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Clergy Advisory Board
The Clergy Advisory Board advises the director of health on matters relating to public health
About the Board
The City of St. Louis Department of Health Clergy Advisory Board works with the Department of Health to improve health outcomes in the City. The multi-denominational Board advises the Department on public health matters and assists with communicating to the community about public health resources and information. The Board is a component of the Department's on-going efforts to engage the community in the prioritization of needs and the distribution of services.
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Members of the Board
Pastor Rodrick Burton
Reverend Rodrick Burton is the Senior Pastor of the historic New Northside Missionary Baptist Church. Pastor Burton attended Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri where he earned a Master’s in Educational Ministry. Burton is an airport chaplain and President of the St. Louis Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy, the Vice President of the Ecumenical Leadership Council and is a member of several regional ministerial alliances such as the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition, Baptist Ministers Union of St. Louis and Vicinity, the Jennings Clergy Coalition, The 27th Ward Clergy Alliance, The Interfaith Partnership of St. Louis, and The Pastoral Fellowship of St. Louis.
Burton works to address environmental justice as a member of the Sierra Club of Eastern Missouri and working with The Nature’s Conservancy, Metropolitan Congregations United, as well as being member of St. Louis’ Clean Energy Advisory Board. Burton is also a board member of A Caring Plus Inc., a nonprofit organization that builds low income housing throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.
Rose Jackson-Beavers
Rose Jackson-Beavers is a Senior Project Manager for the Bridges to Care and Recovery program of the Behavioral Health Network. She is a former social services administrator and adult educator. She has more than 25 years of experience working with families and their children in five federal programs including Head Start, CCDP, Healthy Families and Healthy Start, and the Triple P Program. She also has 13 years of work experience in Settlement Houses. Rose brings this expertise to community connector programming and behavioral health-friendly church development. Rose grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois and received her Bachelor and Master degrees from Illinois State and Southern Illinois Universities. Both in her personal and professional life, Rose enjoys actively engaging and volunteering in the faith community, as well as volunteering her time to local organizations throughout her community. In her spare time, she loves to write. She is a bestselling author of several books and has received numerous awards for her work as a writer and for working with youth and children.
James Croft
James Croft is the Leader of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, one of the largest Humanist congregations in the world. A graduate of Cambridge and Harvard, James believes the world desperately needs communities of love and justice which are open to all, regardless of their religious or philosophical beliefs. He lives in St. Louis City with his husband Kolten and their darling puppy Ella.is Professor and Chair of the Health Management and Policy Program at Saint Louis University’s College for Public Health and Social Justice. She earned a Ph.D., in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.
Clarence Jackson
Mr. Jackson is also the Executive Director of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Mo, which includes African American clergy leaders and pastors in chapters located in Columbia, Kansas City, Sikeston, Jefferson City, and St. Louis. In addition, Mr. Jackson is the Chairman of the Board of Hope House STL, formerly known as St. Louis Transitional Hope House. Clarence Jackson is Managing Partner of DDC Advertising & Public Relations, Inc, where he manages the advertising and public relations efforts of commercial, institutional, and political clients.
Dr. Min Liu
Min Liu (Ph.D.; MPH) is a faculty of communication at SIUE, and a member of the St. Louis Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Center. Her community work focuses on youth engagement and community empowerment, mainly in the St. Louis Chinese American community. She helped start an Asian American youth group dedicated to civic engagement and community empowerment. Min Liu also helped organize a COVID19 relief campaign in the St. Louis Chinese American community, donating more than half a million of equipment and PPEs to hospitals and frontline workers. She believes in the good that diverse communities can accomplish when working together at the local level.
Pastor Richard McDuffie
Richard McDuffie is the Pastor of Lane Tabernacle C.M.E. Church, 910 North Newstead Saint Louis Mo. He has pastored churches in in Florida, Alabama, Ohio and Missouri. As a pastor in full Connection in the C.M.E. Church, he has served as a member of the C.M.E. Church Connectional Board, Chair of the Committee of Itinerary of the C.M.E. Church at the last three General Conference. He currently serves and the Chair of the Committee on Ministerial Examination for the South East Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin Annual Conference of the Third Episcopal District. He is a graduate of Miles College in Birmingham Alabama with a bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics Education; and a Masters of Divinity Degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta Georgia. He is married to lady Toni Rochelle Bankhead Evans McDuffie.
Pastor Cornelius Moore
Pastor Cornelius Moore serves as pastor of Fountain Temple Church of God in Christ. He has been actively involved and dedicated to ministry for over 39 years. Pastor Moore serves as chairman of Tract Ministry of the Evangelist Department, President of the Missions Department of Eastern Missouri First Jurisdictional. He formerly served as Dean of the Men of Valor in MO, within the Jurisdiction and as Superintendent of Sunday School on both the District & Jurisdictional levels. He is also a member of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition and a member of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Missouri.
