Hi! My name is Melissa Yosua-Davis. I am currently a third year Master of Divinity student at Drew Theological School in Madison, NJ. I'm a born and bred United Methodist with a deep love for my denomination. I'm very interested in the church in the postmodern era, particularly in a missional, relational, and incarnational church that seeks to plant the seed of the Gospel in a postmodern culture. I'm also interested in creative expressions of worship and in neo-monasticism. Right now, I'm the student assistant pastor at Westwood United Methodist Church in Westwood, NJ. Aside from my ministry interests, I also love to cook, knit, cross-stitch, read science-fiction and fantasy novels, play the flute, and blog.

As a postmodern in a modern church, my experiences have led me to believe that the church is called to be more than what it currently is. Church is not something that one does for an hour or so on a Sunday morning, but a 24/7 way of life in which we are all called to participate. We are not called to do church, but to be church - the body of Christ - in this world, and to be in relationship with the marginalized of our communities.

My dream is for a community that is not bound by ideology - a community that seeks to follow John Wesley's statement from his sermon "Catholic Spirit":

"Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences. These remaining as they are, they may forward one another in love and in good works."

I have seen how ideology can so easily be turned into idolatry, and does more to divide than to unite us. Our beliefs are important, but more importantly is our relationship with God in Jesus Christ and our relationship with our neighbors, and how we seek to live out those beliefs in order to spread God's love to others.

If you want to know more about me, please visit my blog or contact me.