2024 Impact Report

Living Out Love

Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. -- 1 John 3:18

If you ask Pullenites to describe Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, you will hear words like “dedicated,” “caring,” “driven,” “big-hearted,” “welcoming,” “strong community,” “committed,” and “active.”  

There it is. Action. At Pullen, we believe in action. We believe in speaking out against injustice, standing against racism, fighting poverty, and marching for people’s rights to freely live and love as they wish. Our actions illustrate the love we have for fellow human beings, especially those who are marginalized or at risk. Our faith calls us to this work.

We show this love every day, while embracing and feeding guests at Round Table, caring for our environment through composting and energy conservation, engaging in a wide variety of topics at The Table and in Sunday Groups, or visiting our elders at home or our partners in other countries, like Cuba or Nicaragua.

We know that continuing the legacy of Pullen’s prophetic voice at home and across the world requires us to not just talk but to act in the face of injustice. This Impact Report illustrates how Pullen, with love as its foundation, continued to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in 2024. Pullen has always been a place that loves out loud and lives out love!

Love Leads the Way

What’s Ahead in 2025

This report offers a look at our work in 2024, but we have a busy year ahead as well. In 2025, these will be some of our focus areas:

  • Continue implementing the strategic plan adopted in 2023 through the efforts of staff, councils, and committees.

  • Conduct a Capital Campaign to ensure the long-term financial health of the church and help fulfill its ongoing mission of being a people dedicated to making a difference in the world. The target amount is still being determined, but the campaign intends to raise at least $2 million over the next three years to provide for maintenance and repairs to our buildings and eliminate debt.

  • Continue anti-racism efforts. Pullen is committed to being an anti-racist church, with an active committee hard at work providing us leadership in this area. The committee plans to reexamine the history of our congregation through an antiracist lens. (Here’s the committee’s 2024 report.)

  • Host another Finlator Lecture in the spring, to be delivered by Sarah Azaransky, MTS, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. She will discuss her book, “This Worldwide Struggle: Religion and the International Roots of the Civil Rights Movement.”

  • Weekly "Do Justice" Zoom gatherings continue as Pullenites gather to center, connect, and conspire in the name of justice-love. Each week, we walk away with three tangible calls to action.

  • Find thoughtful and intentional ways to respond to national events, policies, and actions that are counter to our Christian values. This will require us to reflect continually on how we live our prophetic witness in the world for such a time as this.

Love Invested

We all know that money can’t buy love, but it makes our works of love possible. We need money to pay staff, run programs, and maintain our buildings. The good news is that in 2024, Pullenites fulfilled our budget through pledges and other contributions, ending with a small surplus. The end-of-year snapshot for 2024 is:

Income: $1,590,461     

Expenses: $1,590,388     

Difference: $73

 

Well done, Pullenites!

Crop Hunger Walk

Confetti Bean Soup Assembly

Food Is Love

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." -- George Bernard Shaw

Our Round Table Fellowship ministry, powered by volunteers, continues expanding its reach to many of Raleigh’s most vulnerable neighbors, those experiencing food and housing insecurity. At Round Table, we serve 80-100 guests on Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing nourishment and nurturing through both food and a strong sense of community.

Additionally, Round Table has partnered with several local restaurants (and our own Wednesday night Table ministry) to divert food that would otherwise go to waste, keeping countless pounds of food from being discarded and lowering our community’s carbon footprint. Any food not served at Round Table is passed on to other hunger initiatives, including NC State’s Feed the Pack Food Pantry and the New Bern House (run by Helping Hand Mission). Dozens of volunteers come from Pullen, other area congregations, local institutions like Home NC (for folks with and without intellectual disabilities), and individuals from the wider community, many with no religious affiliation. 

As part of a multi-year collaboration, Pullen partnered with the Greater Triangle Area CROP Hunger Walk to raise funds for Church World Service and local efforts to combat hunger, including our own Round Table Fellowship. Round Table received $2,330 for its ministry from the event.