Pastor Moore has traveled to Ghana, West Africa with Bishop Irvin Simms teaching the 7 steps to the Kingdom. He loves winning lost souls and discipline them for the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is a member of the Lewis Place/Fountain Park Neighborhood Association.
Pastor Moore graduated from Maryville University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Science Management. He retired from St. Louis City Fire Department as Battalion Fire Chief. Associates of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts and Associates Degree in Applied Science from Forest Park Community College.
Pastor Cornelius Moore is married to Evangelist Missionary Sabra for over 40 years.
Minister Donald Muhammad
In 1975 Brother Donald joined the Nation of Islam and became a member of Muhammad Mosque #28 in St. Louis. In 1984 Brother Donald was appointed by Minister Farrakhan as the Minister of Muhammad Mosque #28 where he currently serves. In addition, Minister Donald has labored throughout the greater community for many years in several capacities such as: a prison minister; a youth mentor; member of the Victim’s Support Group in the 27th ward; certified in Community Emergency Response, National Incident Management System, State Level Emergency Management and Community Disaster; a member of the Unity PAC (Unified Political Action Committee). Brother-Minister Donald is proud to have friends in the Christian ministry and is humbled to visit numerous churches for speaking engagements throughout each year.is the Senior Associate Director of Development in the School of Engineering & Applied Science for Washington University in Saint Louis. She previously served as Chief Development and Communications Officer (CDO) for DOORWAYS, a $9M housing organization based in the City of Saint Louis's Central West End neighborhood. DOORWAYS provides housing for more than 3,000 people affected by HIV in more than 100 counties in Missouri and Illinois.
Pastor Wes Mullins
Rev. Wes Mullins was born in East Tennessee just outside of Knoxville in Oak Ridge—the site of the Manhattan Project. Pastor Wes was always very involved in church and ministry, and he took his first full-time role as a minister at just 17. In 2002, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. From there, he moved to Abilene, Texas, to pursue a Master of Divinity from Abilene Christian University. After being kicked out of that school due to his sexual orientation, he completed his Master of Divinity at Brite Divinity School (at TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, where he graduated at the top of his class. He was ordained a few days later in December 2005 at Exodus Metropolitan Community Church in Abilene, Texas.
Pastor Wes then served at the Metropolitan Community Church of Portland and later at Pikes Peak MCC in Colorado Springs. He has also served in several denominational roles, including Worship Team Leader for General Conference, President of the Board of Pensions, and member of MCC&#’;s Anderson Award for Human and Civil Rights and the current Secretary of the Board of Directors for Cultural Leadership, a local non-profit committed to raising the next generation of civil rights leaders. He also performed the first gay marriage in the State of Missouri in the office of Mayor Francis Slay on June 25, 2014. Pastor Wes lives in The Gate neighborhood in south city with his husband, Kevin, their dog, and two cats.
Shel Maharat Picker Rori
Neiss Maharat Picker Rori serves as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St Louis. Prior to that she was the Director of Programming, Education and Community Engagement at Neiss Abraham Congregation, a Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogue in University City, MO. She is one of the first graduates of Bais Yeshivat, a pioneering institution training Orthodox Jewish women to be spiritual leaders and Maharat (Jewish legal) authorities. She previously served as Acting Executive Director for Religions for Peace-USA, Program Coordinator for the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, Assistant Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, and Secretariat for the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, the formal Jewish representative in international, interreligious dialogue. halakhic is the Vice Chair of the Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis, a David Hartman Center fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and co-editor of "Rori Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community-Building Handbook." She is married to InterActive Russel, a Software Engineer for Neiss, and they have three children.
Lisa Potts
Lisa Potts joined the St. Louis Mental Health Board as project director of the Community Mental Health Fund in 2018. With more than 20 years of experience, and a master’s degree in Public Administration, Potts brings expertise in the areas of community partnerships, poverty alleviation, financial stability, case management, homeless services, prevention, and workforce and youth development.
