Anthony is our new Pastor, joining us in January 2026. After teaching overseas God called him to the ministry. He attended Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and received a Master’s in both counseling and divinity.
Anthony comes to us from Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania and St. James Presbyterian church. His wife Sarah is a photographer. They have three children – Rilo, Rocco and Vito.
He likes to travel, hike, spend time with his family and is very excited to visit with each of you.

Praveen Pulukuri was born and raised in a small town in Andhra Pradesh, South India. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry before sensing a call to ministry, inspired by the faith and ministry of his grandparents, who served as pastors among Dalit Christian communities in rural India. Their faithful witness to the Gospel, not only through preaching, but through everyday acts of love, humility, and service, had a profound impact on his faith and continues to shape his understanding of ministry today.

Praveen often connects his own journey to John 12:32: when Christ is lifted up through the way we live, He draws people to Himself. This conviction guides his vocational calling, a belief that living out Christ’s love through kindness, compassion, and care speaks deeply to people’s hearts.

In May 2026, Praveen graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, VA, with a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Christian Education. It was there that he met his life partner, Katherine (Katie) Carboni, who serves as a Chaplain at Covenant Woods in Mechanicsville, VA.

Praveen is deeply grateful for this new season of life, giving thanks for God’s faithfulness and guidance as he continues to answer the call to serve God and God’s people.

A lifelong Richmonder, Mary Beth brings years of experience in administrative and communication roles for other congregations in the area.  Mary Beth grew up not far down the road and attended Virginia Tech for college, majoring in Interior Design and Spanish. Her deep ties to the area brought her back to Richmond, where she took a wandering career path through commercial interior design, marketing, and ultimately to serving her original home church, Northminster Baptist. She has a passion for the local church and is excited to serve New Hanover after spending some time as stay-at-home parent.  When not “administrating,” she enjoys playing tennis, traveling, completing house projects, and hanging out with her husband, three kids, and whippet, Poppy.

Carolyn joined our staff after spending many years working in education at the MathScience Innovation Center. While there, she developed technology and organizational expertise which have helped her to move into her role of church administrator. With a degree in Business Administration she has been eager to expand her role into other areas, such as database and website administration.
She enjoys interacting with her church family and feels that the best part of her position is helping others find their niche within their church life. A resident of Hanover County, Carolyn and her husband Richard have 2 children who graduated from Atlee High School. Their daughter, Morgan, later graduated from VT and their son, Justin is a more recent graduate from VCU.

June 1, 2020 marks Kayla’s arrival as Music Director at New Hanover Presbyterian Church. Kayla received her Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has played classical music since childhood but loves and appreciates all styles, and tries to incorporate as many as possible into New Hanover’s worship.
Kayla grew up in Northern Virginia and moved to the Richmond area about 12 years ago. She and her husband Mike, who is also a musician, have enjoyed getting into projects together throughout the years with friends and local musicians. She has two girls, two cats, and a dog. When she’s not playing music she’s probably making something with sourdough.

Julie started her education career at a public school in Texas. She and Brian, her husband of 24 years, have lived in Oregon, California, Texas, Michigan, West Virginia, and have been in Mechanicsville since 2000. They have 2 children – Jake and Abbie. Jake attends JMU and Abbie is a senior at Lee-Davis high school. Julie began working at New Hanover Christian school as a teacher and then transitioned to the role of the Director. She enjoys seeing all the children, families, and staff every day, and being a part of the NHPC family. Julie started an interior decorating business while she was a “stay at home” mom, and still loves to decorate and watch HGTV.