For father-son pastors, ministry is family affair
Plus: Top news of the week — Sports betting legalized in NC; Jordan sells majority stake in Hornets; Biden appoints Mandy Cohen to CDC; Charlotte No. 3 in nation for teen jobs
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He once figured he’d go to law school — but felt the family pull of ministry. Today, with his dad to lean on, Pen Peery leads Charlotte’s First Presbyterian Church
Pen Peery (left) learned about prioritizing family time from his father, Pete Peery. (Photo courtesy of Peery family.)
by Carroll Walton
You’d be hard-pressed to pass the potatoes at a Peery family dinner without handing them to a pastor.
Ministry is a family affair for Pen Peery. Growing up in Charlotte, his parents were pastors. Now, he and his sister, Meg, are both ministers. And they are both married to ministers.
“Meg and I joke now, ‘What else were we going to do?’” Peery said.
His dad, Pete Peery, jokes that he had his son Pen figured for “a heathen” when he decided to go to UNC Chapel Hill for college. When Pen told him a year after graduation that he was considering seminary, his father turned serious.
“Don’t do that because of us,” said Pete Peery, who’s been in ministry more than 40 years but is best known in Charlotte for the time he and his wife, Margaret, spent as associate pastors at Myers Park Presbyterian. “If it’s what you feel, it’s fine, but don’t do that because of us.”
Pen assured his parents he chose this path because he wanted it. Looking back on it now, though, in his 10th year as senior pastor at Charlotte’s First Presbyterian Church, it’s clear that their influence had a big hand in helping him stay on the path.
“You may not know this, but 50% of seminary graduates who take the first church (call) don’t take a second church because they’re naïve to the reality of the pressures of the job,” said Pen. “Dad taught us, my sister and me, about those realities. … When you’re a pastor, you’re never really off. And Dad managed that really well.”
Peery, 46, is a sixth-generation Presbyterian minister, tracing his clerical roots through his maternal grandmother’s side to the Rev. George Junkin, the former president of Washington College, which is now Washington & Lee University. History has it that Junkin left his post before the Civil War over philosophical differences with the Confederacy.
Following the family legacy wasn’t always obvious to Pen Peery, though, especially as a teenager. Like many mischievous “PKs” (preachers’ kids), he was more likely to pass notes to a buddy in the pew about the previous night’s “Saturday Night Live” episode than to lock in on his father’s sermon.
But the message had already begun to do its work, whether it was at church or at home. As a 5- or 6-year-old, Pen once shared his sister’s bedroom for a month after his parents took in a parishioner from Myers Park Presbyterian who was going through a health crisis.
At the age of 7, he moved away from home and his friends to London, so his parents could join a peacemaking mission in Europe at the height of the Cold War. And when Pen was 10, he tagged along with his father door-to-door one 96-degree Sunday afternoon in Matthews, trying to establish MorningStar Presbyterian Church from the ground up.
Peery originally planned to study law at UNC but kept his foot in the proverbial clerical door when he joined a local youth group and stayed active in the church. It was there that he met his wife, Lindsey.
From left to right: Jarrett and Meg (Peery) McLaughlin, Margaret and Pete Peery, Pen and Lindsey Peery. (Photo courtesy of Peery family.)
He was still undecided on his future the year after graduation he spent with AmeriCorps, working for Habitat for Humanity in Asheville, before admitting to himself he wanted to go to seminary.
“God and I had a little, ‘I’ll wait you out,’” Peery said.
After seminary and pastoring jobs in Richmond, Va., and Shreveport, La., he interviewed for the job with First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. His legacy didn’t hurt. In fact, he met members of the search committee while sitting as his father’s desk in Montreat, where Pete was serving as president of the Presbyterian conference center.
“A lot of people know Mom and Dad,” Pen said. “I’m a tall white guy in the South, whose family is sixth-generation Presbyterian minister. I kind of start halfway between third base and home plate.”
Pen now heads a church of nearly 2,000 members, which has its worship service broadcast on live TV. He is a father of four. Lindsey works full-time as the chaplain at Trinity Episcopal School. They have a lot going on, but they have always tried to model their family life like the Peerys did, starting with the passing of potatoes.