Pamela Rice
Pamela Rice is the Director of Health Ministry for the St. Louis District Sefaria Churches and Health Ministry Director at Lane Tabernacle C.M.E., where she is a member. She is also a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Woman, where she serves as Chairperson of the Health and Wellness Committee. She graduated from Normandy High School, Webster University, St. Louis Community college at Florissant Valley and Chamberlain College. Pamela is a proud mother of one son, and she currently serves as a Medical Management nurse for Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Bonnie Reece
Bonnie Reece is the Executive Director the St. Louis Transitional Hope House. She volunteered at Hope House from 2002 – 2006 and has been a banking executive for more than 30 years. She's a graduate of the University of Missouri St. Louis Business Administration and Accounting. She formerly served as a member of the Governor’s Commission to End Homelessness (Reece); chair of the City of St. Louis Continuum of Care Rank & Review Committee; a board member for Deer Valley Hospice Care, GCEH; member of the Missouri Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee; and treasurer, University of Missouri St. Louis College of Business Administration Alumni Chapter
Pastor Anthony L. Riley
In 2001, at the age of 15, Rev. Riley accepted the call to ministry at the Calvary Baptist Church of L, New Jersey under the guidance of Reverend Jerry Morristown. Carter M., Ph.D., Senior Pastor. He has served as senior pastor at Central Baptist Church, in St. Louis, Missouri since March of 2019. Prior to arriving at Central he served as executive pastor at The Luke Church in the Greater Houston, Texas area with responsibilities for leadership to staff, associate ministers and Jr. He also led strategic initiatives and managed a multi-million dollar budget. Rev. Riley, a native of diaconate, New Jersey was formally educated in the public schools of Morris School District in Morristown, New Jersey and matriculated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and the Master of Divinity degree from the Princeton Theological Seminary. He is pursuing the Doctorate of Ministry degree in Leadership and Preaching at Virginia Union University’s School of Theology in order to pursue the best practices for holistically developing the next generation of Morristown who form our communities of faith.
Pastor Julius Sims, Sr.
Julius Sims presently serves as senior pastor of the Word of Life Christian Church. He has served in this capacity for over 26 years. His earlier years of church service and ministry development were with the Army of the Lord Church & Bible College (1985-1993). His vocational experiences involved 31 years within an area school district (University City Schools). During his tenure there, he was a contributor to the School's Teacher Mentor Program and participated as athletic coach for 18 years. He served as the School's Club Sponsor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Inc. (F.C. A.). Pastor Sims is a graduate of the following institutions: Virginia State University (B.S. in Industrial Arts Ed.); National-Louis University (Masters Degree in Curriculum & Instruction); Army of the Lord Church & Bible College (Honorary Doctoral Degree in Ministry); and, the University of Missouri-St. Louis (Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies; emphasis in Adult & Higher Education). His civic duties include serving as an active board member for the Ecumenical Leadership Clergy Council of St. Louis and school board chairperson for the Unity Christian Academy.
Dr. Kanika Turner
Kanika A. Turner, MD, MPH is a native of St. Louis and has served as a board-certified Family Medicine physician at Family Care Health Center since August 2017 and Associate Medical Director of the Kanika site since March 2019. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society, consulting physician to Missouri State Carondelet Response, Vice President of Missouri Network for Opioid Reform and Recovery and serve on the Advisory Council to the MO-HOPE Project and Opioid. She was instrumental in helping to build the Faith Based NCADA Initiative working with communities of faith, primarily in African American neighborhoods, in St. Louis to increase awareness to resources and treatment given the current Opioid overdose crisis. Dr. Turner has a passion for serving the urban and Opioid community by increasing access to primary care services and decreasing disparities and inequities for communities of color.
Bishop Nelson Watts, Jr.
Bishop Watts is the Pastor of the El Bethel Church of God in Christ. He has served in ministry for over 30 years and has reached 38 years of Salvation. He was saved at 8 years of age, began preaching at 16, and was ordained as the youngest elder to be ordained in Eastern Missouri and Western Illinois. He was consecrated to the sacred office of Bishop with the Episcopal Designation of Auxiliary by the Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ on November 12, 2017. He received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in 2005 and is currently enrolled at the Midwest Bible college majoring in Systematic Theology. Bishop Watts serves as the Superintendent of the great Nelson Watts Senior District and is founder of the Last Days Deliverance Outreach; Prayer for Peace with the Police, Politicians, and the People; and Adopt a Family Program. Bishop Watts has 3 sons and is married to the beautiful, supportive, and intuitive Lady Greta Vaughn-Watts.
Pastor Anthony Witherspoon
Reverend Dr. Anthony Witherspoon has served as the Pastor of Washington Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in St. Louis Missouri since 2000. In 2017, he was elected to serve as the President of the Witherspoon Zion Church’s International Ministers and Lay Association for the 2017-2021 quadrennial. Dr. A.M.E. earned a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Duke Divinity School, Durham North Carolina and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Eden Theological Seminary, Webster Groves, Missouri. He is the son of Ms. Witherspoon Elfreida and was married to the late Sherry Renee Witherspoon. He has two daughters, Brittany and Pharr, and one grandson, Anthony Anquanette Noland.
Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten
Bishop Wooten, Ph.D. is Senior Pastor at Williams Temple Church of God in Christ and a general board member of the Church of God in Christ. Bishop Wooten also serves as the President of the of the Ecumenical Leadership Council of Mo-St. Louis Chapter. He was formerly he assistant school superintendent for the Berkeley School District and currently lives in North St. Louis County Bishop Wooten is married to Evangelist Shirley Wooten.
