Philemon Abel, Community Outreach Coordinator

Philemon Abel was born and raised in Kansas City, MO. He grew up in a Black Baptist church founded and pastored by his grandfather Rev. Earl Abel until his passing when Philemon was 7. From an early age Philemon has been passionate about faith and politics. He attended Williams College and received a Bachelor’s in Political Science with a concentration in Africana Studies. Afterwards, Philemon moved to Baltimore to begin teaching ELA while pursuing a Masters of Education at Johns Hopkins. Philemon completed his Masters in 2021 and continued teaching for another year before receiving God’s call to apply to Duke Divinity’s MDiv program. In August of 2023, Philemon married the love of his life, Naomi François. Philemon graduated from Duke in 2025, and now teaches after school programming to middle schoolers at the Emily K Center in Durham. He and his wife enjoy gaming of all types, making music of all kinds, watching movies, latin dancing, and general nerd stuff.

Contact: pabel@pullen.org