Pullenites gathered to share food, community, and learning throughout the year. The Table, a popular Wednesday Night event: 

  • Covered topics from the war in Palestine to psychedelics

  • Highlighted compelling stories from our own community

  • Hosted trivia and game nights

  • Screened two documentaries and hosted Nigerian filmmakers Majiye and Gwushim Uchibeke

A ton of food!! Pullen folk donated 2,531 pounds of food to Urban Ministries in 2024, plus 95 bags of Confetti Bean Soup delivered in August. Thanks to Pullen Mission Women for coordinating this effort!

When Pullenites and families gather to remember loved ones at memorial services, the Pullen funeral reception committee gears up! This ministry, supported by donations of food from Pullen members, provides plenty of food and punch for the reception following the service, creating a warm space for families and friends to greet one another and reminisce together.

A Typical Round Table Donation

2024 Election: Voting as an Act of Love

"The right to vote is the most powerful non-violent tool we have." – John Lewis

Pullenites took their citizenship responsibilities seriously during the 2024 elections! Boyd Rogers helped lead several postcard writing sessions, as did other groups and members. One session involved our youth and young adults. Postcard events include:

  • Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle (ICCT), a current mission founded by Pullen, inspired and organized 14 faith communities to write and mail well over 10,000 postcards. The campaign was a partnership with the Environmental Voters Project and with Common Ground’s Reclaim Our Vote. ICCT faith communities holding GOTV postcard events included Pullen Memorial Baptist, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic, Benson Memorial United Methodist, UU Fellowship of Raleigh, Durham Friends Meeting, Temple Beth Or, Soapstone United Methodist, Highland United Methodist, Chapel of the Cross Episcopal, Binkley Baptist, Pittsboro Presbyterian, Watts Street Baptist, Christ Episcopal Church and individuals from the Kadampa Buddhist Center.  

  • Pullen’s Earth Ministry partnered with other members of the congregation and the Universal Unitarian Fellowship of Raleigh in two "get out the vote" events, writing a total of 250 postcards for the Environmental Voter Project.

  • In July, Karen Delahunty led a session at Pullen where we produced 200 postcards with the Environmental Voter Project. Several members from UUFR were there to help us.  

  • Pullenites (adults, youth, young adults) wrote 350 postcards with Reclaim Our Vote (an effort of the Center for Common Ground) in August and September.

  • On September 26, Pullen hosted Better Together 4 NC, a race relations group, for a postcard writing event in Finlator Hall. Many Pullenites joined our guests that night and met the goal of writing 500 cards!

    Other events/activities include:

  • About 30 Pullenites participated in text banking with the Women’s Voter Project, reaching out to 1,500 women in Alamance and Johnston Counties to remind them to vote and make a voting plan.

  • At Round Table Fellowship, Ian McPherson helped our guests look up their voter registration status and drove multiple people to the polls, including one (very excited) first-time voter!

  • Pastor Chalice Overy led a Progressive Revival with We Are Down Home NC, one of several statewide efforts to offer a counternarrative to Christian Nationalism in the lead-up to the election.

  • Pullen participated in both local and statewide candidate assemblies with ONE Wake leading up to the election.

  • We opened Poteat Chapel throughout Election Day and hosted a post-election gathering of lament and hope on Wednesday, Nov. 6.

  • On Election Day, Ian, Chalice, Erin Newton, and Lynn Lyle all volunteered as Poll Chaplains with Faiths United to Save Democracy.

  • Pullen led relevant Sunday Groups on:

    • Religion and Politics in US History

    • Seeking Common Ground – Depolarization Within (Braver Angels)

    • Crossing the Threshold: Care of Self, Others, and the World through the Loving Kindness Meditation

    • North Carolina’s Political Landscape and a Faith Response

Better Together 4NC Postcarding Events

Ian, Chalice, Erin Newton, and Lynn Lyle served as Poll Chaplains and Peace Keepers

A Haven of Love (we leave the light on)

“Sanctuary is wherever I find safe space to regain my bearings, reclaim my soul, heal my wounds, and return to the world as a wounded healer. It’s not merely about finding shelter from the storm: it’s about spiritual survival.” – Parker J. Palmer

We care for our buildings so we have a safe and healthy place to worship, gather for programs, meetings, and meals, and share our space with other organizations who need places to meet. We faced considerable challenges in 2024 with water flooding into our first floor, especially back in the choir area, around offices, classrooms, and in the basement, which led to mold issues requiring remediation efforts.

