A pastor now serving at a Lutheran Christian retreat center in Washington State will be the next Campus Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life at Augustana College. The Reverend Melinda Pupillo will begin at the college in January, and succeed Richard Priggie who retired last spring.
Search committee co-chair Jason Mahn says she's worked at Holden Village for the past 2 1/2 years where Augustana students and faculty study each winter.
"Pastor Melinda has had great practice being a spiritual leader of a very diverse group of folks, many of whom are young folks, millenials, or Gen-Z students."
The committee received 40 to 50 applications, and Mahn says they were looking for someone who could "connect" with students.
"So that he or she would be able to connect to fraternities and sororities, sports teams, and people who are religious in different ways or don't think of themselves as religious but still want to have conversations about meaning and purpose and what they feel called to be and to do."
On campus, the chaplain conducts three workship services and a Catholic mass each week, and serves as a spiritual advisor for students.
Prior to working at the Holden Village, Pupillo spent 13 years in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, including 11 years as associate pastor of a large Lutheran congregation.
