Midyear 2024 Impact Report

Pullen is Showing Up in 2024

Showing up is one of the most profound — and often, courageous — ways to show that we care. We show up for loved ones, events, and causes — in good times and hard times. We show up at weddings and funerals, to fight for human rights, care for our children and seniors, and to bear witness.

Pullenites are really good at showing up in ways that matter. We also show up by pledging our budget — enabling us to be leaders of social justice at home and across the world.

We have had a busy six months. In addition to engaging with our children, visiting our elders, and tending to our many partnerships and initiatives, Pullen staff have spent considerable time working with teams and committees on the Strategic Plan adopted in 2023. This impact report provides an overview of how our budget (your giving) made a difference in the first half of 2024. Your giving matters!!

Financial Update as of June 30, 2024

Income: $651,303

Expenses: $620,352

Difference: $30,951

Showing Up in Caring for Our Buildings

A total of $46,118 was spent on 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:

  • HVAC repairs, $16,358

  • New kitchen freezer, $6,785

  • Boiler water automation equipment, $1,571

  • Seasonal shutdown of boiler, $3,827

  • Landscaping, $2,625

  • HVAC monthly preventive maintenance, $2,958

  • Kitchen equipment, $3,227

Showing Up for Our Seniors  

Staff and Pullenites often visit our elderly members to check on them and provide some company. And, sometimes, we even provide some music! In the first half of 2024, staff made more than 50 visits to individual homes and retirement communities. In June, Rev. Chalice Overy, church organist/pianist Ju Kim, and our Yale interns led a Vespers service at Glenaire.

Showing Up for Our Kids

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.

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

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.

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.

Showing Up for Our Youth

Pullen’s budget supplements the costs of transportation and chaperone registration for youth retreats and related efforts, including:

  • Spring Retreat, Pine Knoll Shores, eight youth attending

  • BYC, Laurel Springs, 12 youth attending

  • Rev. Chalice Overy attended Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) training for those who work with youth. 

Showing Up for Young Adults

The Young Adults Group meets on Tuesday nights for community building and to discuss matters of faith and the world.

Showing Up with Music

Music in the church is a means of worship, a source of spirituality, a tool in education, a creator of community, an enjoyment of fellowship, an avenue of ministry, and a connection with creation.

Our Music Ministry nurtured multigenerational worship leadership, as the Pullen Youth and Adult choirs joined voices for weekly rehearsal and worship leadership.

With a multisensory educational approach, the Children’s Choir and Sunday Kids Groups explored and expressed a variety of divine images through the “Imagine God” curriculum. Continuing this year’s multigenerational emphasis, the Children’s Choir combined with singers from the Youth and Adult choirs, instrumentalists from the Pullen Orchestra, and the worshiping congregation to experience “Imagine God” in worship. 

Our Youth Choir is shown at Festival by the Sea 2024 in Myrtle Beach, SC.

The Pullen choirs, accompanied by Ju Kim (in his first full year of service at Pullen as organist/pianist), enlivened congregational worship through music. The Pullen Orchestra, a multigenerational group of youth and adults, provided instrumental music and accompaniments for the congregation and choirs in worship.

Additionally, a Summer Worship Choir was formed to offer creative music during worship. This choir consists of people of various ages who would not otherwise have an opportunity to participate in a choir and make a long-term commitment. Participants are enjoying worship leadership through this Sunday group.

The church budget provided copyright and live-streaming licensing through three agencies for the legal broadcasting of a variety of worship music. This provision translated into ministry and connection for those who participated online and for the digital archiving of worship services.

Showing Up for Our Local Community

Pullen’s Community Ministry Fund has provided $8,291 in emergency assistance, including more than $6,000 to help more than a dozen families pay utility bills, and nearly $600 in one-way transportation costs for those struggling to get out of state.

From gas to groceries, Pullen's Community Ministry Fund has been a lifeline for many. We have distributed over $600 in Walmart gift cards to 24 individuals, providing assistance for gas, prescription and over-the-counter medications, clothing, food, toiletries, and other essentials.

Pullen 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. 

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.  

