March 23: Mental Health & Rural Ministry

Join the Collegeville Institute for a conversation between Pastor Kim Knowle-Zeller of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cole Camp, MO; Pastor Heather Culuris of Holden and Dale Lutheran Parish in Kenyon, MN; and Brittney Marshall, student at University of Missouri School of Medicine, as they discuss mental health issues facing rural communities and ways congregations can respond. This conversation will be moderated by Jessie Bazan, program associate of the Communities of Calling Initiative.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022
12 – 1 PM, Central Time

Did you miss this event? Watch the recording below:

Panelists

Heather Culuris is a Lutheran pastor who lives in St. Peter, MN, and serves as a synod minister for Engaging Leaders in the Southwestern MN Synod of the ELCA.  Previously she served in southeastern Minnesota at Holden and Dale Lutheran Parish, located between Kenyon and Wanamingo. She and her husband are a clergy couple that have served in central Pennsylvania and northern Minnesota. Heather has a degree in Theology from Loyola College in Maryland and her Master’s in Divinity from St. John’s in Collegeville, Minnesota. Heather is married to Chris and they have a daughter and son as well as two small dogs.

Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, writer, and spouse of an ELCA pastor. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO and attends St. Paul’s Lutheran Church which is a part of the Collegeville Institute’s Communities of Calling Initiative. Kim writes at the intersection of faith and parenting, searching for the holiness in her days. You can read more at her website, or sign up for her monthly newsletter and receive a free downloadable resource: Walk and Talk with God: Reflection, Scripture references, and a how-to for your own contemplative walk.

Brittney Marshall is a third-year student working toward her MD at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. She lives in Boonville, MO with her husband and rescue dog, but she is currently completing her clinical clerkships in Sedalia and Cole Camp through her school’s Rural Scholars program. She is passionate about service and health outreach, with special interests in mental health, social determinants of health, public health, and improving access to care in underserved areas. She plans to serve rural Missouri and practice full-scope Family Medicine.

Moderator

Jessie Bazan, the Program Associate for the Communities of Calling Initiative and the Collegeville Institute Seminars, will moderate this discussion. Through her work, Jessie helps congregations discover and deepen their sense of God’s callings in the lives of their communities.