Mark Atkinson

I first attended Blacknall as an undergrad at Duke in the mid-80’s. Growing up Southern Baptist, I tried the local Baptist churches, but noticed my friends were all attending Blacknall. It quickly became my church home. After Duke, marrying Helen, four years in the Navy, a 25-year career at Kimley-Horn, living in Cary, raising four children, and attending NCCU law school (2017-2020), Helen and I moved back to Durham in January 2020. We joined as members in early 2021.

Important parts of our re-integration into Blacknall were a backyard worship service during the worst of COVID, helping in the nursery and on the audio/PPT team (BAT), my involvement on the Durham Ministry & Engagement Team (DMET) for a two-year stint, and a small group that we host at our home. 

I thankfully grew up in a loving Christian home. I have always appreciated a good sermon, but as I've gotten older, I've learned to value the times of confession, the Lord's Supper, and being in a community that shapes me and reminds me of the good things that are in Christ Jesus.

Pete Gerend

Alexa and I have been married for 26 years. Together we are blessed to be the parents of Asa (20), Jack (18), Greta (16), and Sam (14). I spend my work days at Bain & Company, where I partner with leaders of large organizations as they navigate change. I also teach undergrads at Duke on the intersection of buinsess and theology.

We’ve been at Blacknall since 2003. I love the diversity and energy of this place — it’s full of long-serving saints and people for whom Durham is a meaningful stop along their journey. In many ways, Blacknall is our family here in Durham. It's a place where we feel truly known and loved and are called to serve.

It’s humbling to be known and loved by the Word made flesh, the Creator of all things. I am on a journey with Jesus — walking in the assurance of salvation while still living in a broken world. Jesus continually challenges my comfortable assumptions about what it means to follow Him and to be salt and light. Passages like Romans 12 have been especially shaping for me — the call to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind,” to offer my life as a living sacrifice, and to use whatever gifts I’ve been given in service to others. 

We find ourselves in a meaningful moment, in a place full of opportunity and more than enough challenge. As Blacknall continues to live into its calling, I’m excited by the ways we are being invited to embody the love of Christ more fully — in how we worship, serve, and engage our neighbors. My hope and prayer is that we would continue to discern together how to faithfully live that calling with humility, courage, and love.

Stephanie Wheatley

I began attending Blacknall in 2008. It has been a church home for Chris and me and our two daughters, Chloë and Marika, ever since. I have been blessed through friendships, our worship as a community, small groups, time on the Session, and serving alongside of friends. 

I came to faith as a child in a Christian home and am so grateful to have friendships and experiences that nurtured a deeper faith as I grew up. At the center of my faith is my trust in God’s love for us in Jesus and the practices of prayer and worship where we draw close to him. I have grown in my faith especially through challenging seasons and can see God clearly at work through His people. The community at Blacknall has been a specific blessing in my life.

It is my prayer and hope that Blacknall continues its many decades of faithful witness to Christ in Durham in the coming years, especially as we discern how to welcome people who cross our paths in this city.