Chapel to Gather Community, University Leaders for Violence Discussion Oct. 20

Duke Chapel will host a public conversation on community responses to violence at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 20. 

The event will be in the main sanctuary and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Bryan Center parking garage.

The conversation, “Responding to Violence with Justice and Mercy,” is part of the Chapel’s Bridge Panels series that seeks to connect people from various walks of life to discuss issues of shared concern.  

The panelists include: The Rev. Melvin Bullock, retired chaplain of Polk Correctional Institution; the Honorable Marcia H. Morey, chief district court judge of Durham’s 14th Judicial District; Professor Simon Partner from Duke’s history department; and Joslin Simms, a member of the Durham chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.

The Rev. Luke Powery, dean of the chapel, will moderate the discussion.

“Violence -- and healing from it -- is almost always a matter of communal concern because it affects our families, neighborhoods, faith communities, legal system, health care system and government,” Powery said. “One prayer of mine is to see bridges formed among people in these different areas in order to discover pathways toward the peaceful reality of the beloved community of God.” 

Each of the panelists has been involved in constructive responses to violence.

Bullock ministered to young men held at Polk Correctional Institution. The prison includes a high security unit that houses violent offenders.

As chief district judge, Morey adjudicates cases that sometimes involve violence. As an assistant district attorney in Durham, she helped create the Teen Court and Restitution Program, in which young, first-time offenders are tried by their peers for misdemeanor offenses. 

Partner is the author of “Bull City Survivor,” which chronicles the life of a Durham woman whose son was murdered. The book presents her personal story against the backdrop of the city’s social and economic changes. 

The event will be live webcast on the chapel’s website. 

The discussion is being organized in partnership with the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham.