(Updates as of 2/15/22)
Changes to the 2022 Rural Ministry Conference
- The 2022 Rural Ministry Conference is now being held at Wartburg Theological Seminary, 333 Wartburg Place, Dubuque, IA 52003. It will NOT be held at the Best Western Plus Hotel in Dubuque. All meetings will be on the Wartburg Seminary campus. There is NOT a Zoom option this year.
- Registration for the entire conference is now limited to 70 people. If you have already registered, you need do nothing else. If you have not yet registered, please consider doing so quickly. Registration for the Monday only workshops is NOT limited. Registration closes March 2nd or when 70 people have registered.
- There is on campus housing available for up to 30 people. Housing includes linens, a private bathroom and either one or two twin beds. Links for local hotels are below. The Best Western Plus Hotel will NOT offer a conference rate.
- Conference meals are limited to lunches, dinners, and breakout snacks. Breakfast will not be served at Wartburg so even those with on campus housing will have to find breakfast elsewhere. Please list dietary requirements on your registration form.
- Registration is now reduced to $150.00 per person. The $50 scholarship for those new to rural ministry still applies.
- If you have any question, please contact Ann Fritschel at 563-589-0308 or afritschel@wartburgseminary.edu.
Some area hotels
- Best Western Plus 3100 Dodge Street, Conference rates no longer apply.
- Hampton Inn Dubuque 3434 Dodge Street
- Fairfield Inn Dubuque 3400 Dodge Street
- Days Inn Dubuque 1111 Dodge Street
Creation Stewardship and Ministry in a time of Climate Change
Climate Change is impacting our world, especially rural areas, in many different ways. This conference will explore climate change’s impacts in rural America as well as well as how often rural areas become victims to injustice in how climate and creation stewardship are addressed in the United States. Grounded in biblical and theological understandings, emphasis will be on practical ways for rural congregations, leaders, and communities to think about creation stewardship in a time of climate change.
Melanie Mullen – Rev. Melanie Mullen serves as Episcopal Church’s Director of Reconciliation, Justice & Creation Care – charged with bringing the Jesus Movement to the concerns of the world. Prior to joining the Presiding Bishop’s staff she was the Downtown Missioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, leading a historic southern congregation’s missional, civic, and reconciliation ministries.
Matt Russell – Matt Russell was appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as the State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Iowa in November 2021.
Craig Nessan – Dr. Craig L. Nessan is William D. Streng Professor for the Education and Renewal of the Church, Academic Dean, and Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. Dr. Nessan has served eleven years as a parish pastor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He holds degrees from Michigan State University, Wartburg Theological Seminary, and the University of Munich. He serves as Co-Editor of the online journal, Currents in Theology and Mission (
Jeff Schlesinger – Reverend Schlesinger has served as a pastor in the ELCA for 24 years serving in small town and rural settings in Wisconsin and Illinois. He currently serves Heart of Illinois Lutheran Parish which is made up of Immanuel Lutheran that sits in the midst of the cornfields and windmills south of Compton, IL and what he lovingly refers to as his “urban” church, First Lutheran, which lies in the center of Lee, IL (population 200 – the town, not the church). Schlesinger earned an MDiv from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN in 1998 and a ThM from Lutheran School of Theology Chicago in 2012. As he enters his final decade of active ministry, he has established two mission goals for himself: to help the Church integrate the well being of Creation in its life and mission, and to help the Church envision and create new shared ministry models that will serve the changing church into the future.
Irene Demaris – Irene has spent her career working in faith-based non-profits. She has a passion for working with people as they take their faith and act on social justice issues. As Iowa Interfaith Power & Light’s acting executive direct, Irene facilitates their Faith Farms & Climate program where they bring together groups of farmers and rural clergy to talk about how their vocation leads them to take climate action.
The Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen – Rev. Mark Yackel-Juleen is a 1989 graduate of Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN and was ordained in October of that year. In 1992, he and his spouse Margaret founded Shalom Hill Farm, a rural ministry education and retreat center in southwestern Minnesota where he served as executive director until 2017. In 2004, he received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN—his research focused on factors that impact satisfaction and effectiveness for pastors serving in small town and rural settings. Mark came to Wartburg in 2015 as Director for Small Town and Rural Ministry with the Center for Theology and Land. He has served the church in various capacities over the years—missionary to Hong Kong, synodical rural ministry coordinator, internship supervisor for 15 interns, adjunct instructor to several seminaries—but his deepest roots are in small town and rural congregations which he served for 17 years. Mark has a passion for travel, especially international travel, and has been involved in rural development projects in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa working with the ELCSA. Mark and Margaret (also an ELCA pastor serving a small town and rural parish) have been married for 36 years and live in Elkader, Iowa. They have three children, one of whom is an ELCA pastor serving in rural southeastern Minnesota.