LUNCHEON ROUNDTABLES

Held monthly since the Coalition’s founding in 1992, our Community Luncheon Roundtables provide an intentional space for Durham residents to share information, hope, resources, and support in their collective pursuit of nonviolence.

A typical luncheon draws a diverse group of 40-60 folks representing Durham’s civic institutions, neighborhoods, congregations, and nonprofits into conversations that “tell the truth, listen for good news, and kick no one out.”

Join us in our familiar fourth-Thursday rhythm in 2025, in the fellowship hall of Elizabeth Street UMC (1209 N. Elizabeth Street). A delicious lunch is free to all, and every body is welcome.

Past Luncheon Roundtable Topics

2024

  • November/December 2024 – “Everything Born is Small, or The Slow Work of Beginning Again” (Community Conversation: What small, humble act would feel courageous in your here-and-now? Or perhaps, what small just-born thing are you eager to nurture and grow?)
  • October 2024 – “Restorative Justice Durham in Numbers and Stories” (feat. RJD co-facilitators Leah Wilson-Hartgrove, Katushka Olave, Jacqueline Thomas, and Sue Gilbertson)
  • September 2024 – “Love and Attention in Times of Violence: Durham Vigil Meditation (2023)” (Table Conversation: What might an everyday resistance to “that death in the heart” which fuels our violence look like for you?)
  • August 2024 – “Grounding for Justice with Peace Hill at Avila” (feat. Terry Allebaugh of Peace Hill)
  • July 2024 – “GRACED for Dignity” (feat. Tiffany Swoope and youth participants of GRACED Inc.)
  • June 2024 – “A Migration of Values: Two Investments in a Durham That Restores” (feat. Madison Burke of CWS Immigrant Solidarity Fund and Katushka Olave of Restorative Justice Durham)
  • May 2024 – “The Past in our Present: Taking Stock of Our Memory-Field” (Community Conversation: Whose past is your present?)
  • April 2024 – “The ‘Community’ in Durham’s ‘Reentry Community'” (feat. Joshua Lyles of Jubilee Home, Monica Biggs of NC Works, and Quanesha Archer of Durham FIT)
  • March 2024 – “Dance Became My Voice: A Conversation with Tony Johnson and David Meyer”
  • February 2024 – “The Practice of Love Memory” (feat. Fatimah Salleh)
  • January 2024 – “Chaos or Community? – A Threefold New-Year’s Reflection” (feat. Allen Jones J&J Mortuary Services, Tiffany Swoope of GRACED Inc., and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove of Yale Center for Public Theology and Policy)

2023

  • November/December 2023 – “Prescriptions for Repair & Listening that Heals” (feat. Azmen Johnson and community facilitators from Prescriptions for Repair)
  • October 2023 – “In Times of Violence…” (Table Conversation: Where do you locate yourself amid the (hi)stories of violence on display in this moment? What does it look like for you to ‘affirm life’ in the midst of those stories?)
  • September 2023 – “Counting to One with Durham Vigil Meditation (2022)” (Table Conversation: What does it mean—and ask of us—to hold one name in the way of this Vigil Meditation? What might an everyday practice of vigil or ‘one life witness’ look like for you?)
  • August 2023 – “Understanding the NC Sex Offender Registry” (feat. Paul Dubbeling, J.D.)
  • July 2023 – “Who’s Covering our Carers?” (feat. Rev. Dr. Fatimah Salleh of Curanopy Ministries)
  • June 2023 – NC Coalition For Alternatives to the Death Penalty
  • May 2023 – “RCND Celebrates CJRC” (feat. stories from our 20-year collaboration with Durham County’s Criminal Justice Resource Center)
  • April 2023 – “Creating Second-Chance Community” (Table Conversation: We listened to reentry stories from Coalition friends with first-hand experience building community in the wake of incarceration, asking one another: What does it look like to embrace and create a Durham shaped by second chances?)
  • March 2023 – “The HEART of Durham: Getting to Know our Community Safety Department” (Panelist Questions: We engaged our Community Safety neighbors working on the front lines of our values as a way of asking the enduring questions: who deserves our communal attention, and what kind?)
  • February 2023 – “When Vigil Ministry Goes to Court” (feat. stories of RCND court companions Jen Wichman, Annette Love, and Allison Tuttle) (Panelist Questions: How has being present to our public legal response shaped your understanding of Durham’s violence? What stories have been displaced, and what stories have emerged? How is your own story different after spending time in homicide court?) 
  • January 2023 – “Imagining Holistic Community with Jubilee Home” (Community Questions: Where does Jubilee Home’s holistic approach resonate for you? From where you sit, what are next steps toward building communities that embrace and empower whole people?)

2022

  • November/December 2022 – “Hello to Here (Part 3): Beginning Again” (Community Question: Where are you preparing to ‘begin again’ in this season? And/or, what do you find yourself ‘catching up with’ as you approach the work of re-beginning?
  • October 2022 – “Hello to Here (Part 2): How I Got Over” (feat. stories of formation from Joy Clark, Restorative Practices Associate, Dispute Resolution Center; and Marcia Owen, Co-Chair, Durham Community Safety & Wellness Taskforce) (Community Question: What do these stories of life/work evolution call to mind for you? How has our time apart been a formative season for you or your work?)
  • September 2022 – “Hello to Here” (Community Question: Some 30 months since our last Luncheon Roundtable, what name would you give to the place you now are? To what do you find yourself saying ‘hello’ in this space and time?)