The Rev. Hollie Holt-Woehl holds a Ph.D. in Pastoral Care and Counseling with particular emphasis on the congregation. Her dissertation, “Congregations as Trinitarian Communities: Accepting, Welcoming, and Supporting People with Chronic Mental Illness,” explores congregations who have welcomed people with mental illness into the life of the congregation. Ordained in 1993 in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), she has served congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings. Dr. Holt-Woehl is an Adjunct Professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, since 2008, teaching the course, “Ministry with Persons with Mental Illness and Their Families,” and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at St John’s School of Theology and Seminary, Collegeville, MN, since 2021. She also serves a lecturer in Pastoral Care and Mental Health at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Umphumulo, South Africa.

Select Publications

• “They Don’t Come with Instructions: Cries, Wisdom, and Hope for Parenting Children with Developmental Challenges.” (2018) Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
• “Autism” co-authored with Steven Thurber, in Ministry with Persons with Mental Illness and Their Families, edited by Robert Albers, et. al. Second Edition. (2019) Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 157-174.
• “God is Good” (2017) Giving: Growing Joyful Stewards in Your Congregation. Ecumenical Stewardship Center. Volume 19.
• “Creation and A Theology of Humanness” (2012) Journal of Religion, Disability, and Health, 16(2).
• Grief and Loss (six session curriculum for persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities) for the Cross Road Journey Curriculum (Course 3). (2011) Watertown, WI: Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services.

Research interests

• Pastoral Care
• Pastoral Theology
• Mental Health
• Congregation Care