Melissa Madara is the founder and director of Sacred SoulScapes. An ordained United Methodist deacon, Melissa first began sensing a call to ministry when she was in high school, while backpacking the trails of the Pecos Wilderness of northern New Mexico. Since that time, Melissa has encountered the presence of God in many ways and places, both traditional and nontraditional: in the tones of a pipe organ; in the prickles of a cactus; in the presence of the gathered community; in a heart-to-heart conversation with a "soul friend."

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Throughout her life of faith, Melissa has discovered that worship, for her, feels most authentic when it is "embodied" and "experiential" - when she can bring the fullness of who she is (body, mind, and soul) into relationship and connection with other people and with God. Melissa founded Sacred SoulScapes in 2022 as a way to invite all people into an embodied, sacred conversation with the divine.

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Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Religion from McMurry University and Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School. She holds her 225-hour yoga teacher certification from Holy Yoga Global, with specialty certifications in senior/adaptive yoga, kids' yoga, and trauma-sensitive yoga; a Spiritual Director certification from the Center for Spiritual Formation in Carlisle, PA, and a Wilderness First Responder certification from Wilderness Medical Associates.

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Melissa currently resides in central Pennsylvania with her husband, two children, and two cats.