NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2005

CONTACT: John Strange, (919) 933-7567; (919) 815-0367 (cell); This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Raleigh's Pullen Memorial Baptist Church
to Receive Honor for Work Against Death Penalty

CARRBORO – People of Faith Against the Death Penalty will honor Raleigh's Pullen Memorial Baptist Church with its 2005 Faith in Action Award at its 11th anniversary banquet on Dec. 2 at the Exploris Museum in Raleigh.

"For many years, members and ministers of Pullen have blessed all North Carolinians with their steadfast leadership and exemplary commitment to ending executions," said PFADP President Alyson Newman. "It is our privilege to say ‘thank you' to this faith community which has been ever-present at the forefront of creative, prayerful action for a society free of state executions."

The Faith in Action Award is given annually to a faith community whose members have provided exemplary efforts towards abolition.

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church often hosts prayer services on nights that North Carolina executes prisoners at Central Prison about a mile away. Pullen's pastor emeritus, W.W. Finlator, was the second person to receive PFADP's Rev. Robert E. Seymour Award for his efforts spanning decades to end executions.

This year's Seymour Award winner is Daniel Pollitt, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina School of Law and a longtime leader and anti-death penalty activist.

PFADP will also present its Community Service Award to the Rev. James Brown, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, and Raleigh resident Dorothy King of Raleigh, who has visited women in prison and on North Carolina's death row every week since 1980.

In addition, the Greensboro Chapter of PFADP will present its Hall Partrick Award, named after a longtime PFADP member who died earlier this year, to NC Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro for "outstanding dedication and service towards abolishing the death penalty."

The keynote speaker at the banquet will be Stanley Hauerwas, theology professor at Duke University Divinity School and, according to Time magazine, "America's best theologian."

A PFADP membership meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. A reception will be held at 6; the banquet begins at 7.

Tickets for the banquet are $60 for PFADP members, $70 for non-members, and $30 for students.

Membership in PFADP is $25 for individuals; $40 for households.

Tickets can be purchased by sending a check to People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, 110 W. Main St., Suite 2-G, Carrboro, NC 27510.

Tickets can also be ordered online at www.pfadp.org. Call (919) 933-7567 for more information.