Rev. Tanya Best, MDiv., is the Pastor of Mission Support at Mount Calvary United Church of Christ in Durham, NC. She was ordained by The Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ. She retired from Durham County Dept. of Social Services. She is passionate about helping the most vulnerable and is the founder of Mount Calvary UCC Food Pantry. She enjoys spending time with her family and adorable grandchildren.
Rev. Carla Gregg-Kearns serves as the pastor of Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Cary. She is a native North Carolinian and spent time as a case worker in refugee resettlement and at a domestic violence shelter before getting her MDiv at Duke Divinity School. She is passionate about vibrant worship, intergenerational ministry, and faith formation at every age.
Lori Pistor is a retired PCUSA pastor.
She is one of Homegrown’s original planning team members, along with Carla Gregg-Kearns and Elizabeth Michael.She and her spouse, Terry, dwell in Durham with a very spoiled cat. Lori can often be found digging in the garden at home or at Avila Retreat Center.
Anna Blair is a Junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, double majoring in Public Policy and Human and Organizational Leadership Development with a minor in Data Science. She is an Anita McLoud intern at the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South. Her favorite form of worship is playing drums at local churches, which she has done for almost 10 years.
Rev. Jeanette Stokes is an ordained Presbyterian minister and the Founder and Executive Director of the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South. Mostly her work has offered solace and support to others on the journey.She is the author of three collections of essays and a book on writing. She finds that taking time each week to write, paint, walk, and mess around in the garden makes her happier.
Rev. Sharon Wheeler is Associate Pastor of Elon Community Church UCC in Elon, NC where she has served part time and presently full time. She completed the Pastoral Leadership Development Program through the Southern Conference of the UCC which is an alternative path to ordination. She retired at the end of 2014 from LabCorp of America where she was an Account Specialist in the DNA Identity Department. She has lived in NC all her life and most of it in the Burlington area.
Angie Wright has always liked starting trouble—good trouble, as John Lewis called it. She was the founding pastor and served 16 years at Beloved Community Church in Birmingham. Angie was a founder of Alabama Arise, Good Work Employment Project in Durham, NC, and the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. Angie also served as the Director of the Hurricane Katrina Resettlement Program of Alabama. Through it all, Angie took immeasurable joy raising her splendid sons, Frank and Luke. Now that she is retired, Angie spends her time writing, creating a native garden, serving as a Guardian Ad Litem, and traveling to Costa Rica to spend time with her son Frank and her six-year-old grandson, Kai.
Homegrown 