Meal time is sacred. “That is bedrock,” Pen said. So is family vacation. Pete recalls having a parishioner once insist he come home from vacation early to perform a funeral, rather than have the assistant minister on duty do it. He resisted.
Pen Peery said he’s also benefitted from being able to pick up the phone and call his parents on the toughest days. He tends to ask for his dad’s help with issues centering on church administration or capital campaigns, and he goes to his mom, a licensed therapist, for advice on pastoral care, helping congregants through a death or difficult divorce.
“I do think having parents that really get what the job is on an empathetic level is huge,” Pen said. “There’s a host of things that are helpful to unload emotionally and have (Dad) not just be like, ‘I hate that for you,’ but ‘Oh yeah, I remember.’”
Pen said watching the choices his dad made throughout his career in ministry also taught him lessons about humility.
“I think one of the dangers of pastors is narcissism,” Pete says. He didn’t always choose the bigger church or the logical step up.
The elder Peery, now 75, retired in 2014. Since then, he has served as interim pastor at Myers Park Presbyterian and later the First Presbyterian Church of Greer, S.C.
This past weekend, Pete Peery was named pastor emeritus at First Presbyterian Church of Asheville near where he and Margaret make their home in Black Mountain. They still worship on Sundays in Asheville but like to catch up on what both Pen and his sister Meg Peery McLaughlin, co-pastor at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, are doing by watching their services online Sunday afternoons. They live close enough to both Chapel Hill and Charlotte to dote on their seven grandchildren and visit their PKs on all the special Sundays.
Margaret and Pete Peery were in the pew at First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte in October when it reopened its sanctuary after a $10 million renovation.
Looking up to see his son preaching in the pulpit, Pete said, still gets to him.
“My heart sings,” Pete says. “I rejoice. It’s just great to be in the pew listening to Pen and seeing how he’s developed as a preacher and seeing how he’s grounded theologically.”
Pete isn’t above taking a few good-natured digs at his son, either. An easy target is Pen’s sermon-writing process. Pete tells a story about a time Pen pushed his writing right up to the edge as a new pastor in Shreveport. He was printing out his sermon just before the service started.
“The paper was warm,” Pen admits.
“I would have a heart attack if I did sermons like he did,” said Pete, who used to hole up in his study in the middle of the week to write his sermon. “He’ll go to Starbucks and write a sermon. I could no more do that than fly to the moon. If I were having to finish it up on Saturday, I’d be freaking. He went through school that way. I thought he’d flunk out and never make it. But he’s done very well.”
And for that, the Peery family can get an Amen.
Carroll Walton writes The Charlotte Ledger’s weekly Fútbol Friday newsletter on Charlotte FC. She was previously a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Reach her at carroll@cltledger.com.
Pen Peery preaching in the newly renovated sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of First Presbyterian Church.)
This week in Charlotte: NC legalizes sports betting; Jordan sells majority stake in Hornets; more teens get summer jobs; nursing home complaints surge
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Politics
Sports betting legalized: (WRAL) Gov. Roy Cooper signed a bill into law Wednesday that will allow mobile and in-person sports betting starting sometime in the first half of 2024. In Charlotte, in-person betting rooms will be allowed to open at the Spectrum Center, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Quail Hollow Club. The N.C. Lottery Commission will approve vendors and establish rules. The Ledger on Friday took a closer look (🔒) at where the money goes and how much gambling operators such as pro sports teams stand to make.
River District, Eastland money approved: (Spectrum News) The Charlotte City Council agreed to spend $65M to help build a tennis complex in the River District west of the airport and $30M to redevelop a portion of the old Eastland Mall site. The city is using hospitality money that must be spent on tourism-related projects.
City budget approved: (WCNC) The Charlotte City Council approved a $3.3B budget for 2023-24 on a 10-1 vote. It includes raises for city employees and has a “revenue neutral” tax rate, though most homeowners will pay more in taxes because of this year’s revaluation.
Local news
Child death investigation: (WBTV) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are searching for information about the Thursday night death of a 12-year-old boy who suffered “significant trauma” but whose cause of death appears to be complex and unclear. On Friday, two suspects were charged with murder in the boy’s death.
