Mission Groups
Staff: Cathy Tamsberg, Minister of Outreach and Adult Education
919.828.0897, x214
ctamsberg@pullen.org
Pullen's mission groups focus on a variety of social justice issues and support connections beyond our community. Some of the groups include persons who feel called to address a particular concern like peace, reconciliation, hunger, or care of creation. Several groups support our international partnerships and two groups work to strengthen our relationships with our denominational partners.
Each mission group fashions its own life and work, giving attention to both spiritual and practical implications of their passion. Many of them meet for a meal followed by personal sharing, centering, and attention to their chosen ministry. Some meet monthly and others on a called basis. Some follow the model found in the booklet Transforming Outreach more closely than others, but all of the groups seek to be more than a committee. Education within the Pullen community and beyond is an important task of every mission group. Linking their particular calling to God's work in the world is the goal of all.
American Baptist Churches (ABC)
The ABC Mission Group facilitates our American Baptist connection. This ranges from encouraging links across racial lines with local ABC churches to generating support for a medical mission in Nicaragua. By offering educational programs and shepherding our annual Lenten offering for ABC missions, this mission group lifts up the many common values Pullen shares with ABC-USA.
Meeting Time: Second Sundays at 12:15 PM
Contact: Carl Almblad
Alliance of Baptists
This group supports Pullen's partnership with the Alliance of Baptists, a national association of progressive Baptist churches founded in 1987. Pullen members attend the annual Alliance convocation, serve on its board of directors, and support its mission offering each year. Participants are eager to share the story of the Alliance, an organization that has been called the "research and development" arm of progressive Baptists.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Brooks Wicker
Blessing of Life/Prison Ministry
Participants in this group minister to men on death row at Raleigh's Central Prison. They also encourage members of Pullen to write and visit death row inmates and to engage in a wide variety of ministries with men and women in prison. The group is a member of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a statewide coalition of religious organizations and individuals who work for the abolition of the death penalty and prison reform.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Beth McAllister
Care of Creation
The Care of Creation Mission Group seeks to explore, understand, and honor the interconnectedness of God's vast and varied creation. It serves as a place of support and inspiration for those who feel called to integrate their spiritual life with a lifestyle that is less consumptive, more ecologically sustainable, and more in harmony with all of life on earth. The group meets monthly for discussion and planning in order to encourage educational and worship leadership at Pullen that fosters human-earth relationships. Many members of this mission group are also members of the Care of Creation Sunday school class.
Meeting Time: Third Sundays at 12:15 PM
Contact: Dan Figgins
Cross of Nails Reconciliation Fellowship
This mission group promotes reconciliation within the Pullen community and beyond, through means such as awareness-raising and training. Within Pullen, twice a year CNRF organizes small “foyer” groups designed to encourage interaction among people who don’t know each other well. CNRF also supports Pullen’s role within the international Community of the Cross of Nails (CCN). CCN is a ministry of reconciliation that originated in Coventry, England, where a medieval cathedral was bombed during World War II. Pullen was named a Cross of Nails Center in 1977 and since then has maintained ties with CCN in both Europe and North America.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Erin Newton
Cuba
The Cuba Mission Group maintains and nurtures the partnership between Pullen and the First Baptist Church in Matanzas that began in 1988. First Baptist is a member of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, which is a partner of the Alliance of Baptists in the U.S. In addition to maintaining personal relationships with our Cuban friends through trips to their country and hosting visits from them, Pullen financially supports several of their congregation's ministries and theological education at the ecumenical seminary in Matanzas.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Steve Smith or Judy Mays
Health Care
"Health care for all North Carolinians" is the goal of the Health Care Working Group. Mindful of the model of Jesus as healer, they helped to create a network of persons across our state who will contact members of our General Assembly about this issue. Participants were drawn together by their passion for changes in a state health care system that leaves more than a million North Carolinians uninsured. They strategize, act on their own, and collaborate with other health care advocates across North Carolina.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Ed Sumpter
Hunger
This mission group was formed to bring together representatives of a variety of hunger-related activities that have been part of Pullen's life for many years. Our Bread for the World Offering of Letters, weekly food collection by Pullen Mission Women, and our Back Door Ministry as well as periodic special programs are coordinated by this group of persons who are dedicated to addressing hunger at home and around the world. All who feel a call to address the needs of our hungry neighbors are encouraged to participate.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Suzanne Newton
Nicaragua Partnership
This group supports our partnership with ABC medical missionaries Laura and David Parajon, who develop community-based health care in rural Nicaraguan villages through "A Ministry of Sharing (AMOS) Health and Hope." Fifteen Pullen people traveled to Nicaragua in May 2008 to begin building a health clinic in the village of El Bejuco. Pullen has also funded the construction of the clinic and training of the resident health promoter, and will provide financial support for the clinic at least through 2011.
Meeting Time: On a called basis
Contact: Deb Norton or Jonathan Sledge
Peace and Justice
The Peace and Justice Mission Group addresses the peace and justice issues of the day and stimulates conversation within the church about how we can be peacemakers in our broken world. This mission group acts on some issues, encourages the involvement of the congregation on others, and with small grants supports organizations that follow God's call for peace and justice. Annual projects include the Peace Booth at the N.C. State Fair and Peace Sunday in August.
Meeting time: First Sundays at 12:15 PM
Contact: Amelia Mahan
Vegetarian Encouragement Group (VEG)
What we eat has specific effects on the pressing issues we care most about-hunger, environmental destruction, human health, cruelty and compassion, doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with our God. So it is vital that we give prayerful consideration to what we eat. The VEG group tries to do this seriously, joyfully, in the company of good people, and with gusto, as they grow "before, with, and toward the Divine."
Meeting Time: Fourth Sundays, bi-monthly at 12:15 PM
Contact: Betty Gunz