Who leads Pioneers Church?

Lead Pastors Daniel Jackson and Sherei Lopez Jackson have felt a call to create a new church in Durham for years - we’ve been studying, praying, and researching the path to start a new church for over a decade. Sherei and Daniel hold their Masters of Divinity from Duke. They moved here in ‘17 for grad school and fell completely in love with the Bull City. Together they parent two wonderful little girls, Adalena Rey and Acadia Grove, and are about to grow their family through adoption. They are coming into their mid-30s with a growing family, a high vision for building community in Durham, and a decade of experience in ministry.

Who is Pioneers Church for?

Did you move to Durham because you wanted to be part of the weird, creative, and diverse leg of the Research Triangle? Are you in a creative, technical, or medical field and attracted to start-up culture? Have you lived in Durham for a long time, and are trying to navigate the growth? Did you grow up around the church, but have been disconnected because once you started to unpack and unlearn a few things it became pretty disheartening or overwhelming? Do you miss your faith but worry about all-the-things that come along with church? Do you care about social entrepreneurship and justice? Are you curious about who the real Jesus was - a dark-skinned refugee who died at the hands of the religious elite? Pull up a chair. Let’s journey, wrestle, make bridges and look towards hope together.

Why ‘Pioneers’?

The pioneering legacy of Durham speaks a word of hope to our culture today. During an era when Black people often had no viable way to grow their communities, Durham was home to Black Wall Street; a hub of business acumen, creativity, and social entrepreneurship that lead to the flourishing of many in the Black community. When we see the legacy of Black Wall Street, we see the ways God has already been up to beautiful good in the city of Durham. When we study the ways of Jesus, we see a God who is in the business of creativity. God is always up to new things. From the creation narrative in Genesis to the lifestyle of ‘the people of the Way’ during the time of Jesus; the stories told in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament Scripture is an ode to the God who is ‘making all things new’.

At Pioneers Church, we want to be a part of that story of creation, renewal, and social entrepreneurship. We dream of a church that builds authentic community around food and friendship. We dream of a church that is open during the week for co-working with friends, for micro-businesses to flourish, and as a place to grab a bite or sip tea with new faces. We are committed to living into both the pioneering legacy of Durham and the ways of Jesus to be a vital and creative member of this stunning community.