Trina Rogers

My husband, John, and I have called Blacknall home since 2020, along with our three children, Liza (21), Cate (11), and James (10).

I am deeply grateful to belong to a community that loves God’s Word and seeks to live out Christ’s love everyday. Some of my most meaningful connections have been forged through Women’s Bible Study, where I co-facilitate a small group, and through the Chapel Hill small group we co-lead.

I am grateful daily for the gift of faith – the unearned saving grace of Jesus that Paul beautifully articulates in Ephesians 2:8. God has used many churches to shape my faith. I have deep roots in the Presbyterian church, where I was baptized and developed a personal relationship with Christ. I’m married to a PC(USA) pastor, and spent nine years volunteering alongside John during his time as a campus minister. I have also been richly blessed by gospel-centered churches beyond our denomination and delight in the ways Blacknall weaves different traditions together in worship.

Professionally, I am an entrepreneur. After earning my MBA, I co-founded and spent 18 years building a business with my father. Since selling the company, I have served on the board of the Center for Christian Study at the University of Virginia, coach UNC entrepreneurship students, volunteer in our children’s schools, and mentor students through the NC Study Center.

It would be a joy to serve Blacknall as an elder, humbly seeking to embody the truth and beauty of Jesus together.

Chad Weinard

I was raised and came to faith in the Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Alabama. After attending Duke University as an undergraduate, I met my wife, Ashley, studying art history in graduate school in New York City. In 2003, we adopted an old farmhouse in Durham and joined Blacknall, where we felt the presence of Christ in a community we came to love. I now work as an independent technology consultant for art museums and research institutions.

Vibrant experiences of the Spirit working in India, Rwanda, and Uganda impressed on me the value of sharing relational ministry with partners, congregations, and communities around the world. At Blacknall, I’ve served as chair of the International Ministries Team (IMT), which supports an amazing slate of individual ministry partners — many of whom are former members, all with deep connections to our congregation. I’m currently a member of the team that guides Blacknall’s “Deep Common Journey” with Congo Initiative. Our international partnerships are deeply relational: We seek to be changed as we help our beloved partners affect change, ministering to those around them.

For more than 20 years, Blacknall has been a blessing to our family, and we’ve sought to be a blessing as well. Our three children (now 20, 18, and 14) were born, baptized, and loved at Blacknall from the nursery to Sunday School to Blacknall Youth Group and beyond. Over the years, we’ve been involved in many aspects of Blacknall life — whether hosting dear small groups and annual Easter celebrations, or leading committees — each has drawn us closer to community, and to Christ. Blacknall has shown us the Word made flesh, and out of such abundance, I’m eager to serve.

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. 

Charlene Brown

I grew up in Northern Virginia and attended the University of Virginia (’08), where I became a follower of Jesus through campus ministry. While I had visited Blacknall many times since moving to Durham to pursue my MDiv at Duke (’11), I began regularly attending in 2021 and joined in 2022. In hindsight, I see threads of Blacknall’s ministry throughout my journey —from coming to hear John Perkins as a student, to volunteering with the food pantry at Iglesia Emanuel, and through the church’s support and prayers as I launched InterVarsity at NCCU and later as I served as InterVarsity’s National Director for Black Campus Ministries work. I am grateful for the ways God has provided a worshipping community, accountability, and discipleship. Of note, I’m an avid baker, lover of board games, biker of AT on beautiful mornings, and a Urologic Surgery Resident at UNC. My life, faith, ministry, and leadership have been transformed by the triune God and it’s out of this transformation that I hope to serve. I am excited about how our community might grow in prayer, live more missionally, and bear witness to God’s glory in Durham and beyond.

Melissa Hartemink

I began attending Blacknall in 2001 when my husband, Alex, and I moved to Durham. We quickly felt at home: The Blacknall community is an integral part of our life together, where we can know and be known, love and be loved, serve and be served. Through worship, fellowship, and service, I see and experience Christ at work in the body of believers. My gifts include teaching, hospitality, and administration, and my walk with Christ compels me to serve the church. After 24 years of membership, I have participated in many ways, including Durham partner ministries, children's ministries, small groups, women's ministries, two staff search committees, and our recent pastor nominating committee.