In 2024, we spent $172,850 on building care, including inspections (roof, fire extinguishers), equipment (shop vacuum, air purifier, dehumidifier), scheduled services and maintenance (gutter cleaning, pest control, HVAC, and elevator maintenance), and unexpected repairs (plumbing, mold remediation). Some larger ticket items include:

  • Water mitigation and basement remediations, $17,773

  • HVAC repairs, $30,004

  • Commercial dehumidifiers and air scrubbers, $12,292

  • Air and surface quality testing, $11,975

  • Roof repairs, $11,540

  • Duct cleaning, $12,610

  • New kitchen freezer, $6,785

  • Boiler water automation equipment, $1,571

  • Seasonal shutdown and startup of boiler and boiler maintenance, $7,164

  • Landscaping, $5,775

  • HVAC monthly preventive maintenance, $7,359

  • Kitchen equipment, $3,227

  • Engineering Consult, $4,876

  • HEPA vacuum, $2,577

  • Swell repair (pipe organ), $7,000

  • Plumbing repairs, $2,560

Building Use

One way Pullen lives out love is by sharing our space with organizations whose missions or work align closely with our values. Organizations that we welcomed in 2024 include:

  • Amazon Cause

  • Arise Collective

  • Better Together 4NC

  • Brave Space

  • Carolina Aging Alliance

  • Family Resource Center South Atlantic - HIPPY Program

  • Forest Commons Park

  • Handicapped Encounter Christ

  • Handsome Ladies Bluegrass Group

  • HOST (Housing Options for Students Today)

  • Interplay

  • Jewish Voice for Peace Triangle

  • National Farm Worker Ministry

  • NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

  • NC State History Department

  • Project Hugs Social Support Services for Blood Disorders

  • Raleigh Food Not Bombs

  • Raleigh United Mutual Aid Hub

  • Recovering Debs Podcast

  • Repairers of the Breach

  • Reproductive Freedom Summit

  • The Hope Center

  • The Light Group

  • Triangle Committee of Young People in AA/NC Conference of Young People in AA

  • Triangle Disability and Autism Services

  • Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus

  • Triangle Jewish Voice for Peace

  • Triangle Shape Note Singers

  • WCPSS Helping Hands Youth Mentoring Program

  • Wisdom Group

  • Women NC and United Nations Association of NC

  • YMCA: Kindercamp and Wee Camp

  • Wake NCAE

Living out Love at Length

"Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come." -- Psalm 71:18

Our ministers, particularly Rev. Chalice Overy, spend a great deal of time visiting our elders. The 2024 work includes: 

  • 115 home visits to individual homes and retirement communities

  • Six visits to retirement communities with other Pullenites

  • Two Vespers services at Glenaire, including one in the summer with church organist/pianist Ju Kim and our Yale interns, and an interactive Caroling Christmas service led by Larry Schultz and the music ministry

  • A team from Pullen is attending the Unbroken Circle of Care training to evaluate and improve the care we give to those facing illness, grief, and end of life

  • Launched the Conscious Aging Series in November and have had two of four planned sessions

Growing in Love

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."  -- Mark 9:37

Nursery Care — The nursery is back in business, with a paid childcare provider and scheduled volunteers dedicated to caring for babies and toddlers during Sunday Group and worship.

Parents’ Night Out — Pullen parents get to go on a date while we enjoy time with their children. 

Pullen PALs (Parents and Littles) — This monthly gathering of families and their preschoolers (littles) helps to promote connection. Pullen often provides food for these events.

Pullen Kids provides connections for families like our Back Yard Pool Party and the DYO Advent Wreath Bowls. Some of our wonderful preschool parents are leading Pullen Pals gatherings and the new Pullen Pals Story Times to connect families in our community.

Wednesday Night Intergenerational Lectionary Planning – One night at The Table, our children, youth, and adults go over the lectionary for Palm Sunday.

Pullen Kids Ministry seeks to reach out to families with events like our Fall Fest. 

