staff

Crystal (she/her/hers) was born in NYC and raised in New Jersey. She began serving CityWell in 2018 after serving as the Pastor of Discipleship at Swansboro United Methodist Church. She has a background in government, politics, and community organizing and is passionate about liturgical dance, worship, discipleship, Christian formation, and preaching/teaching. She holds her MDiv from Duke Divinity School and is currently pursuing a ThD focusing on prophetic preaching and teaching.  She focuses ministry on the intersections of Womanist theology and ethics, prophetic preaching and teaching, and Wesleyan discipleship. Her favorite book of the Bible is Revelation (because it’s a love story), she enjoys a good cup of coffee with a friend, and watching Disney movies with her 2 sons.  She concludes: “In all matters that love must be the ethic by which we conduct ourselves… because, God is love.”

Contact

Schedule a Meeting

Hansol (he/him/his) was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to El Paso, TX at age of 12. He slowly made his way east where he graduated with his MDiv with certificate in prison studies from Duke Divinity School in 2018. He always considered CityWell his home during his years at Divinity School, and he is now back to join the CityWell family once again! Previous to rejoining CityWell, Hansol served as a Pastor at both New Bethel United Methodist Church and Rougemont United Methodist Church. He dreams of a prophetic community that embodies the restorative and healing powers of the Holy Spirt where we can be truly celebrated be in in our created beings. Hansol and his partner Talitha (she/her/hers) have been married since their drama-free pandemic wedding of May 2020. They have a boxer mix named Nova who keeps them busy with her rowdy energy. Hansol has an adventurous spirit and he is down to try just about anything at least twice. In his free time, he likes to cruise around the back roads of Durham on his motorcycle or find new things to cook in the kitchen.

Contact

Schedule A Meeting

Jesse Nathaniel Huddleston (he/she/they/we) grew up in church participating in worship through song & dance and comes from a family full of ministers, artists, and educators. He has lived in North Carolina since 2006 when he enrolled at Duke as an undergraduate student. They finished in 2010 with degrees in Sociology and Psychology and later completed a MS in Counseling in 2014. Jesse continues to develop her vocational work for equity and community engagement through the arts in Durham, and she has served with CityWell UMC since January 2017. As a Black genderqueer human, we draw significant inspirations of learning, healing, and joy from our Blackqueer ancestors, Pauli Murray and James Baldwin, and we aspire to encourage all people to resist any human development rooted in shame or control and to pursue healthy, humanizing formation grounded in revolutionary love and creative energy. In their spare time, they bake pound cakes from scratch, tend to their indoor plants, and mind their business. He is often spending time with friends & neighbors, be it over food & drink at home, out at a social or political event, or on a dance floor.

Leslie Gartrell (she/ her/ hers) is originally from the Washington D.C. area but has called Durham home since 2012. In 2004 she received her Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Sociology from Morgan State University, a Historically Black College in Baltimore, MD. She also met her husband, John, while attending Morgan, though neither of them can remember exactly when that happened. Since moving to Durham however, she has focused on raising her three children, Elijah, Joy and Liv. Leslie enjoys quilting, sharing a funny story with friends, playing Monopoly with Elijah, and listening to Joy and Liv’s laughter. She began her walk with Christ in 2007 and her favorite scripture is Philippians 4:8. After being CityWell “adjacent” for so many years Leslie is honored to serve the warm and welcoming community here.

Trinada has directed the Nursery at CityWell for the past several years. She has lived most of her life in Durham and considers herself a Durham native. She has a BFA from UNC-Greensboro and has taught children of all ages. She lives here with her two children, Lillyana and Leonardo, and her husband, Edward. She is currently a teacher at Waypoint Preschool in Chapel Hill.

Hi! I’m Leticia, the Children’s Minister Assistant. I am Salvadoran-American, and come from Fort Lauderdale, FL, all the way to lovely Durham. I’ve been around Durham since the summer of 2017. I recently graduated after studying Neuroscience at Duke University, and am taking a couple of gap years before applying to grad school. I enjoy exploring the outdoors (please send outdoor trail recs!), and am currently really getting into crafting things out of polymer clay. I’m really excited and honored to join the CityWell team!

Caroline (she/they) is a third-year student at Duke Divinity School working towards ordination. Caroline has roots all over North Carolina but would claim Greensboro as home. She grew up in the United Methodist Church and surrounded by music. She was in the choir at every age level and would sometimes sing with her dad’s southern gospel quartet, the Sons of Thunder. Caroline is passionate about justice and inclusion inside and outside the church walls. They recently traveled to the US-Mexico border to learn about the sanctuary movement and to drop food and water in the desert for friends making the cross. Although they may be at Duke, Caroline will always and forever be a Tar Heel.

Hello! I am a 2021 Eagle-proud receipt of my Bachelor of Social Work from North Carolina Central University, where I focused on Macro level language, development, and organizing with specificity in our black youth. I am currently attending Duke University’s Divinity School pursuing a dual degree (Master of Divinity and Master of social work). I am working towards receiving my certificates in Black Church Studies and my certification in Faith-based organizing, community development, and advocacy, all of which I hope to encompass the calling God has designed for me. CityWell Church, I look forward to getting to know this community, learning from this community, and developing a spiritual longevity line of community and family with this field education opportunity at CityWell Church.