Click here to contact any of the staff members.
Rev. J. George Reed, Executive Director
George grew up in Orlando, Florida, B.D. (“Before Disney,” which gives an idea of how old he is). He is a graduate of Florida State University, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, and the University of Virginia Law School. Prior to coming to the Council, he was the pastor of Mountain Plain Baptist Church, Mechums River, Virginia, and the Director of Citizenship Education and World Hunger for the Baptist State Convention of NC. He became Legislative Program Associate for the Council in 1996 and Executive Director in 2000.
George is a member of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh where he has been on the Deacon Council and Coordinating Council and has taught adult Sunday School. You can reach George at: greed (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Richard Fireman, NC IPL Public Policy Advisor
Richard Fireman has been a dedicated volunteer with NC IPL since 2005, when he helped organize Caring for Creation of WNC and joined our Steering Committee. He was the founder of the Green Sangha of WNC, a Buddhist social and environmental justice community. As a student of Father Thomas Berry and deep ecology, he believes that humanity is poised on the cusp of either continuing a death spiral into cultural and ecologic collapse or a transformation of human society into a life enhancing age, named the Ecozoic Age by Berry. This will entail not only a reinvention of the conventional human institutions such as business, government, education, law, and medicine, but a transformation of the human spirit. He believes that our joy, passion, determination, and creativity are fully capable to create a sustainable earth democracy, in which the rights of all beings, both human and other than human can fulfill the highest potential of their evolutionary capacity.
Rose Gurkin, Program Associate for Administration
Rose Gurkin joined the staff in 2001. She manages the database and website for the Council and is the general office manager. She is a graduate of Western Carolina University with a BS in Music Education and from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with a M.Div. She also serves as the Music Director for the First Presbyterian Church of Garner. She and her husband Michael are the household help for a very spoiled cat, Spirit. Spirit was adopted by the Gurkins from Sr. Evelyn Mattern. You can reach Rose at: nccofc (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Sandy Irving, Volunteer for Health Care Reform
Sandy Irving has been involved with the Council’s work for many years. She currently serves on the Governing Board in addition to serving as the Volunteer for Health Care Reform. You can reach Sandy at: sirving (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
David LaMotte, Consultant for Peace
David LaMotte is a graduate of James Madison University, where he became passionate about mediation and alternative conflict resolution in the late eighties and the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where he completed a masters in International Relations, Peace and Conflict Resolution. David is a member of the Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting, but also has one foot in the Presbyterian Church (USA). You can reach David at: dlamotte (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Chris Liu-Beers, Program Associate
Chris Liu-Beers grew up in Delaware and went to college in Pennsylvania before moving to Durham, NC in 2003. A graduate of Duke Divinity School, he has been working with the NC Council of Churches since 2006. His commitment to immigrant rights, sustainability and social justice has been shaped in part by studying abroad in Jerusalem, Israel and Zacatecas, Mexico. As Program Associate, he works on immigration and farmworker-related advocacy, rural life issues, and the Council’s worship resources. Chris lives in Durham with his wife, Tana Liu-Beers. You can reach Chris at: chris (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Megan Loughlin Nerz, Legislative Advocacy
Megan joined the Council in early 2011 as a volunteer lobbyist working primarily on immigrant rights issues. In 2006, Megan founded the Franciscan Coalition for Justice and Peace at the Catholic Community of St Francis in Raleigh and later served as the Director of Pastoral Ministries at St. Francis. Prior to that she co-founded the Justice Theater Project and has twice served on the Board of Directors at Passage Home. She currently serves on the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Directorate for Holy Name Province.
Megan’s commitment to social justice is reflected in this quotation from Ambrose Redmoon: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
Megan can be reached at: megan (at) nccouncilofchurches.org
Aleta Payne, Development and Communications
Aleta Payne first joined the Council staff in the spring of 2001 as the Communications Associate. She now oversees development, as well. Aleta is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in government and foreign affairs and has spent much of her career as a journalist.
She and her husband have three sons whose many interests and activities keep the family hopping. Their shepherd-mix, Sawyer, loves her best. The family attends St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cary. You can reach Aleta at: apayne (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Rev. Rollin Russell, Program Associate
Rollin Russell is a native of New Orleans , LA , and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University Divinity School where he received both his seminary and doctoral degrees. He is an Ordained Minister of the United Church of Christ. After serving congregations in Virginia , Pennsylvania and Texas he was elected Conference Minister of the Southern Conference of the UCC. He served on the Executive Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches from 1982 -1999, including one term as President. He finished his ministry career as a member of the faculty of Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster , PA and is now retired in Hillsborough , NC . He is an unabashed “ecumaniac”, having also served on the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Texas Conference of Churches, and Churches Uniting in Christ. He and his wife, Betsy, are the parents of three adult children and three grand children. You can reach Rollin at: rollinrussell (at) nc.rr.com.