My favorite part of Sunday is being with you, God's people, praising the Lord through song, and partaking in communion where I am reminded each week of the Lord's deep love for me, for us; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are His beloved children, and in Him, we have new life. God's Word, as revealed through the Scriptures, and my relationship with Christ are central to how I see the world, my relationships, and my vocation.

I am an educator by training and have taught elementary students in a variety of settings in Massachusetts, Durham, and Kenya. I am mother to Abigail (21) and Andrew (19) and stayed home with them for 10 years before re-entering my career as an educator. I am humbled by and grateful for this opportunity.

Dan Kronstad

I am humbled to be considered to serve at Blacknall as elder for a second term.  My wife, Tanya, and I have made Blacknall our church home for the past 15 years, along with our three sons (Erik – 20, Caleb – 18, James – 16).  For the last 20 years, I’ve served with the ministry of International Students Inc. (ISI), currently as the Triangle Area Director.  Tanya now also serves with ISI, as part of the international student conferencing team.  Throughout the years, ISI (and hundreds of internationals students) have been blessed immensely through the Deep Common Journey partnership with Blacknall. A phrase often heard in our household and ministry captures well my heart and desire for Blacknall: “Building bridges of trust that can bear the weight of truth”. A passage of scripture that speaks to this, found in 2 Corinthians 5, has profoundly stirred within me a yearning to love Jesus and to love others in His name. The call from Jesus is to be an ambassador/minister of reconciliation to others.  This has led to what has become a lifelong journey and vocation of being a bridge builder culturally and spiritually. If elected Elder for a second term, I believe the ways God has shaped me through this first term on session and as a cross-cultural worker will be useful in helping to lead Blacknall as we continue to be beacons for Christ in Durham and the world.

Mark Paulson

My wife, Anne, and I were married in Charlotte in August, 1985 and moved to this area and got involved at Blacknall a year later in August, 1986. This community has been foundational for my family and me – our children (Courtney and Nick) were baptized and grew up at Blacknall, and our daughter and her husband Francisco were married here in 2015. The past 39 years have been a rich spiritual journey marked by deep friendships for which I am very grateful.

I love the diversity of our Blacknall community and the involvement we have both locally and globally in living out and proclaiming the gospel. I’m grateful for the thoughtful and humble leadership that God has provided.

I am a sinner that has been redeemed through Jesus. Christ is my hope and my purpose. Through His sacrifice on the cross I am able to know the God who created me and who sustains me daily. Out of gratitude for His love, I strive to walk in obedience to Him and His will. I recognize that sanctification is a lifelong process marked by confession and forgiveness and I am grateful for the Lord's faithfulness toward and patience with me.

I think relationships to those both inside and outside of our community of faith are fundamental to our mission as a church - to glorify the Triune God, to make known the crucified and risen Christ, and to advance the Kingdom that God is building in us, in Durham, and around the world. As an elder, I hope to promote and nurture opportunities for relationship and to weave those opportunities into our collective ministry."

Katie Reeder-Hayes

I am originally from Alabama but moved to Durham for medical residency 21 years ago and as life has worked out, we remained and NC has become our family's home. I came to Blacknall with my husband, Mark, in 2004 and we have raised our five kids here: Ben (21) Samuel (18), Connor (14), Patrick (13), and Everett (10). I feel as though different aspects of Blacknall's community life have been most front-and-center for us in different seasons, but serving in the nursery, as a Sunday School teacher for pre-school and elementary kids, as a participant and leader in the women's retreat, and on the Health Advisory Team during the COVID pandemic, have been some of my most meaningful areas of connection, and the children’s and youth ministries have been fundamental to our life as a family. Even though my faith in Christ has been central throughout my life, my experience continues to change. In the upheaval in the medical community, in the area of social justice where I work, and in the larger culture for the past few years, I feel newly challenged to trust that God is sovereign even when I can't immediately see that in circumstances around me, and newly convinced that only He is really trustworthy to hold me and those I love together! I feel called to share this reassurance with others at Blacknall as an elder, as we all navigate times when we feel the world to be unsafe, uncertain, or changing too fast for us.

Rebecca Alberti

My husband, Paul, and I moved to Durham about 3 ½ years ago from the Albany, NY area, which is where I am originally from. I have been working with refugees for the past 5 years, most recently at World Relief Durham. We had been coming to Blacknall for only a few weeks when I sat down with a group of strangers at the Block Party. They were friendly, and invited me to their small group, which really helped us get connected to the Blacknall community. I am currently serving on DMET and love the evening Women’s Bible Study group I am in.

