Coming to the Table

At Covenant Presbyterian

One of six Hayti congregations in the placemaking cohort, Covenant Presbyterian is sitting down with its neighbors to imagine what the community needs next.

Church placemaking at Covenant Presbyterian

Covenant Presbyterian Church is one of six Hayti congregations in New Chapter Ventures’ placemaking cohort, going through the process together.

Placemaking begins with listening, not building. Before any plans are drawn, Covenant is sitting down with its neighbors to understand what the community around it needs, and to imagine how the church’s land and space could help meet it.

This is the story of those early conversations. Covenant’s video is still on the way, and this page will grow as its story comes into focus.

Who they are

Covenant Presbyterian Church is one of six Hayti congregations walking through the placemaking process together. It came to the cohort ready to listen, and it is at the table as the neighborhood imagines what it needs next.

Why placemaking

The blocks around Covenant Presbyterian tell a familiar Hayti story. Everyday needs are not always close at hand, and some neighbors travel well beyond the neighborhood for basic errands like groceries. The church sits on land that could be part of the answer.

Placemaking begins with understanding that need rather than assuming it. Through the process with New Chapter Ventures, Covenant is sitting down with its neighbors to learn what the community around it actually requires, listening first so that whatever the church works toward is shaped by the people it is meant to serve.

The vision

Placemaking begins with a question rather than a blueprint: what does the neighborhood around Covenant Presbyterian Church actually need, and how could the church’s space help meet it?

The congregation and its neighbors are early in that conversation, imagining together how shared land and underused rooms might serve the community. Nothing is decided yet, and that is the point of this stage. The ideas are still taking shape, drawn from the people who live around the church.

Voices

There’s still heart. There’s still lots of opportunity and desire.

Rev. Dr. Lakesha Bradshaw Easter, Pastor

It’s always been an ecumenical Christian worshipping community dedicated to racial reconciliation.

David Kearns, Elder, Clerk of Sessions, and Church Member

Where things stand

Summer 2026. Covenant Presbyterian Church joined the Hayti Cohort, six Durham churches going through the placemaking process together. The congregation traveled to Asheville for the cohort’s immersion weekend in June, and New Chapter Ventures completed a walkthrough of the church’s buildings and land.

Fall 2026. The church is now in the storytelling and visioning phase alongside its five cohort partners. That phase is expected to wrap up by the end of 2026, when the cohort gathers to share what each church has envisioned for its corner of Hayti.

The Future

Looking ahead, 2027 is when pursuing the vision begins in earnest. With the cohort’s storytelling behind it, Covenant Presbyterian Church expects to take its next steps toward the ideas that emerge, testing and refining them alongside its neighbors before anything is built. The story on this page is an early one, and it will keep growing as the church moves from imagining what is possible to shaping it, together.