Preachers and Worship Leaders:
Rev. Lisa Yebuah, Reverend Lisa Yebuah serves as Lead Pastor of the Southeast Raleigh Table, a United Methodist worshipping community near downtown Raleigh. A 1999 graduate of Wofford College and a 2004 graduate of Duke Divinity School, she has spent her ministry helping people become their whole selves — and stretching their imaginations to believe, and live like they believe, that the world can be collectively marked by liberation.
That conviction shows up beyond the pulpit. Lisa works alongside local organizations advocating for affordable housing, mental wellness resources, and equity in public education. She is convinced that theology worth having shows up in the neighborhood.
Ask around, though, and you’ll hear a fuller picture: a glutton for joy, a lover of people and the enneagram, a self-professed party-starter, and a biscuit connoisseur with strong opinions on the subject. She has a mild obsession with Abbott Elementary and The Office, and remains hopeful that 90’s R&B will one day be recognized as required listening for a well-formed soul. Lisa believes good theology and joy-full living aren’t mutually exclusive — and she brings both wherever she’s invited to speak.
Rev. Racquel Gill, Rev. Racquel C.N. Gill is a native of Winnsboro; SC. She is the daughter of Camilla Gill and the late Stephen Gill. Having begun her preaching ministry as a teenager, Racquel was ordained in 2008 at the St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Winnsboro under the leadership of the late Rev. Roy C. Jeffcoat. Racquel is a 2012 graduate of Columbia College in Columbia, SC where she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. Racquel received her Masters of Divinity in May of 2015 from Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC.
Racquel served faithfully as the Lily Pastor In Residence on the pastoral staff at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York under the leadership of Dr. David K. Brawley. After her time in Brooklyn, Racquel transitioned into higher education and served as the Associate Chaplain at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC and as the Minister for Intercultural Engagement at her alma mater Duke University in Durham, North Carolina for six years. After a season of working in local government for the City of Raleigh, Racquel transitioned back into congregational ministry. She currently serves as the Pastor of Community Life and Engagement at the Southeast Raleigh Table United Methodist Church alongside the Lead Pastor, the Rev. Lisa Yebuah.
In addition to her professional commitments, Racquel is a proud member of the Board of Directors for the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice. She lives in Durham with her spouse the Reverend Chelsea Brooke Yarborough, Phd She enjoys local library visits with Chelsea, visiting record stores, great coffee, learning pickleball, and traveling to visit her nephew(s) and niece.
Reyna Alston is a choral conductor, composer and Director of Music at United Church of Chapel Hill, where she oversees a vibrant music ministry of seven ensembles. She holds a B.A. in Vocal Performance from High Point University, and graduate degrees in Choral Conducting and Composition from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Reyna is passionate about creating music that bridges musical traditions and genres, and gives voice to diverse experiences. She also serves as Associate Conductor of the Duke University Chorale and is a fellow of SONAM (Singers of New and Ancient Music).
Workshop Leaders and Plenary Speakers:
Sr. Evelyn Craig (Evie) is Catholic “Nun” from Midwest OH/MI with a rich history of young adult and college campus ministry. As a member of her religious order for over 60 years, she ministered at Duke Divinity School Spiritual Formation from 2012 – 2026 and currently serves as a Spiritual Companion for a variety of lay and ordained ministers. She trained in Ignatian Retreat and Spiritual Direction at St. Louis University and participated with the Institute of Religious Formation with individuals from all over the world. She studied with U.S. religious formation personnel at the Chicago Theological Union. As a Tai-chi practitioner she is a firm believer in embodied spirituality.
Rev. Esther Hethcox (they|she) graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2018 and moved to Durham that same year as a journalist. Raised in a conservative Christian environment, Esther had left God and the church behind until they discovered the just and loving discipleship of the saints of Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church. Called to Durham and only Durham, Esther attended Duke Divinity School and graduated in 2022, and has since served as Associate Pastor to First Presbyterian Church in downtown. Esther is a certified spiritual director, and currently serves a ministry which provides spiritual direction at no-cost to inmates on death row. As a former homeschooled farm kid, Esther will always be catching up to the normal world and marveling at how loving and wonderful our God is. In their free time, Esther can be found spending time with their three cats, crafting, or waiting by the mailbox for the next book delivery.
Rev. Dr. Maria T. Palmer grew up in Perú and Guatemala, came to the US as an exchange student (Jax State, AL), where she fell in love and married Micheal Palmer. Still married after 46 years, Micheal and Maria have three grown children, two grandchildren and a dog.
A bi-vocational minister, Maria founded and pastored Iglesia Unida de Chapel Hill (UCC) from 1996-2004. She returned to Iglesia, now a part of United Church of Chapel Hill, recently as a member and co-leads the Multicultural Ministries Board and the Immigrant Legal Assistance Fund.
Maria attended seminary in Louisvilee, KY and has a doctorate in Education from UNC. While pastoring and doing chaplain work her paying jobs have included: school principal, university administrator, columnist with The Chapel Hill News, founder of Mi Escuelita Spanish Immersion Preschool and Family Support Coordinator for Organ Donation.
Maria has served on the Orange Co Human Rights Commission, the NC State Board of Education; and the Chapel Hill Town Council.
Rev. Katelyn MacDonald (she/her) is a provisional elder in the United Methodist Church and currently serves as the associate pastor at Benson Memorial UMC in Raleigh. She has a background in church music, serving as a choir and handbell director in Louisville, KY, and a bell ringer at Duke Memorial UMC in Durham, and worked for Duke Chapel Music after graduating from Duke Divinity School in 2021. She has a love of creating spaces for queer people in religious spaces where they have traditionally been excluded.
Rev. Hadley Kifner is the Associate Pastor for Spiritual Nurture at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill. Her background in book publishing and hospital chaplaincy shape her commitment to inclusive, progressive theology. She offers compassionate, creative, deep listening to help others discern the Divine voice in their lives. Outside of ministry, Hadley is a partner, mama, and dog owner who enjoys porch sitting, swimming, live music, and poetry.
Rev. Kathryn Lester-Bacon has worked and preached in many different eco-systems, including parish congregations, retirement communities, a university chapel, and hospital. She has precepted for a preaching class at Duke Divinity School and led retreats for pastors and Duke Hospital chaplains. The throughline is: she loves gathering groups for spiritual edification and exploring the power of words and silence in those spaces. She currently is on the advisory board of Peace Hill at Avila, Presbyterian Campus Ministries at Duke, Duke Hospital Chaplain Services, and serves as a transitional pastor for a Presbyterian congregation in eastern North Carolina.
Rev. Megan M. Pardue (she/her) has been the lead pastor at Refuge Home Church UCC since 2013. A native of Portland, Oregon, she’s called Durham home since 2009. In addition to pastoring, she teaches preaching at Duke Divinity School, is a Teaching Fellow with the Center for Faith and Justice, and previously co-hosted the weekly podcast That’ll Preach. She enjoys growing a large vegetable and flower garden in the city, thrifting, and spending time on the American Tobacco Trail or at the Eno River with her husband, Keith, and two children.
Rev. Molly Brummett Wudel (she/her) is a PhD student at the University of Bonn, Germany. She’s studying practical theology with an emphasis in homiletics and dialogical preaching. Before doctoral work, Molly pastored Emmaus Way, a dialogical, ecumenical church in Durham, NC, for eleven years. When she isn’t studying, writing, or organizing, she and her spouse, James, attempt to keep up with their very active first grader, George Eden.
