A playground, picnic shelter, food, door prizes and faith-filled music at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan Sept. 4 will launch a Catholic podcast and business addressing the intersection of faith and mental health.

On Labor Day weekend, people can gather to learn about the Martin Center for Integration, founded by Kenna and Pat Millea, parishioners of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. Named in honor of the family of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, including their daughters, St. Therese of Lisieux and Servant of God Sister Francois-Therese “Leonie” Martin, the center offers counseling, speakers and training sessions to parishes, youth groups, organizations and individuals with tools and resources for mental health and spiritual needs.

The 3 p.m. picnic and entertainment, featuring St. Paul-based Catholic musician Luke Spehar, is designed for busy families and building community, said Kenna, a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice. “We really do want to meet new people who are intrigued by this concept, want to get to know us better and grow in community with us,” she said.

Many Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were introduced to the Milleas and their seven children when they were featured in a video series in early 2021 called “Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith” as part of the archdiocesan Synod process. The series was designed to help Catholics — as individuals or households — discern a practical plan that helps them live their faith intentionally.

Kenna worked in parish faith formation ministries for about 10 years before returning to graduate school to study marriage and family therapy. Pat worked in parish ministry for 15 years, is an experienced speaker, and will serve as director of formation and operations at the Martin Center.

Assisting the Milleas with talks and presentations will be Andy Norton, a staff member of St. Paul-based NET Ministries, which offers retreats and other evangelization efforts for young people, and Ashley Cermak, a former youth minister at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina who is studying for a master’s degree in mental health counseling.

In an Aug. 5 episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, Pat said that in his work as a youth minister — including, until last November, as director of senior high youth ministry at St. Joseph — he saw people directly impacted by mental health challenges.

“We were getting lots of questions and concerns from folks looking for answers, looking for resources, even simple day-to-day tools and practical methods to integrate our faith, what the truth of the Gospel tells us about what we were made for, with our mental health,” Pat said as he discussed the Martin Center. “This became a beautiful opportunity for us to introduce Catholics to the ways that our souls and our minds are always connected, and that when we seek sanity in our minds, it’s ultimately a path to sanctity as well.”

On the same weekend as the picnic, the couple will launch their podcast, “This Whole Life.” Recurring guests on the podcast will include Father Nathan Laliberte, pastor of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington, the Milleas said.

“It will be much more about addressing the daily things that pop up that can affect our mental health — the relationships, the stressors, the decisions to be made, how we’re really living out our values and making sure that our lives are oriented toward the good,” Kenna said about the podcast on the “Practicing Catholic” show.

Mental health struggles can stem from people living a disjointed life, Kenna said. “And so, as Catholics, we have this already built into us, to constantly be considering, ‘Am I really attending to what God is calling me to do?’” she said.

The podcast will include questions and reflection activities intended to help people move more deeply and listen more boldly and courageously to what God is calling them to do, Kenna said.

Catholic Spirit reporter Barb Umberger contributed to this report.