Durham Congregations In Action (DCIA) organizes communities of diverse faiths to work for racial justice, social equity, and human dignity. We lead inter-faith learning and cooperation to overcome poverty, racism and violence.
DCIA Affirmation:
In a spirit of reconciliation and with gratitude for the gift of diversity, DCIA seeks to inform, connect, and engage all people to create a community of justice and peace through our common prayers and acts of compassion; and with prophetic courage to act as advocates for the dignity and well-being of all persons, recognizing that behind every human face is the face of God.
En el espíritu de reconciliación y con gratitud por el don de la diversidad, DCIA busca informar, connectar, y comprometer a todas las personas para crear una comunidad de justicia y paz a través de nuestras oraciones comunes y actos de compasión, y con valor profético actuar como defensores de la dignidad y el bienestar de todas las personas, reconociendo que detrás de cada rostro humano está el rostro de Dios.
HISTORY
In 1969, four congregations in downtown Durham, NC, organized the Center City Church Council to address together needs for transportation and visitation for the elderly, and soon also started programs for children and youth. We incorporated in 1972 and, during the next six years, membership grew to 12 congregations. In 1976, the group’s name changed to Durham Congregations In Action, and its membership continued to grow over the years to include dozens of congregations of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others cooperating together in service.
For decades, DCIA congregations have learned from the best information available about community needs and challenges. And during those decades, DCIA has built a history of initiating cooperative programs among people of faith to address those issues. Programs serving the Durham community that were launched or cosponsored at their start by DCIA have included:
Meals On Wheels, Host Homes, Families First, Urban Ministries of Durham, DSS Emergency Energy Fund, Genesis Home, Interfaith Hospitality Network, Interfaith AIDS Alliance, Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, Capital Restorative Justice Project, Durham Economic Resource Center, Bull City Fair Trade, Partners for Youth Opportunity, Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA), Youth Summer Service Week, Strong Fathers, REAL Durham
and MANY other shorter-term projects over the years. From the beginning, DCIA has created space and opportunity for people of different traditions and ethnicities to share and to grow from each other’s strengths and experience, putting shared values to work. The shape of DCIA’s services over the years has changed, but it has continued to build bridges among its members and to the most vulnerable and forgotten in our community, planting seeds in new initiatives to change lives in Durham.
2023 OFFICERS & BOARD MEMBERS
Bob Newlin, Parkwood United Methodist Church – Treasurer
Dennis Cullen, Westminster Presbyterian – Secretary
Larry Brown, Bahá’í Community of Durham
Chaplain Priya Amaresh, Hindu Life at Duke
Rev. Dr. Warren Herndon, City of Joy Ministries – Past President
Katushka Olave, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church
Rev. Tobi Nguyen, Trinity United Methodist Church
Rashad Rahman, W. Deen Muhammed Islamic Center
Kevin Griffin, Masjid Muhammed
Gordon Whitaker, Watts St. Baptist Church – Past President
Rev. Breana van Velzen, Executive Director
The Rev. Breana van Velzen is an ordained Baptist minister. Breana holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div) from Duke Divinity School, a Master of Social Work (M.S.W) from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor in English Education with Secondary Licensure and a Minor in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Breana is a certified spiritual director and a non-profit consultant experienced in non-profit leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion change-making, and theo-ethical praxis for parachurch ministry and faith-based institutions. In addition to the role of Executive Director for Durham Congregations in Action (DCIA), Breana serves on the board of Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity and is part of Baptist Women in Ministry NC and the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham (RCND).
Breana’s passions include advocacy at the intersections of racial, economic, and environmental justice, education, and writing. When not volunteering or traveling, Breana enjoys slam poetry, science fiction, and baking for family and friends.