Showing Up for Our World Community

By June 30, we paid $22,217 to our missions and outreach partners, out of an annual budget of $44,255. Several partners, such as Cross of Nails, Cuba and Nicaragua, are slated to receive contributions or grants in the second half of the year. Recipients include:

  • 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

Showing Up By Sharing Our Space

One of Pullen’s values is to provide space for partner organizations whose missions or work align closely with ours. Outside organizations that have used Pullen in the first half of 2024 include:

  • Brave Space

  • Handsome Ladies Bluegrass Group

  • HOST (Housing Options for Students Today)

  • Interplay

  • Raleigh Food Not Bombs

  • Repairers of the Breach

  • Reproductive Freedom Summit

  • The Hope Center

  • The Light Group

  • Triangle Disability and Autism Services

  • Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus

  • YMCA: Kindercamp and Wee Camp

  • Amazon Cause

  • Arise Collective

  • NC State History Department

  • Triangle Jewish Voice for Peace

  • Triangle Shape Note Singers

  • Wake NCAE

The Triangle Gay Men’s Chorus uses space at Pullen for rehearsals and performances.

Showing Up for the Environment

Our compost program diverts waste from the landfill and cuts methane emissions. Here’s a snapshot of our collection in the first half of 2024.

Let the Sun Shine and Electricity Flow at Pullen, (August 10, 2024)

Our two solar panel systems have been generating lots of clean energy and reducing Pullen’s electricity costs. Our June drought delivered lots of sun to both our panel systems which produced 13,138 kWh of electricity. During July and August we experienced more cloudy, rainy days which reduced solar production. Cox Building: This 156 panel, 65kW DC system, was connected to the grid on April 15, 2022, (28 months ago). The Poteat Chapel, 50 panel, 22kW DC system was connected to the grid in October, 2023,(9 months of production).Here is a summary of the total production of solar energy for our two systems.  

Click here to learn more.

Review of the Cox Building’s  Duke Energy Bill and its Impact on Solar Financial Benefits 

Duke Energy has changed the way they reimburse solar customers for the solar energy they produce and  send to the grid.  Energy produced during “Duke’s peak demand  times” will be compensated at a lower reimbursement rate and these credits can only be applied during “Duke’s peak demand  times”. Peak demand times occur during peak solar production times. In 2023,  news articles stated that solar panel systems approved prior to Oct 1, 2023 would be immune from this new billing approach until 2027.  Duke Energy’s new rate changes have dramatically impacted the financial benefit of our system.  However, the calculations are so complex that it is very difficult to determine the exact  impact.  

Some other churches are experiencing this same billing problem with Duke Energy. Mickey Fanny, who works for Southern Energy Management and is a Pullen member, has connected us with NCIPL who is petitioning Duke and the NCUC to exempt churches and non profits from Duke’s new pricing strategy. Tony Quartararo asked Southern Energy Management (SEM) to analyze the impact of Duke Energy’s new “Time of Use Rates” policy on our solar savings for the Cox building. Click here to view the SEM analysis of Cox building electricity costs:

  • 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, Ian McPherson presented programs on the theological perspective of Christianity regarding the environment. Finally, during another Sunday morning, a guest provided a worship experience using Lectio Divina, with readings related to love of creation.

  • Earth Ministry has 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 now has bountiful flowers for pollinators to enjoy.

Showing Up in Sister Church Partnerships

Pullen continues to be a leader in bringing together and partnering with faith leaders and people of faith to speak out on social justice issues.

Our Pastor, Nancy Petty, showed up in the following ways:

  • Was guest speaker at Yale Divinity School on Reimagining Church.

  • Served on two panels with Congresswoman Deborah Ross: Women’s Rights and Reproductive Rights.

  • Met monthly with Progress NC, Faith Leaders Coalition.

  • Welcomed Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to Raleigh, along with 20 other faith leaders.

  • Spoke at a rally to advocate for continued federal childcare funding.

  • Advocated for higher pay for teachers and bus drivers, in support of the North Carolina 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 multiracial coalition of faith leaders to combat Christian Nationalism.

  • 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.

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”

Showing Up By Connecting

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!