Allison Scherberger, Volunteer Coordinator – NC IPL
Allison Scherberger began working with NCIPL in September of 2011. Allison recently graduated from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment (Class of 2011), where she received her Masters in Environmental Management (or Managing Human use of the Environment, as she likes to phrase it). At Duke, Allison most enjoyed studying the social and spiritual aspects of conservation, as she believes that social norms, spiritual values, and moral systems critically affect to the environmental issues we face today and will face in the future. Before coming to Duke, Allison studied Ecology and Biodiversity at Sewanee: The University of the South. It was at Sewanee that Allison realized she could make a career out of her passion, caring for and being in the natural world. Allison most recently returned from a summer in Ecuador, where she explored practicing permaculture at different organic farms. Allison is thrilled with her new position at NC IPL, as she feels this opportunity brings together so many of her personal and environmental goals and beliefs. You can reach Allison at: allison (at) nccouncilofchurches.org
Dr. Kathy Shea, Co-Director – NC IPL
Kathy Shea is a board-certified pediatrician, board eligible in preventive medicine with specialty training in environmental health sciences. She is on the adjunct faculty at both UNC and Duke and has taught courses at the UNC School of Public Health, UNC Medical School and at Duke in the Nicholas School for the Environment. Her undergraduate degree in mathematics is from Brown University, her medical degree is from the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center, and she holds a Master of Public Health in environmental sciences and engineering from UNC-CH. She served three terms on the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health and currently works part-time at a staff physician at North Carolina State University’s Student Health Service. Kathy has been working on environmental theology and earth stewardship for 10 years and is an active member of United Church of Chapel Hill. She also teaches yoga. You can reach Kathy at: kshea (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Susannah Tuttle, Co-Director – NC IPL
Susannah Tuttle received a Masters of Divinity degree from Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Her work at the GTU focused on three different interrelated levels of human existence: Educational/Philosophical, Institutional/Physical-Structural, and Communal/Bioregional. Upon graduation she was hired as UNC Chapel Hill’s first Sustainability Research Associate. She continues as co-founder and partner in Trace Collaborative, LLC a consulting firm specializing in the implementation of sustainability within the design and construction industry. Susannah is a founding member of HistoricGreen, a national nonprofit transforming and revitalizing communities through education and charitable activities that integrate sustainable design and heritage conservation practices. She recently served on the Board of Directors of the NC Triangle Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Willona Stallings, Program Coordinator – Partners in Health & Wholeness
Willona Stallings was born and raised in Goldsboro, NC and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill both as an undergraduate (B.A., Psychology) and graduate student (MPH, Maternal and Child Health). After receiving her bachelor’s degree and before returning to school full-time to obtain her master’s, Willona served as Data Manager for the NC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and Program Consultant for the NC Sickle Cell Syndrome Program. In her new role as PHW Coordinator, she works to build partnerships between the NC Council of Churches’ member bodies and stakeholders in faith-based health initiatives.
Willona enjoys spending time with close friends and family, weekend road trips, walking for exercise and bargain shopping. You can reach Willona at: willona (at) nccouncilofchurches.org.
Joy T. Williams, Regional Consultant – Partners in Health & Wholeness
Joy is excited about joining the North Carolina Council of Churches, following a Master’s of Public Health degree at UNC-CH. She wanted to stay in NC, because despite the abroad experiences that taught her to appreciate new places, e.g. attending Wheaton College in Norton, Ma, where she received a B.A. in Hispanic Studies or in Mali (featured in picture), nothing was like home. In May 2011, she sought summer internships to fulfill her passion to be a health educator near Chapel Hill. She found a God-given gift of sharing health with congregations! She is now serving as the part-time Partners in Health and Wholeness (PHW) Regional Consultant, a North Carolina Council of Churches initiative.
Collins Kilburn, Executive Director Emeritus
Collins Kilburn served as Executive Director of the Council for 20 years prior to his retirement in 2000. He was named Executive Director Emeritus by the Council’s Executive Board in December, 2005.
A native of Memphis, Collins graduated from Memphis State College and received his M.Div. from Duke. He is an ordained United Church of Christ minister, a member of Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh, and a watch care member of Olin Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill.
Kilburn’s career with the Council spanned a total of 30 years, 10 of that as Director of Social Ministries, which included representing the Council on legislative issues. He wrote and performed folk songs linked to social justice issues of the time, such as “Take it All Off,” aimed at the repeal of the food tax and “Do You Have Room for a Little Boom Boom?” related to the MX missile.
Since retiring, he has found more time for tennis and for leading adult education programs focused on spiritual giants of our time. He and his wife, Martha Hamilton, share four children and seven grandchildren. served as Executive Director of the Council for 20 years prior to his retirement in 2000. He was named Executive Director Emeritus by the Council’s Executive Board in December, 2005.
MSW Intern from NC State: Leslie Forrest
Leslie Forrest is originally from Georgia but has been living in Raleigh since 2009. She currently is pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work from NC State. She joined the Council in the fall of 2011 as an intern, where she will be focusing on the importance of food to the environment, public health, immigrant and farm worker populations, and other areas of social justice.
Leslie’s home is dominated by her kitten, Sherlock, whose inquisitive nature fits his name perfectly. She hopes to adopt a dog and name it Watson in the near future. You can reach Leslie at: lforrest (at) nccouncilofchurches (dot) org.
Duke Divinity School Interns
Tyler Mahoney is a graduate student at Duke University Divinity School, a co-founder of Churchrater.com, and a writer for The Huffington Post. Tyler is a practicing Roman Catholic with a B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies from Seattle University. Tyler divides his time between Durham, North Carolina and his hometown of Anchorage, Alaska.
Lisa Talbott‘s first career was as a middle and high school English/Language Arts teacher in Anchorage, Alaska. In addition to classroom teaching, she also mentored new teachers and designed curricula. Lisa now attends Duke Divinity School and plans to become an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. Her hope is to serve in the Alaska United Methodist Conference where her husband, stepchildren, dog, and parrots still live. Lisa is a quilter, crafter, and fiber artist who constantly looks for new ways to express the beauty of God’s creation through art.
