Our Vision:

We are sent to share the embodied gospel

Three women sharing a joyful moment, smiling and laughing together indoors.

Who We Are

Missio is the latin word for mission. Our name is inspired by the Christian teaching called "missio Dei" which means the "mission of God" or the "sending of God."

As a gospel-centered church in Durham, we believe God is at work in this world to redeem it and calls humanity to participate in His work.

A group of four diverse people engaging in conversation inside a home, with a staircase and holiday decorations in the background.
Group of men, women and children waiting in a modern building lobby near an elevator, with some talking and others looking at their phones, next to a large window with a coat rack nearby.
A congregation of diverse people standing in a church or auditorium, all facing forward, in front of a stage with screens displaying lyrics or text, with brick walls and wooden ceiling, likely during a religious service or event.
Three young girls sitting at a table playing with wooden sticks and toy scissors.

Our Values | What really matters here at Missio

A man and young girl playing with colorful toys on a blue carpeted floor, surrounded by shelves and scattered toys.

God works and we participate. It is God’s work of creating, renewing, and blessing this world, and we participate by listening to and following Him.

A group of people, including an elderly woman, a young woman, a baby, and a man in the background, standing indoors near a large window with outdoor trees visible. The elderly woman is smiling while looking at her phone, and the young woman is holding the baby and smiling at the elderly woman.

God made us different people—in personality, background, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and culture—and we need each other. When we engage our God-given differences, we more fully reflect the image and character of the Lord. 

People sitting around a table in a cozy indoor setting, with a woman with gray hair smiling and others listening, seen through a glass door.

God sends us on His mission to joyfully participate in restoring humanity to Himself and renewing this world. Our joyful purpose and discipleship in Jesus are wrapped up in our being sent.

Two women singing and playing guitar, standing in front of a brick wall, with one woman playing guitar and the other singing into a microphone, possibly during a musical performance.
A person wearing a beige jacket holding an open book with small text printed on the pages. The person's hand and part of their sleeve are visible. There are other books and objects blurred in the background.

 God creates us to be tangible expressions of Jesus’ love, and Jesus is the embodied gospel. We authentically share the message of Christ through our words, our actions, and our lives.

God centers us on his gospel message of love—individually and together. The gospel is God’s work of creating, renewing, and blessing this world through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

A woman with long dark hair and glasses reaching across a table with game pieces or board game tokens in a room with wooden ceilings and visible ductwork.

God transforms us from death to life and darkness to light through the power of the Spirit and the Word of God—Jesus revealed in the scriptures.

Core Beliefs

At Missio, we affirm the ecumenical creeds of the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. As Presbyterians, we affirm the Westminster Confession of Faith.  Missio is a congregation in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), whose motto is, "In Essentials: Unity. In Non-Essentials: Liberty. In All Things: Charity."

Curious about our thoughts on the Bible, the trinity, the gospel, or any number of other vital Christian beliefs? We hold to the essentials of the faith as outlined in the EPC. 

If you’d like to know more specifics about the EPC, please check out the beliefs page on their website.

We welcome all who are curious about our expression of faith. 

Our Story

What would it look like to build a community in Durham transformed by Christ and marked by mission and mutuality?

Compelled to answer that question, Didi and Amber Wong moved back to their beloved Durham in 2020. Finding others who resonated with this vision, they met together for a year, equipping each other to love their neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities—until Missio had its first public service on Easter of 2022. 

Now, we meet every Sunday afternoon in South Durham, drawing people from Chapel Hill, Brier Creek, Morrisville, Cary, and Apex.

We are still on this journey of forming a believing community around God’s transforming, others-centered love. We want to partner with God in his work of renewing all things as we share the good news of Jesus. We’d love for you to come along. 

Nighttime city skyline of Durham, NC, with illuminated buildings against a clear blue sky, including a tall Art Deco-style skyscraper on the left and a modern glass tower on the right, with streetlights and bare tree silhouettes in the foreground.
A man with black hair, glasses, wearing a light-colored striped shirt, standing at a counter, holding a chalice and speaking to an audience.

Our Team

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didi@missiochurchdurham.com

Didi Wong

Didi dramatically came into relationship with Jesus as an atheist at the age of 16. He has ministered in many different contexts within the church and in many locations—both in the States and his hometown of Hong Kong. 

No matter his ministry role or location, the thing that remains constant is that Didi loves people, loves hearing their stories, and loves helping people experience how the truth of God's ongoing story transforms our lives. 

Didi contemplated church planting for over a decade. In 2020, God gave a clear call for him and Amber to return to Amber's hometown of Durham to start a church for people of all different backgrounds and with a focus on sharing the embodied gospel. 

Pastor
A smiling woman with long gray hair, black glasses, and a septum piercing, standing outdoors in front of green foliage, wearing a tie-dye shirt and a green lanyard.

kids@missiochurchdurham.com

Chantel Warman

A long-time Durham resident, Chantel has over a decade of experience in teaching preschool. She loves people and feels that adults can learn so much just by being in relationship with children. She lives with her husband, Jack, and her in-laws, and she has two adult children, Kayleigh and Jackson.

Chantel is passionate about the beauty of our natural world, living out her faith through service, and all things art. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, reading, and resting. 

Children's Ministry Director
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worship@missiochurchdurham.com

Martin Stam

Marty loves sharing the love of Jesus through music. Whether it is leading worship or teaching music, he has a heart for connecting and equipping people through the arts to express their faith, serve the church, and renew culture.  

Born in Durham and raised in Chapel Hill, Marty has been playing and singing his entire life. He and and his wife Shannan have been married since 2013, and have two young children who are also musicians!

Director of Music Ministry
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comms@missiochurchdurham.com

Kari West

Director of Communications

A North Carolina native, Kari graduated from UNC with a degree in English and has spent more than a decade working mainly in the non-profit world. She deeply resonates with the truth that God calls humans to partner with him in his work of renewing all creation, and she's thrilled to use her skills and her love of words to do good work at Missio.

An incurable fiction reader, Kari also writes creatively in her free time and is fascinated by the intersection of faith and the arts. She co-leads the church's Missio Creatives group. Kari and her husband, Jason, live in Apex with their three daughters, Ellie, Riley, and Akira.

Missio Elders