Melissa Guthrie

Rev. Melissa Lynn Guthrie (she/her) is the Executive Director + Minister with AllianceQ—the Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance and the founding director of Salvage Garden.

She created “The Banquet: A Sensory Worship Experience,” centering disabled individuals. Melissa is trained in faith-based nonprofit leadership through Wake Forest University Divinity and Law Schools. A lecturer on theology and disability, she is passionate about the many intersections of our identities. Among her identities, Melissa is a minister, ordained by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and mother. Melissa and her wife, Leah, live in Greensboro, North Carolina, with their children and a small zoo.

The Iowa native studied Communications and Religion at Wartburg College and received Youth and Family Ministry Certification from Wartburg Seminary. Melissa moved to North Carolina to teach high school English as a corps member with Teach for America. Her Master of Divinity is from Wake Forest University School of Divinity.

Melissa enjoys cheesecake and cycling, in that order. She likes being outdoors and reading and writing poetry (outdoors). Pink and yellow are her favorite colors.