The sermon last Sunday at Duke Memorial United Methodist was memorable. First, the new preacher, the Rev. Roger Owens, delivered his message from beside the pulpit, not from behind it. And second, he used no notes.

Standing beside the pulpit caught my attention. A big, bulky piece of furniture was not separating this man from his congregation. His proximity to them, coupled with his fluent delivery, came across as very personal.

It's hard to separate a preacher's style from a preacher's message, but such scrutiny was not necessary in his case. Both were superb.

The sanctuary in this historic church on West Chapel Hill Street is spacious and beautiful. Its stained-glass windows are magnificent, and the Gothic-Romanesque architecture makes the building a point of interest in downtown. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Owens, 32, and his wife, the Rev. Ginger Thomas, 31, arrived in the Bull City on Methodist moving day in late June. Neither is a stranger to Durham, however; both graduated from Duke Divinity, and in the early '90s Thomas was an associate pastor at Epworth United Methodist for four years.

Their appointment to Duke Memorial is as co-pastors, an unusual arrangement in which the two will share one full-time pastoral appointment. The usual practice in Methodist churches is to have a senior pastor and an associate pastor.

"I can think of only one other couple in the conference who are co-pastors," Thomas said this week. "We will be fashioning our ministry according to our gifts and strengths. Roger is the visionary with ideas and dreams about what is possible. I am more gifted in making those things happen, in helping teams of people to move in a particular direction to get things done."

Yet another reason a co-pastor assignment would appeal to this couple is their young family of two sons, a 4-year-old and a 3-year-old.

"It gives us more flexibility and there's time for Roger to do some writing and perhaps some teaching," Thomas said.

Duke Memorial has an outstanding organ and a superb organist, Fred Mason Jr., who teaches at Durham School of the Arts. I got the feeling he was leading the congregational singing by the way he played the organ.

The order of service at this church was no-frills Methodist, so a visitor would not be embarrassed by running into complicated or unfamiliar liturgy. One thing I noted was the absence of a confession of faith like the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed. Such statements are often used by Methodists and other mainline churches.

Thomas explained: "We noticed before we came that the church used a variety of responses to the word and we have chosen to have variety. This church is traditional, both liturgical and relaxed, and the service is not exactly the same every week."

Folks choose churches for all kinds of reasons, and a friendly congregation is a characteristic some put at the top of their list. At Duke Memorial, I noticed that a lot of folks sort of hung around after the service talking and socializing -- not a bad sign if you're church-shopping and looking to become part of a congregation whose members enjoy each other and take time to welcome visitors.

Nonviolence group to meet for luncheon

The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham will hold a luncheon roundtable on Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Shepherd's House United Methodist, 107 N. Driver St.

Guest speaker will be Jim Williams of Durham Friends Meeting, who will talk about the "Help Increase the Peace Project" and "Alternatives to Violence Project" workshops now under way in the city. A question-and-answer session will follow his presentation.

The public is welcome and lunch is provided.

Group to showcase their musical scales

A celebratory music service is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at Trinity United Methodist in downtown. The outdoor concert will feature Gone Fishing, a local Christian group.

The band's high-energy music is familiar to some folks in the area because they have played such venues as the Lamb's Coffeehouse at St. Paul United Methodist Church. The four men came together from different musical backgrounds including rock, blues, bluegrass, country, folk and contemporary Christian.

Gone Fishing's repertoire boasts many original songs, yet still includes contemporary favorites. Their target group is the family.

The public is invited to this celebratory worship service, which will be held on the east lawn of the church at 215 N. Church St.

Ministry cuts hair while feeding hungry

Changing a Generation Ministry, in partnership with the New Hope Association of the General Baptist State Convention, will hold an outdoor event on Holloway Street today from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

A free meal will be served from the ministry's headquarters at 708 Holloway St. Free haircuts and school supplies also will be distributed, said Pastor Rodney Green of Changing a Generation.

The association, which includes area 40 churches, will provide the food and volunteers who will serve food and do door-to-door evangelism, said the Rev. Wesley Elam, pastor of Northeast Baptist Church and moderator of the association.

Elam said the event is part of the association's outreach to hungry and homeless people in the city. In similar events in past years 300 people were fed and 100 heads of hair were cut, Green said.

A spiritual foundation, but what kind of siding?

The Baptist Men from Red Mountain Baptist Church in northern Durham County will finish a project they began last Saturday on the men's campus of the Durham Rescue Mission in East Durham.

They are installing vinyl siding on an old Golden Belt mill house. In the early 1900s, these houses were built by the Golden Belt Manufacturing Co. for their employees. The house is at 1205 Morning Glory Ave. and provides housing for men who are living at the Rescue Mission.

Rodney Laughinghouse, who helps coordinate the work of the group of about 20 men from his church, runs a general contracting business called Red Mountain Builders. The church group represents a mix of skills and work experience, he said, including electricians, plumbers and carpenters.

The group has done disaster relief, most recently after a tornado in Macon, Ga.

"This is the way the Lord works, working from person to person. This is what God has called us to do," Laughinghouse said this week.