Imagine God — Sunday Group supplements the Children's Choir in preparing to lead a worship experience with "Imagine God." 

Early Spring Children’s Overnighter — Pullen children joined three other local churches for a weekend "Peace" retreat at New Hope Camp in Chapel Hill. 

Palm Sunday Branches / Easter Egg Hunt —Palm branches are purchased by the Children/Families ministry. At the Easter Egg Hunt, children enjoy a festive prize (this year, a stuffed bunny) for finding recycled eggs.

Beginning in the fall, we’ve continued year two of Our Whole Lives (OWL) program along with formational opportunities for children, exploring the Hebrew and New Testament Scripture in Pullen Kids Sunday Group and Children’s Worship.

Camp Pullen – Twenty-one children from Pullen and the community enjoyed a weeklong day camp at Pullen. They explored "what every living thing needs" through story, music, craft, and play.

Children at Pullen are encouraged to lead. Our children serve as Acolytes, lead in Children’s Sabbath, and act in our Children’s Christmas play.  

Wiley-Pullen Partnership

The Wiley Elementary School Reading Partner Program continues to thrive with the support of Pullen! In the 2023-2024 school year, 25 volunteers from Pullen and the community were matched for 20-minute 1:1 reading sessions with 41 students. The reading tutors came once a week and worked with 2-3 students back-to-back. Students received this support twice a week from two different tutors. During each session, the students worked on reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

The end-of-year results of the program were impressive! Students showed significant gains in reading fluency and accuracy when reading grade-level texts, as measured by the end-of-year screeners for foundational reading skills. We also saw improvements in reading vocabulary and comprehension for students in the program. Students reported improvements in reading confidence and truly enjoyed the connections made with their reading tutors. 

In the fall, 27 tutors were trained and are currently active in the program, working with a total of 39 students. The adult and student reading partners continue to enjoy their special time together each week as the students build critical foundational reading skills while developing positive relationships with their tutors. 

-Kathy Foglia, Wiley Literacy Specialist, and Judy Williams

WIley volunteers in action

Wiley volunteers holding thank you notes from students.

Pullen’s Youth Lead us in Love.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." – Eleanor Roosevelt

Several youth retreats provided our younger Pullenites with opportunities to make friends with youth from other churches. Pullen’s budget supplements the cost of transportation and chaperone registration. Retreats included:

•   Winter Retreat, Blowing Rock, 8 youth attending

•   Spring Retreat (Friendship) with Community UCC, Pine Knoll Shores, 8 youth attending

•   BYC, Laurel Springs, 12 youth attending

•  Fall Retreat (Identity) with Binkley Baptist, Pine Knoll Shore, 8 youth attending

•  Learning about Hebrew Scriptures in Sunday Group

In 2024, Pastors Chalice and Ian participated in a new Progressive Youth Minister Collaborative with youth ministers from Umstead Park UCC, Community UCC, Pilgrim UCC, and Binkley Baptist. This has been a fruitful collaboration, leading to multiple shared events including scavenger hunts, beach retreats, game nights, and lock-ins.

Youth participated in the CROP Walk to raise funds for Church World Service and local efforts to combat hunger, including Round Table Fellowship.

Youth joined with our adults to lead the interactive caroling Christmas service at Glenaire, painted the set for the children’s Christmas play, and served at the Lovefeast.

Youth wrote postcards as part of our churchwide Get Out The Vote efforts.

Rising 6th graders met for lunch at Shake Shack with youth leaders to welcome them into Youth Ministry.

The youth room has a new couch, thanks to a private donation!

The Youth Ministry welcomed multiple new volunteers this year, including Thomas Price, Maya Cough-Schulze, Alyssa Rockenbach, and Kathy Jacobs. Previous volunteers, including Elena Ceberio (Youth Committee Chair), Bekah Rhea, Jake Hyman, and Kathleen Baryenbruch, also recommitted to sharing their gifts with your church’s youngest leaders. Our staff team, including Chalice, Ian, and Allie Pruden, have also been grateful for the support of the Social Work Intern Lauren Nachimson, who jumped into our youth ministry with enthusiasm! 

