The Western Iowa Synod is excited to announce our new Director for Evangelical Mission (DEM), Pastor Melissa Pickering. Pastor Melissa will begin her work in the DEM role on Monday, March 16.

Pastor Melissa has most recently served as the called Pastor to First Lutheran in downtown Audubon, MN. She also served as the Rural Ministry Mission Developer for the Northwest Minnesota Synod of the ELCA. In this role, Pastor Melissa works with rural and small-town congregations that are experiencing a strain on resources and members. She helps them discover new ways to be church in their community and different ways to live out their mission.

Pastor Melissa is a 1998 Augustana graduate and a 2022 graduate of Luther Seminary’s M.DivX program. Before going to seminary, Pastor Melissa was a Children and Youth Minister in Moorhead, MN. She and her husband Brian have adult daughters—Katherine, Audrey, and Elizabeth—and a middle-school-aged son, Erickson.

She has been involved in campus ministry at MSUM, The Jordan Project, and the Women’s Resiliency Team for the Northwest Minnesota Synod. She enjoys walking, running, and conversations about worship and ministry. She loves music, being with family and friends, and watching rom-coms.

Join us in welcoming Pastor Melissa Pickering, the new Director for Evangelical Mission for the Western Iowa Synod.