5 minutes with Melissa

Tell us a bit about yourself. I'm a married mum of two teenage boys. I live in Sydney. I used to work as a children's minister before having children. I've trained as a teacher and used to work as a teacher's aide in Special Education.

Favourite Bible verse? Psalm 23 is very important to me. The family I grew up in was, sadly, very dysfunctional, and I ended up very depressed as a teen/young adult. God kept showing this psalm to me in different ways at difficult times, and I found hope and love in His leadership of me as the "Good Shepherd." I'm also a classical singer and have sung this psalm many times, including at a funeral once. It is, therefore, very close to my heart.

How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus? It's hard to do, but I try through prayer. I'm good at praying but not so good at reading my Bible regularly (but I do love the Bible quotes from FHE and use them on my own Facebook page!). Prayer is good as it helps me feel really connected to God/Jesus. I'm also very good at worrying, so it's very comforting!

What would you like the next generation of Christian women to know? I really want to combat the ignorance of knowledge of women in the Bible and their ministry roles. I feel that women in the Bible are "in the wings" too much, and patriarchy means they are hardly ever mentioned or acknowledged. History has a habit of writing books this way, doesn't it? I don't think enough people have heard much about Junia and her role as an apostle, for example. Patriarchy also silences a lot of women in our churches and restricts ministry roles. I would encourage women to question complementarianism like I have, look for the truth in the Bible, and draw upon groups like FHE to support themselves if they want to leave very conservative denominations. I have left one. I'm much happier now, feeling more valued and loved, and feel I am with people who look at women as equals in every way.

What's one thing you love about your local church? It's led by a female senior pastor! It's, therefore, a great church where I feel mentored by like-minded people that understand women. I am used to working with men from the conservative denominations I came from before. But females get/understand females, don't they? Megan Powell du Toit is an inspiring leader who helped me understand the scriptures better, particularly the Timothy passages. It's been a relief to not feel less valued than men as I try to do ministry. Praise God.

What did you learn about God at a time of life you found hard? Witnessing some big personalities/egos and sinfulness in leadership in teams I've worked in was very disillusioning. I acknowledge my own sinfulness and that nothing is perfect in church teams, but I've seen this before - even as a child when my family left the church altogether when I was a teen. Somehow God taught me then that He was always bigger than this and man-made organised institutions. He taught me to go back to an authentic, direct relationship with Himself every time. I look for the Bible references to His character and attributes to guide my understanding of things now. I want to know Him more and more.

What are you passionate about? I could talk for hours because I am a very passionate person, but I am particularly passionate about inclusion, especially reaching out to marginalised people in our society who often suffer too. It's not right, and I believe that Jesus would go straight to these people if He was to repeat His ministry here on earth in person. Seeing churches marginalise people, too, is something that breaks my heart so deeply that I have to do something about it.

I focus on disability and neurodivergent ministry of adults and young people now. Disability can be invisible as well as visible. It can be mental health, trauma, chronic fatigue, long COVID... so many things other than just obvious disability like those in wheelchairs (but of course, physical disability is very important too). We need to welcome everyone to church! Louise Gosbell has been teaching me about the "Body of Christ" and how we need "all the members of the body" to work together. We can't leave parts out! We are interdependent; we need each other as we strive to reach completeness and ultimately glorify God.

What do you do for rest? Great question on the back of the last one, as passion can make me work too hard. I studied music at uni, so I listen to music as therapy and go to concerts. I listen to and enjoy my teens' interests and music selections and take them to concerts. Christian music, particularly classical music, is important to me. I go to the gym when I'm able to find discipline! I love sitting in coffee shops with good friends and chatting while the kids are at school; it's a great time for ministry, too. I like to read/research on the internet, too. True rest is talked about in the Bible, of course. This year I want to practice mindfulness from a Christian perspective. There are some good books on Christian mindfulness that I want to read.