Youth at BYC Summer Camp

Youth Group End of Year Gathering at Goodberries

Youth Winter Retreat

Youth postcarding event

Rising 6th grader breakfast

Youth Group Kickoff

Youth assembling hygiene kits

Living out Generational Love

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Young Adults Celebrate New Years Eve

Young Adult Gathering

Rowan and his parents participating faithfully in worship

The Young Adults Group is active, creative, and engaged in service to our church and the community. Every Tuesday night, 10-15 young adults meet with Pastor Nancy Petty for community building and to discuss matters of faith and the world. In 2024, several of our young adults were active in the elections, and three – Hannah Begley, Philip Taff, and David Walley -- joined the Cuba trip. Most have served or are serving on our committees and councils, including Larkin Taylor, chair of Deacons, Philip on Personnel, and Hannah, who has been helping the funeral reception committee.

Living out Love out Loud

“If music be the food of love, play on.” From Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare

Pullen’s Music Ministry lives out love with joyful sounds! Directed by our Minister of Music, Larry E. Schultz, music in the church is a means of worship, a source for spirituality, and creates fellowship and community. Congregational worship through music was led and enlivened each Sunday by the instruments and voices of Pullen’s choirs and orchestra, accompanied by Ju Kim, in his first full year of service as Organist/Pianist at Pullen.

 

Multigenerational worship leadership increased in 2024 as the Pullen Youth Choir joined voices for weekly rehearsal and worship leadership with the Adult Choir. The Pullen Orchestra also welcomed youth instrumentalists alongside our adult musicians.

 

In 2024, Pullen’s Music Discovery Group (K-2) and Children’s Choir (Grades 3-5) integrated with Sunday Kid’s Groups. With a multi-sensory educational approach, the Children’s Choir and Pullen Kids Sunday Group explored divine images through the curriculum of “Imagine God!,” a musical by Larry E. Schultz and Jann Aldredge-Clanton. The Music Discovery Group encountered the same theme in “Sing and Dance and Play with Joy!,” a collection of music by Schultz and Aldredge-Clanton that was created for young children. Continuing 2024’s multigenerational emphasis, the Children’s Choir combined with singers from the Youth and Adult Choirs, instrumentalists from the Pullen Orchestra, and the congregation in experiencing “Imagine God!” in worship.

 

Both the Adult and Youth Choirs attended their respective Festival by the Sea festivals. Pullen’s Music Ministry partners with regional churches to provide the two festivals.

 

In June and August of 2024, a Summer Worship Choir was formed by a variety of ages to offer creative music for worship. Individuals who did not otherwise have the chance to participate in a choir with a long-term commitment enjoyed participating in worship leadership through this Sunday group.

 

In September, groups were initiated to provide both short-term and long-term music-making possibilities. Ongoing “Perpetual” Groups include the Pullen Orchestra, the newly named Music Friends for young children, the Children’s Choir, and the Worship Choir for youth and adults. “Periodic” Groups meet with a unique focus and specific time period (an example is the Caroling Christmas Choir that visited the Glenaire Retirement Community).

Youth Festival by the Sea

Pullen Orchestra

Hospitable Love

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." – Hebrews 13:2

Thanks to the generosity of our 5th Sunday offerings (total for 2024: $9,173) and other individual contributions throughout the year, Pullen's Community Ministry Fund provided $11,526 in emergency relief in 2024. (This does not include the Pastor's Discretionary Fund.)

 

The funds were used to provide $8,652 in assistance with rent, electricity, and other housing and utility costs; $2,207 in direct assistance (largely through gift cards) for gas, groceries, medications, clothing, toiletries, and other essentials; and $667 in transportation costs for those struggling to get home.

 

Pullen has provided necessary supplies — from prescription drugs to walkers to adult diapers — for those at Round Table and beyond. The Round Table Fellowship ministry has provided countless showers, clothing items, batteries, tents, meals, toiletries, and other essentials.

 

The Community Ministry funds have provided money for a pre-purchase car inspection for a single mother and her disabled infant. We also provided emergency hotel assistance for one of our neighbors who was among the encampment of unhoused people evicted by the Garner police earlier this year. 

