Center.

Aldersgate United Methodist Church, which held its first gathering in 1956 in Smith Dance Hall, a vacant building at the time on the corner of Duke Street and Horton Road, has posted steady growth over the years.

Now, the congregation has outgrown its building at 1320 Umstead Road. The church holds three worship services on Sundays to accommodate its membership and is working with an architect to plan a larger worship space and additions to its education facilities.

Bishop Al Gwinn of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church will preach for the Jubilee service Sunday. A fellowship meal will follow the service.

Nineteen members signed the charter for the church on Jan. 8, 1956, and 22 more joined later that year. Members renovated the dance hall building and added a steeple. Money for the improvements and for the mortgage came from Brunswick stew suppers, a fundraising tradition the church still honors.

Church growth continued from 41 members by the end of 1956 to 111 in 1961. By 1965, a larger sanctuary and more classrooms were needed. The original dance hall section was brick-veneered and renovated. The first service in the new sanctuary was held in March 1966 and, by 1968, the church had 247 members, a number that climbed to 340 by 1979.

The next year, the church decided to relocate to a new building in northwest Durham County. The building at Duke Street and Horton Road was demolished and for a time the church met in borrowed quarters at the North Carolina Korean Church on Massey Road.

The present building was consecrated on Sept. 14, 1986. The membership was then 400.

In the 20 years since, Aldersgate has seen its membership climb to 1,000. In 2000, the congregation added the 20,000-square-foot multi-function Family Life Center.

Pastor Johnnie Branch said this week that he attributes the church's significant growth to the hospitality of the congregation and to the church's outreach in the community.

In an area of burgeoning housing developments with lots of young families, the church offers a weekday preschool program that enrolls about 200 children. It also has an extensive scouting program as well as targeted activities for men and women, children and teens.

Bake sale supports Bibles for soldiers

Members of Peace Presbyterian Church will hold a bake sale at the Kroger store on Roxboro Road today from 9 a.m. to noon.

Proceeds will go to the church's ongoing "Bibles for Baghdad" project in which the church sends Bibles to Kevin Rumsey, a member of the congregation who is a military chaplain's assistant. Rumsey is stationed in Baghdadi, a major base for coalition forces on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq.

Pastor James Banks said the church has already shipped 1,500 Bibles and plans another shipment. Rumsey has requested Marine award Bibles. These are relatively expensive, the pastor said, and money from the bake sale will help buy them, he said.

Bible, homosexuality is topic of discussion

Jack Rogers, a seminary professor emeritus and moderator of the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, will be at First Presbyterian Church on Tuesday to discuss his new book, "Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality." The discussion is set for 7 p.m. and the public is invited.

Rogers is also the author of "Claiming the Center: Churches and Conflicting Worldviews" and "Confessions of a Conservative Evangelical."

The Rev. Joe Harvard, pastor at First Presbyterian, said Rogers can help the church understand how people of faith can deal with difficult issues in the light of Scripture. "His insights into biblical interpretation are extremely valuable," Harvard said. The issue of homosexuality has been a continuing point of disagreement in the Presbyterian Church USA as well as other mainline denominations for years.

This event is sponsored by the church and the Regulator Bookshop. Copies of the book will be available. The church is at 305 E. Main St. at the intersection of Main and Roxboro streets downtown.

Hope Valley will have creative service

Fall celebration is on tap Sunday at Hope Valley Baptist Church, at the intersection of Hope Valley and Garrett roads.

Featured speaker at the 11 a.m. worship service is Bill Cox, a widely recognized leader in creative ministry. He is the founder and director of the youth camps SeeSalt and Chillipper, which youth from Hope Valley have attended. He has written, produced and presented multimedia, chalk drawing, video and puppetry presentations at regional, state and national conferences.

Lunch will be provided at noon. Games and activities are planned at 1:30 p.m. High Steppin' Country will perform a variety show at 2:30 p.m. This is the same kind of performance offered at Myrtle Beach at Lakewood Camping Resort's Theater by the Sea. The group has 14 performers, including Mary Doyle, a member at Hope Valley, and Chris Summerin, also from Durham.

Ministers, graduates to work in community

Two Duke Chapel ministers and four recent Duke graduates, designated as Lilly Fellows, will be commissioned to special work in the city Sunday during the 11 a.m. chapel worship service.

Filling two new positions are the Rev. Gaston Warner, director of University and Community Relations, and the Rev. Abby Kocher, community minister. Both will have offices in a house now being renovated on West Chapel Hill Street near Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. The four Lilly Fellows will live in the house as they continue working in the community. They are Nyam Adodoadji, Amanda Earp, Frederick McGee and Paula Rote.

DCIA will meet Tuesday at St. Stephen's church

Durham Congregations in Action will meet Tuesday at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 82 Kimberly Drive, at 11:45 a.m.

Sandee Washington of Durham Achievement Academy is the featured speaker.