My favorite verse is Psalm 62:8: “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” I am so grateful for Jesus, and my relationship with Him is the firm foundation of my life. I am convinced of the sovereignty of God and believe that He wants to be actively involved in our lives.

I appreciate the godly leadership and volunteer support at Blacknall. I enjoy connecting with others serving in the community, hospitality, game nights, and networking to get people/families the resources and support needed for their flourishing. As deacon, I am open to learning how I can strengthen connections with our neighbors, inside our church, and across the body of Christ.

Chuck Hoover

I am married to Sarah, and we have three children: Hannah (9), Claire (5), and Timothy (1.5). I have a degree in chemical engineering, and I work in pharmaceutical validation. I enjoy reading, playing video games, playing board games, and discussing theology.

Our family started visiting Blacknall in the spring of 2023, because we have several friends who are here. From the first time we visited, we felt welcomed as part of the Blacknall family. That, along with the preaching, the liturgy, and the church’s connection to Durham, made it clear that Blacknall is a place where we could grow in our faith and serve both the church and our local community.

While I grew up in church, it was in college where I began to learn what the hope of Jesus’ death and resurrection meant for my life. My faith is rooted in that hope, as I look toward the redemption of all things. Through the different seasons of my life, my faith has led me to serve wherever there was a need.

Here at Blacknall, I’ve been delighted to serve in the nursery on Sunday mornings, and with a few men’s ministry events. I’m thankful for being asked to stand as Deacon, and I’m looking forward to finding deeper ways to serve our church and to grow in my faith through that service.

Cory Pikaart

I am married to Christian and mother to 5. I spend my days homeschooling the kids and working on our property in Bahama. I take great delight in cooking experiments and time in the garden. Both are daily reminders of God's design and my place in all of it. My days are filled with the joyful triumphs and epic failures that go with rearing children. I have been attending Blacknall for about 15 years and have enjoyed the community and work of the diaconate so much that I would love to serve another term.

Robert Smith

I am a 3rd-year Ph.D. student in Operations Research at NC State and call the Triangle home, having been here for about 20 years. I came to Blacknall in the winter of my first year at State, looking for a church after three years in D.C. I was immediately struck the first time I was there by the kindness and outgoingness of the members to welcome in someone new. There was also a clear intentionality and conviction about the intersection of faith and our role in the community that kept me coming back.

My faith is rooted in the conviction of the Holy Spirit, His forgiveness of us, and the unique gifts He gives us — and how these three aspects play a role in how we live out our lives. As someone who spends most of his time analyzing decision-making, I am continually reminded of the magnitude and beauty of the plans He has for each and every one of us, even if we cannot see the clear path ahead. In my free time, I help coach baseball at a local Christian high school, trying my best to impart wisdom and guidance about the intersection of our interests and how our faith informs them.

I am particularly excited about passing on and extending the kindness and openness that the congregation showed me early on to all who come through Blacknall’s doors.

Dan Struble

I am completing my first term as Deacon this year and served as Chairman for the last two years. I have been a member/attender at Blacknall for almost 10 years, and my favorite volunteer activity has been working in the nursery with the youngest participants in our congregation (Lambs). I am Associate Dean for External Relations at Duke Divinity School, where I have served for 12 years. I am married to Karen Struble, and we have two children (Amanda and Benjamin) and two grandsons (Miles and Max).

Hadley Taylor

I moved to Durham at the end of 2020 to work as a nurse. With a hope for community in faith, I found myself in Blacknall’s sanctuary in 2022. Through relationship in small groups and Bible studies with congregants of all ages, my relationship with Jesus and perspective on how I can see Christ in creation and relationship changed. I sought out membership in a church for the very first time with my then-fiancé, Tom, and under Goodie and Dave’s counsel, we were married at Blacknall within the year. The Holy Spirit has worked through the unique, passionate, and persistent individuals of Blacknall to encourage me by simply walking alongside me, as I walk with Christ. I continue to find joy in genuine relationship with God’s people, finding out what makes them tick, cry, and smile. As a deacon, I hope to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a way that makes others feel as sought after and as welcomed as I first did.