 

Missions & Outreach Seed Grants

The Missions & Outreach Council offered seed grants totaling $15,787 to applicants that covered a range of requests from $250 to $2,000. Funds approved included Kid’s Hygiene Kits and Cuba food boxes, as well as to organizations like Urban Ministries, Emmaus House, Brave Space, and Women NC. Payments also went to the Baptist Joint Committee's Christians Against Christian Nationalism initiative, Circle of Mercy's Hurricane Helene relief efforts, and the Finlator Lecture Series.

In 2024, the budget provided $44,255 to support these missions and outreach partners:

  • Wiley Backpack

  • Emergency Assistance

  • Republic of Georgia

  • Round Table Fellowship

  • Alliance of Baptists

  • Baptist Peace Fellowship

  • Welcoming/Affirming Congregations

  • Baptist Women in Ministry

  • ONE Wake

  • NC Council of Churches

  • Triangle Interfaith Alliance

  • NC Interfaith Power & Light

  • Interfaith Creation Care

  • Cross of Nails

  • Cuba

  • AMOS (Nicaragua)

Special collections:

  • Advent Offering for International Partnerships, $11,169.

  • Christmas Eve Offering for the N.C. Immigrant Solidarity Fund of Church World Service, $1,622.

Pullen Mission Women

 

The Pullen Mission Women have been supporting our community for decades. This active ministry provided the following support in 2024:

January: FIGS (Rx drugs for the uninsured) $360

February: Helen Wright Center (women’s shelters) $540

March: Round Table $600

April: Emmaus House $395

May: Arise Collective (Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women) $350

June: Pastor’s Discretionary Fund $270

September: No Woman, No Girl Initiative $435

October: Pan African Peace Network $432

November: Community Ministry Fund $360

December: AMOS Health and Hope in Nicaragua $360

Total monthly monetary gifts: $4,102

In addition to its ongoing collection of canned goods for the food pantry at Urban Ministries, PMW delivered four carts filled with clothing and toiletries to the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry in the spring. Other support included:

  • Least Coin Initiative: $42.71

  • AMOS Layettes: $704.22

  • Backpack Buddies (Inter-Faith Food Shuttle) $500

  • Pullen Children’s Fund $150

 

Pullenites staffed our booth at Raleigh’s Downtown Pride Festival in June, offering information about Pullen and the HOST program, “queerly beloved” cup koozies, bubbles, and activities for children.  

Loving our Earth

"We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." – David Brower

Pullen’s Composting Program 

In 2024, Pullen diverted 4147.4 pounds of waste from the landfill through our composting program.

 

Since starting our program with CompostNow in June 2018, Pullen has diverted 18,704 pounds of waste from the landfill and created 1,870 pounds of compost. This is enough compost to produce 14,028 tomatoes! We have also avoided 1,945 pounds of methane and 48,631 pounds of CO2 emissions. (Please note that during Covid, we paused our composting program for 29 months.)

 

Annual Solar Production at Pullen in 2024

Our Earth Ministry Team reports that Pullen’s solar panel systems on the Cox Avenue Building (started April 2022) and the Poteat Chapel (October 2023) have been generating lots of clean energy and reducing our carbon footprint. Duke Energy’s 2023 rate changes have dramatically impaired the financial benefit of our Cox system, but the calculations are so complex that it is difficult to determine the exact impact. The team plans to compare 2023 and 2024 Duke Energy bills for the chapel system to determine cost and energy savings. 

The Internal Revenue Service confirmed in November that our solar rebate application was approved for $15,373.

  • During Earth Month in April, Earth Ministry: Caring for God’s Creation worked with Pullen staff to present programs to expand awareness of creation and environmental concerns. A Worship Lab was held on a Wednesday night in which a member of Pullen's congregation and the Cherokee nation presented the worldview of the Cherokee people. During two Sunday mornings, Rev. Ian McPherson presented programs on the theological perspective of Christianity regarding the environment. During another Sunday morning, a guest provided a worship experience using Lectio Divina, with readings related to love of creation.

  • Earth Ministry partnered with other members of the congregation and the Universal Unitarian Fellowship of Raleigh in two "get out the vote" events, writing a total of 250 postcards for the Environmental Voter Project.

