Melissa lives in Brookline and spends her days as a lawyer. When she’s not lawyering, she can be found hanging out with her awesome greyhound Vogue, doing yoga, or making a mean Quinoa and Three Bean Salad.
Your spiritual journey has exposed you to a number of different traditions. How did you wind up at Old South?
I've been interested in religion for a long time, but Old South is the first church where I've ever really been involved. I grew up nominally Catholic. We attended church infrequently, but we were very close to my mother's parents, who were regular church-goers. Even though I felt uncomfortable in the Catholic church, my grandparents’ strong beliefs and respect for church and God had a great influence on me.
Before joining Old South, I attended (sporadically) Catholic, Unitarian, and Episcopal churches. I also spent a year or so exploring Judaism. I took a class on Judaism, attended services, and celebrated Jewish holidays. I did Torah study and I loved it. In all my different church experiences, I had never tried Bible study because of certain preconceived notions. I found Torah study to be enlightening, challenging, and welcoming of questions and doubts. I loved Reform Judaism's liberal approach to religion and, ultimately, it prompted me to look for a different kind of Christian church. I came to a Jazz Worship service on a Thursday evening about a year and a half ago and my search was over!
Name one thing you love about Old South.
The warmth and humanness of the ministers. They are real people and they speak to us as one human being to another, not as ministers to an audience. I appreciate the opportunity to learn from them—they’re incredibly knowledgeable—and from the other members of Old South. I always leave church feeling I’ve learned or shared or felt something valuable.
How has being part of this church made a difference in your life? How do you see God’s presence?
I keep things in mind that I've learned or heard at church. For example, our pastors are fond of saying “Love God so much that you love nothing else too much, and fear God just enough that you need fear nothing else at all.” Another of my favorites is “Do not pray for tasks equal to your strength, but for strength equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work will be no miracle; you will be the miracle.” Things like this help guide my life.
I try to see the world through Christian eyes, and hope that I can act in a more Christian way too. The more open I am to the good things God provides, the more good things there are to see.
What church activities have you gotten involved in?
I've been an usher and I've done a little planting in the garden. I’ve also done Bible study, on Sunday mornings and as part of a small group. The small group was a tremendous experience for me and opened a new door to my relationship with God. Discussing scripture in a small group really brings it alive in a way that I can’t do alone. I’ve learned so much and continue to be amazed at the Bible. Studying the Bible in a small group, all of us actively trying to figure out what a particular passage means, has been a powerful way that I’ve grown in my relationship with God.
