Press Release: Stephanie Ressler To Become Chief Operating Officer at Churches United

MOORHEAD, MN. — Churches United, a large, faith-based nonprofit organization headquartered in Moorhead, Minnesota, announced today that Stephanie Ressler, the agency's former development director, was appointed its new chief operations officer. 

Stephanie Ressler, Chief Operating Officer of Churches United

Ressler will take over her duties immediately. Churches United will be hiring a new development director to fill her former role. 

In this new role, Ressler will oversee the agency's Micah's Mission emergency shelter, its case management department and the agency's Dorothy Day Food Pantry, all of which are located in Moorhead.

"I look forward to building on the organization's impact that was already set before me," Ressler said.

Churches United CEO Pastor Devlyn Brooks will continue to oversee the agency's finance team, its human resources department, and all other administrative personnel, and keep his active role in operations at Bright Sky Apartments and Silver Linings Apartments, also in Moorhead.

Before joining Churches United last summer, Ressler was the development director at HERO, a nonprofit organization dedicated to collecting used medical supplies that it resells at a discount locally and also donates worldwide to those in need. Prior to that, Ressler spent seven years at Red River Recovery, in Dilworth, Minn., which "really started (her) passion for advocating for people who felt like they didn't have a voice or needed someone to believe in them."

Ressler graduated from high school in Grafton, N.D., and attended college at North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., and she never left town afterwards.

"I've always believed this community is strongest when everyone feels they belong," Ressler said. "That's what first drew me to Churches United: the opportunity to be part of a mission that truly includes and uplifts all people."

Churches United was founded in 1987 in the heart of downtown Moorhead in a former Lutheran church. In 2019, Churches United merged with the Dorothy Day organization, also located in Moorhead. Today, Churches United operates four facilities, an emergency shelter, standalone food pantry and two permanent support housing apartment complexes, all of which are located in Moorhead. The agency serves more than 500 people every single day by sheltering, housing them, feeding them and ensuring their needs are met.

"Stephanie was the right person for the job, exactly at the time we needed an experienced and skillful leader the most," said Pastor Brooks, the agency's CEO. "We couldn't have found a more compassionate, skilled and thoughtful leader to join us at the exact right time as we chart what the future of Churches United looks like."

For more information, contact Pastor Brooks at 218-656-7032 or pastordevlyn@churches-united.org.

You can donate to Churches United by going to this link: https://donorbox.org/churches-united-5