  • Members of Earth Ministry have been encouraging One Wake to include energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in its Nehemiah affordable housing project.

  • Earth Ministry researched several non-profits focusing on the environment for possible partnership with Pullen, and have recommended Partners for Environmental Justice to Missions and Outreach, who will make decisions on five potential partnerships.

  • One member continued to faithfully water the Green Roof during the summer drought, and the roof provided bountiful flowers for pollinators to enjoy.

Love without Borders

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa

Pullen continues to support our international partners in Cuba, Georgia, Coventry, and Nicaragua, particularly with another Pullen team that visited Cuba in November. That team included three from our Young Adults group and two returning travelers who had not been to Matanzas since before the pandemic.

 

In another show of support, Pullenites sent letters advocating for the removal of Cuba from the state sponsors of terror list.

My Cuba Experience – Heidi McLean

During our trip, the week’s theme was “finding your treasures.” Boy did I find many! I was struck by how serious the Matanzas community took ourvisit and how this theme was woven through the whole week so beautifully. They are such a beautiful, creative, resourceful, fun, and loving people. My favorite use of the “finding your treasures” theme was with the children’s Sunday school and the pirate theme especially when one of the cooks came into the storage area for something only to find four pirates waiting to surprise the children and instead surprised him!

Continue reading about Heidi’s experience here.

Coventry Cathedral:

In January 2020, Pullen formally offered the Community of the Cross of Nails–North America (CCN–NA) a challenge gift of $50,000 from the Phil Letsinger bequest. Also drawn into the arrangement were our Baptist friends and CCN partners in Cuba and Georgia. The purpose of the gift was to help set up an endowment to cover the stipend for U.S.-based interns serving for a year on the reconciliation team at Coventry Cathedral. Everything was put on hold by the pandemic.

However, at long last, in March 2023, Board President Rev. Robert Childers wrote to Pullen that the money had been raised to match Pullen’s gift, and in September 2024, Sophia Burr from Atlanta, GA, became the U.S. intern at Coventry Cathedral for 2024–25. She graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South in May 2024 with a degree in Religious Studies.

On December 22, we shared in worship an audio recording that Sophia had made for our CCN Advent offertory presentation, who said that Coventry’s principles of healing the wounds of history, living with difference, celebrating diverse perspectives and building a culture of justice and peace resonated deeply with her. She is assigned to work with CCN Coordinator Alice Farnhill, focusing primarily on social media and the North American partners.

The Letsinger Estate and Pullen, along with the other CCN–NA matching-fund donors, were instrumental in ensuring that this important reengagement could take place in 2024.

 

Circle of Support:

Separate from our international partnerships, we have created a Circle of Support for our Afghan family, Hadi and Maryam, and have helped them build a life here in Raleigh. They welcomed Hannah in October to join her big brother, Ryan. Pullenites turned out in droves for a baby shower in Finlator Hall, organized by Serena Buckner. This was a big day of living out our love!

Cuba Travelers

The three Coventry interns for 2024–25 are (from left): Constanze Biller, Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany; Sophia Burr, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Alwine Sander, Dresden, Saxony, Germany.

With Loving Care

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Nancy Speaking at a Moral Monday March

Nancy after speaking in support of public school teachers at Wake County Commissioners meeting  

Chalice at the Polls serving as a Chaplain

Ian at On Being Project office in Minneapolis

Several Pullenites attended the service where Duke Divinity School joined the Community of the Cross of Nails

Ian with fellow ministers at a ONE Wake Meeting

Ian and Rev. Caleb Tabor with students from Brave Space

Pullen is blessed with tireless and devoted staff who live out their faith and love every day, leading us in worship, guiding our programs, helping those in need, and representing us in the community and the world. In addition to the work outlined in this report covering specific ministries (children, youth, music, community outreach), here’s a sampling of some ways our staff is carrying on Pullen’s work:  

Some highlights of Pastor Nancy Petty’s work in 2024 include:

  • Nearly 250 pastoral visits and pastoral counseling sessions (home, office, and hospitals)

