Patience and endurance, accompanied by symbolic blood, sweat and tears will be rewarded Sunday, Sept. 13, when members and friends of St. Paul's Lutheran Church gather to worship and to dedicate a newly renovated building.

The church at the corner of Pickett and Cornwallis roads in southwest Durham is a gem for sure with its striking sculpture on the Pickett Road side and its beautiful new stained glass window that filters beautiful colored light into its sanctuary where Holy Communion worship will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday. Lunch will be served in Trinity Hall at noon.

An exterior Creation Garden is still under way and is expected to be ready for use by November when both the garden and the stained glass window will be dedicated.

Mount Zion turns 100

Mount Zion Christian Church will celebrate its 100^th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 9:15 a.m. The church is located at 3519 Fayetteville St. During the past 100 years, the church has expanded to Henderson, Raleigh, Hillsborough and Rocky Mount and has added a 24-hour daycare for children, a Christian academy that also serves international students, a beauty college, a family life center that hosts basketball tournaments and training camps and a soup kitchen and food pantry.

'Five Wishes' Sundays

Homer Ashby Jr. will lead a class at First Presbyterian on the Five Wishes that concern people as they plan for the future. The class will meet on Sunday mornings, starting Sunday, Sept. 13, and continuing through Sunday, Oct. 18, at 9:45 a.m. in Watts Hill Hall. Ashby is the author of "Our Home is Over Jordan: A Black Pastoral Theology." For more information, call the church at 682-5511. The church is located at 305 E. Main St. in downtown.

Register for relief

Durham Interfaith Disaster Relief is offering a workshop for congregations on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 3011 Academy Road. The workshop will bring together response teams to work with local agencies in disaster relief. Registration by Sept. 17 is requested by calling 682-5620 or lep.kg@verizon.net.

'Front lawn faith'

The public is invited to The Gathering on the lawn at Duke Memorial United Methodist, 504 W. Chapel Hill St., on Sunday, Sept. 13, for breakfast at 10 a.m. with live jazz by J'Azure. Afterwards, all are invited to worship together in the sanctuary.

"I suppose this is what John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was trying to do when he moved from preaching in a church to preaching in the fields," said the Rev. Roger Owens. "I hope we are learning to have a front lawn faith." .

Ministers' showcase

Clergywomen in Print, a celebration at Trinity Avenue Presbyterian on Friday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m. will showcase new books written by three Durham women, all ordained ministers in the Presbyterian Church USA. Margot Starbuck Hausmann's memoir is "The Girl in the Orange Dress." Susan Dunlap's book is "Caring Cultures: How Congregations Respond to the Sick" and Jeanette Stokes' memoir is "Hurricane Season: Living through a Broken Heart." A panel presentation with readings by each of the authors will be followed by a Q&A session. Trinity Avenue Presbyterian is at the corner of Gregson Street and Trinity Avenue.

'Celebration Sunday'

Celebration Sunday is on tap Sept. 13 at Trinity United Methodist in downtown. Charles Pettee of Folk Psalm will share and perform the Scriptures put to song at 9:45 a.m. He is a North Carolinian who has played with the Shady Grove Band and Folk Psalm and has shared his gift of music with many area folks. A free concert by New Destiny, contemporary artists from Asheboro, is set for 5 p.m. on the church lawn. The church is located at 215 N. Church St. Call the church at 683-1386 for further information.

'Prayer in Hard Times'

"Prayer in Hard Times," a workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. led by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton, is being offered Saturday, Sept. 19, at St. Philip's Episcopal in downtown. She served as rector of St. Clement's Church in Manhattan's Theatre district, a chaplain on the waterfront of New York and has served both historic Trinity Church on Wall Street and St. John's Church in Greenwich Village. She was a chaplain at Ground Zero after the World Trade Center bombing. The cost is $30, including lunch. To register visit www.stphilipsdurham.org or call 682-5708.