Mandy Cohen to lead CDC: (WRAL) Dr. Mandy Cohen, who became a household name across North Carolina during the pandemic when she led the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, has been chosen as director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by President Joe Biden. News reports last month signaled that Cohen had been expected to fill the role.
Business
Top tourism leader retires: (Ledger 🔒) Tom Murray announced this week that he’s retiring as head of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, a post he’s held for 11 years. Murray took the job following a rough patch for CRVA and is regarded as a steady leader who had to manage his own set of big challenges, including HB2 boycotts and Covid-era shutdowns of restaurants, travel and events.
Teen summer workforce: (Ledger 🔒) Charlotte ranks No. 3 in the country for teen hiring this month as scores of teens apply for jobs, much to the relief of employers who struggled for the last two summers to hire enough staff.
Solar sale: (WFAE) Duke Energy is selling its unregulated commercial wind and solar business to Brookfield Renewable for $2.8B. The 550-employee division will stay headquartered in Charlotte.
Sports
Jordan to sell majority stake in Hornets: (ESPN) Michael Jordan is selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for approximately $3B to a group that includes Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin, Atlanta Hawks minority owner Rick Schnall, rapper J. Cole and country music singer Eric Church. Jordan paid $275M for a majority stake in the franchise in 2010, and he’ll continue to be a minority owner and maintain a presence with the Hornets.
Panthers release training camp schedule: (WBTV) The Carolina Panthers announced their schedule for training camp, which starts July 26 at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Tickets are free, but fans need to reserve them in advance.
Interim basketball coach: (WBTV) UNC Charlotte named associate men’s basketball coach Aaron Fearne as new interim head coach, as it searches for a replacement for Ron Sanchez.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Surge in nursing home complaints: Residents of Mecklenburg County nursing homes face risks due to staffing shortages and complaints have surged, causing delays in investigating those complaints, according to members of Mecklenburg County’s nursing home advisory committee. “I would not want to live in a nursing home based on what I’ve seen,” said one committee member who makes unannounced visits to nursing homes as a member of the committee.
Eastland proposal gains momentum: Neighborhood groups on Charlotte’s east side are throwing their support behind a new public-private proposal for an indoor sports center at the old Eastland Mall site, favoring it over a rival plan for an e-sports facility and concert venue.
Senator praises former airport director: During a groundbreaking ceremony for a new runway at Charlotte’s airport, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis praised former airport director Jerry Orr and his significant contributions to the airport's growth — leading to its current status as a major hub — and prompting suggestions that something at the airport should be named after Orr.
Wednesday (🔒)
Childcare crisis: North Carolina’s childcare industry is already in crisis, but a new obstacle appears to be looming in December, when a government grant program is set to expire, which could cause more daycare programs to have trouble paying staff and staying open.
Charlotte ‘finding its cool’: Assistant City Manager Tracy Dodson told a gathering of Charlotte real estate professionals this week that Charlotte needs to keep investing in its infrastructure and making strategic investments to improve the city’s quality of life. She added that “we’re not made of cool. We’re just now finding our cool.”
Charlotte below average in post-Covid return: Charlotte ranked No. 38 out of 63 cities in terms of downtown foot traffic recovery after Covid, with 58% of pre-pandemic activity, potentially influenced by a higher concentration of workers at major employers adopting hybrid work arrangements.
Homeowners stay put: The Charlotte housing market experienced a 25% decrease in new listings in May compared to the previous year, as homeowners held back due to higher interest rates, while the number of closings dropped by 17% year-over-year but increased by 5% from April 2023.
‘Smart-people’s club’: A Charlotte magazine article about the state of the local news landscape in Charlotte chronicles the shift from a legacy media-dominated market to one in which new upstarts are gaining traction. It quotes Ledger founder and executive editor Tony Mecia about how the cutbacks in media have affected coverage, and how he envisions the Ledger as serving “the smart people’s club.”
Ways of Life (🔒)
Regina Grier used her podcast to uplift and promote Black excellence — all while battling cancer. She died in April at age 28, leaving behind a legacy of empowering others and spreading positivity.
Urbanist ideas for Charlotte: A recent Charlotte conference on urbanism provided plenty of ideas for better integrating homes, businesses and mass transit — and longtime writer Mary Newsom takes a look at how some of them might be applied here.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project