Rev. Donna Banks, Senior Pastor at Epworth UMC in Durham, NC, has also served at Christ UMC and Evergreen UMC in Chapel Hill, and St. Francis UMC in Cary, as well as District Superintendent for the Corridor District of the North Carolina Conference and Director of Student Life at Duke Divinity School.  Prior to her call to ministry, Donna has previous experience as a research chemist and in corporate sales, marketing and management in the chemical industry. Donna is married with two daughters.

Rev. Lindsey Ardrey recently joined the Episcopal Diocese of NC as the new canon missioner for diocesan reparations and restitution ministry. Ardrey comes to NC by way of New Orleans where, she says, “the green, purple and gold of Mardi Gras forever painted her heart.” She grew up in Kentucky, but her Carolina roots run deep. Over the last 10 years, Ardrey has led children’s and youth ministries, organized lower and middle school chaplaincy programs, taught in the middle school classroom and co-chaired the Diocese of Louisiana’s Commission for Racial Healing. She is also “a writer, a serious seeker of rest, and a human deeply nourished by laughter and silence in equal measure.” You may read some of her writing here and here.

Rev. Dr. Bridgette Gloser began her ministry in 2003 in the Washington Conference and was ordained an Itinerant Elder by the same. She has served as an associate minister in congregations in Maryland, DC, and NC, having received her first pastoral appointment in 2013 to St. John AME Church in Nebo, NC. She is presently the proud pastor of Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Durham, where she serves alongside her best friend, husband, and partner-in-ministry, Rev. Dr. Clay Gloster, Jr. They are the loving parents of four adult children.

Jereann King Johnson has been quilting as far back as she can remember. Her early discovery of and fondness for textiles and texture flourishes still. With 25 years of experience in literacy education, leadership, and community development, she currently works in rural communities coordinating school and community activities. In collaboration with several North Carolina quilters, she helped to launch the African American Quilt Circle in 1997 and the Heritage Quilters in 2001.

Kimberly McCrae is an intentional lover of humanity and actively lives the self-care life about which she teaches and advocates. Her personal philosophy of interpersonal interaction is, “If I’ve not positively influenced someone everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve not walked in my purpose.”

Christine Parton Burkett has served as the lecturing fellow in speech at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C., since 1991. She regularly coaches clergy and lay worship leaders using tools that she has created including reader’s theater, choric readings, and biblical story-telling. She holds degrees in theater and speech language pathology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Melva Sampson, Asst Teaching Professor of Preaching and Practical Theology at Wake Forest University, is a practical theologian and ordained minister. Her research interests include Black preaching women’s embodiment, African heritage spiritual traditions, Black girls’ ritual performance, and the relationship between digital proclamation and spiritual formation.  She is the creator and curator of Pink Robe Chronicles ™ and Raising Womanish Girls ™, both digital platforms used to elucidate the role of sacred memory and ritual in the collective healing of marginalized communities.

Melinda Wiggins serves as the Director of Strategy and Operations for the LIFT Fund.  Before joining the Fund, she served as the Executive Director of Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) for over twenty-five years. A granddaughter and daughter of sharecroppers, Melinda grew up in a working class family in the Mississippi Delta. She moved to Durham, NC, in 1992 to complete a Masters of Theological Studies at Duke University. She continues to live in Durham with her partner Dave and cat Cocoa.

Sarah Alicia Solís is second-year Master of Divinity student and Latinx Studies Fellow at Duke Divinity School. She is Vice President for La Unión Latina, the student organization for Hispanic-Latinx identifying students at Duke Divinity. She is also pursuing ordination as an Elder in the United Methodist Church. Prior to beginning her theological education, Sarah taught English Language Arts at the middle school and high school levels in her home region, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. She holds a B.A. in English-Creative Writing from the University of North Texas  (2013) and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Texas–Rio Grande Valley (2020). She is a fan of cats, plants, and a good cup of coffee. 

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.

Bluestem Community: Conservation of the land, along with the stewardship of fields, woodlands, water features, native wildlife and habitat, are all privileges that we are granted by Nature. At Bluestem we practice solitary and shared experiences of caring for the earth that include silent meditation and reflection, spirited community gatherings, and the support of individuals and families with the sacred act of burial. We envision a shared community space where every person and natural being can find solace and rest at Bluestem.