Leadership Team

The Rev. Melissa Cooper

Minister of Adult Formation and Leadership

Email: mcooper@st.lukes.org
Phone: 407.876.4991 ext. 251

Rev. Melissa Cooper is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Prior to serving at St. Luke’s, Melissa served as Program Coordinator for the Life Enrichment Center and Warren Willis Camp. Before receiving her MTS in 2009, Melissa earned a B.A. in English from Middle Tennessee State University. She is originally from Tennessee, but began her full-time ministry in the North Carolina Annual Conference at Camp Don Lee, where she served as the Faith Formation and Retreat Ministries Coordinator. From 2011 to 2017, Melissa built a ground-up program ministry at the Life Enrichment Center, at which she was the first program staff member. Building on her previous experience with intergenerational camps and retreats, she developed LECFamily, the intergenerational program ministry of the LEC. Melissa has spoken at various regional and national gatherings for the UMC, the UCC and the ELCA on the topic of intergenerational ministry and cross-generational communication. Since 2010, she has written youth and children’s curriculum for sparkhouse, an ecumenical publishing house. She also serves as an Associate with Vibrant Faith, an ecumenical organization providing coaching, training and consulting to churches seeking to go deeper with adaptive leadership and intergenerational ministry. In the Florida Conference, Melissa has served on the Board of Ordained Ministry, as a Multicultural Resource Facilitator for Cross-Cultural Communication, as a reserve delegate to the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, and as co-chair of the Children’s Ministry Table. Melissa is married to Will, and they are the parents to the cutest poodle you’ll ever meet.