  • Worked with Deacons to implement the church’s Strategic Plan

  • Set in motion a feasibility study for a Capital Campaign

  • Planned and implemented the Summer Sunday Series for 2024 (invited community leaders of vital institutions in our community to come speak about what their institutions are doing)

  • Reestablished the Finlator Lecture Series that took place in September 2024 (Recruited Rev. Carter Heyward as the guest lecturer and preacher)

  • 20 funerals (often assisted by Rev. Chalice Overy)

  • 30 sermons

  • Welcomed 25 new members

  • Met with the Young Adults group every Tuesday evening

  • Supported other Ministries

  • Yale Divinity School Intern Program (Summer 2024)

Represented Pullen in the community and beyond by:

  • Speaking at numerous social justice rallies

  • Serving on two panels hosted by Congressmember Deborah Ross focusing on Women’s Rights and Reproductive Rights

  • Nurturing relationships with Jewish and Muslim Communities

  • Serving as guest speaker at Yale Divinity School on the topic of Reimagining Church

  • Serving as Vice Chair for Repairers of the Breach

  • Being one of 20 pastors invited to a breakfast with the Second Gentleman of the United States

  • Working with Progress NC on policy issues

  • Advocating for higher pay for teachers and bus drivers in support of the NC Association of Educators at a Wake County Commissioners Meeting

Rev. Chalice Overy:

  • Sat on a panel at Duke Divinity School about pastoral leadership in a divisive climate

  • Led a mentoring cohort for Baptist Women in Ministry

  • Worked with a multi-racial coalition of faith leaders to combat Christian Nationalism

  • Hosted a Progressive Revival 

  • Assisted with funerals

  • Served as a Poll Chaplain for the elections

  • Attended a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) training for those who work with youth

  • Met with other progressive churches to collaborate on a more impactful youth ministry

  • Joined the Board of the Alliance of Baptists

    Rev. Ian McPherson:

  • Offered “Ashes on the Go” on NC State’s campus, providing an LGBTQIA+ affirming witness

  • Presented “Queer Theology 101” at the Love One Another Symposium at East Carolina University and community leaders of Eastern NC

  • Represented Pullen at a convening of THRIVE congregations in Charlotte, a grant cohort of Alliance churches focused on antiracism

  • Led a Zoom gathering titled “Toward a Progressive Missiology,” following the Alliance of Baptists gathering

  • Was selected as an On Being Project Social Healing Fellow and attended a national gathering of justice leaders in Minneapolis

  • Hosted Dean John Witcombe of Coventry Cathedral and represented Pullen at the service where Duke Divinity School joined the Community of the Cross of Nails

  • Served as a Poll Chaplain

  • Coordinated and helped staff the Pullen booth at Raleigh’s Downtown Pride Festival in June

Yale Interns — We were fortunate to host three interns from Yale University’s Divinity School again this year. Lizzie Chiarovano, Alexa Rollow, and Beverly Love spent the month of June with us, getting to know Pullenites of all ages, attending rallies, and helping with numerous projects. And they each had a chance to preach on a Sunday!

Click here to read our blog post: “Summer Interns Reflect on their Time at Pullen”

Social Work intern -- Our staff welcomed a new Social Work Intern, Lauren Nachimson, an MSW student at NCSU, who has been faithfully serving in multiple ministry areas since arriving to Pullen. She contributes 32 hours per week to our ministry, especially our outreach to the community and with our youth. Read her bio here!

The Pullen Podcast has gotten an upgrade! You may have noticed that Pullen is on Spotify and iTunes via The Pullen Podcast. Currently, we post the weekly sermons as podcast episodes.

In an effort to reach Goal 1-A of the Strategic Plan (increasing our engagement with key constituencies), we have converted Room 305 into the new Pullen Podcast Studio. The purpose of this studio is twofold: First, we can record new content for our podcast channel, including sermon "talkbacks" or conversations with Pullen's guest speakers/presenters. Second, we can engage with and support our community by offering the Pullen Podcast Studio to other nonprofits or local partners working on issues of social justice. 

The podcast room was completed in May and is ready to use. (A big “thank you” to Handy Corps for helping to build the studio!) Keep an ear out for the good things to come from this space. Meanwhile, let us know if there is an organization that could benefit from this resource!