Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Wood Allen.
Melinda Wood, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a full-time minister of a VERY non-traditional spiritual center. We are in transition from our former iteration, “Church of One Love’ to our new one; “Unity of Farmers Branch.” Our affiliation with Unity Worldwide Ministries is new–the new signs aren’t up yet and the website is still being built, but you can learn all about us at churchofonelove.org. I am also a working musician.
A singer (my mom said) since before I could talk , I was performing solo by age 8. I studied opera in Germany and performed in professional musical theater from age 15 in Germany, France, Spain, Washington state, and all over D/FW. A voice actor for Funimation for many years, I also toured with the Fort Worth Symphony orchestra’s Best of Broadway series, and have played on stages, in churches, prisons, community centers, and at spiritual retreats from Big Sky, MT to Kansas City, MO to Dallas, TX to Tampa, FL. I’ve recorded 4 albums of award-winning inspirational music, 3 of them with all original works. An army brat from birth, I lived all over the US and overseas until moving to Texas in 1986, when awarded a full music and academic scholarship to TCU. Eventually I married a Texan man, had a Texan family and have lived in D/FW ever since.
My role as minister of Unity of Farmers Branch (formerly Church of One Love) is by far the hardest and most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I love people, I love the Divine, I love music, and I get to combine all 3 passions in this one job.
Here’s the short-ish version of how I got here.
In 1987—while a music major at TCU, I became music director for the Unity Church in Fort Worth, and continued in that role for 24 years. Unity is a non-denominational spiritual path based on Universal love and acceptance, the belief that God is everywhere present, including in each of our own hearts, and that through our open hearts and positive, generous thoughts and actions, we can transform our lives and create a better world for all. This began my journey from a very limited, ill-fitting, fundamentalist way of viewing God and the world into an open, accepting, non-judgmental way of being and practicing spirituality.
As a church music director plus working musician and actor in D/FW for almost 3 decades, it had never occurred to me that I might become an actual pastor to my own congregation until after leaving my position at Unity of Fort Worth. At that time (2012) I began traveling to other ministries across the country, sharing my original songs with positive messages of unconditional love and personal transformation. I was well-received and often asked by ministers if I would be willing to speak when I came to their congregations, rather than just doing music. I found I loved doing that, and also that–as much as I enjoyed traveling and meeting new like-minded people–I missed having a permanent spiritual home, where I could grow in spiritual community–Buddhists would call the “Sangha.”
At that point I received what I can only describe as a “calling” to go to ministerial school. I found a seminary that taught in the open-hearted, inclusive way I was learning to view the world and practice on my own spiritual path–one which accepted the idea that ALL paths to God that include love and compassion are valid paths. At One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in NYC I learned not just “interfaith,” which is a respect for all religions, but “interspirituality,” which is the idea that at the intersection of all true religions there is a single common teaching: Love.
When I graduated from seminary in 2016 I first took a job as associate minister to Rev Ellen Debenport at Unity of Wimberley, TX. At the time I was also primary care-giver to my mother who had dementia and lived in Fort Worth. I couldn’t leave or move her so I was commuting to the Texas hill country almost weekly. After a year of that, I decided I needed a job closer to home. Eventually I was found by my current congregation’s minister search team, and asked to come and “audition” for the position of their spiritual leader. It was a match. The motto of this place was and still is: Teaching Only Love. It was a perfect fit–love at first sight in a way. I was hired in May of 2018 by the Church of One Love and have never looked back.
To distill my belief and teaching: God is Love. If it is Love–it IS God, no matter by what name you call it. If it is not Love–it is definitely NOT God–no matter what language it is couched in or what scripture is misused to try to justify it. To be clear: hating, shaming, excluding, or trying to change who people are is the work of the human ego. It is not God and it is certainly not true Christianity, which is at its heart, the way of unconditional love, acceptance, and non-judgment. This is what Christ taught and anything counter to that is false teaching.
Our vision is to see all of humanity awakening to the truth of the One Love that we all are, and our mission is to bring that vision to fruition–inspiring personal transformation by teaching and celebrating unconditional love, diversity, acceptance, inclusion and compassionate action.
This is also the teaching of Unity. There is one God, that God is love, and it lives in each of our hearts. Therefore, at depth we are ALL ONE. We can always connect consciously to that love through prayer and meditation, and as that Divine Love shines in and through us, we are able to do the work of love in the world, and thereby transform our lives and the lives of those around us. We are evolving the planet as we evolve spiritually.
Having existed as an independent entity for decades, we recently decided to affiliate with Unity Worldwide Ministries for the support, connection, and brand recognition it provides. I have always taught in the Unity way and that has not and will not change as we officially become Unity of Farmers Branch. We are still “teaching only love.”
What also has not changed is my dedication to having a strong and vital music ministry. In fact I just returned from the Empower Positive Music Festival in Kansas City, MO, where 3 of my original songs won awards in the categories of Healing, Personal Transformation and Spiritual Not Religious. I am a minister, but am, have been and always will be a musical artist as well. This is reflected in excellent music by my team every Sunday. Come and check us out and find that we love you already—just as you are!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Before I found One Spirit, I was not sure I could find a place that would nurture my open hearted views of love and God and the universe and everything. It was a perfect fit for me–but it was in New York City and I live in Texas! Many of the classes were offered online and traveling there was only required a couple times a year, but I am old school–I connect to people better directly–not through a screen.
The miracle is that–through my music career, I was friends with several musicians who lived in and around NYC, and they each opened their homes for me to come and stay with them for a time while I attended classes. I was able to use American Airlines miles to travel and then to stay for a few days each month with various friends at different times (so I did not wear out my welcome with any one of them). This got me the direct contact with my classmates and teachers I longed for, and also cemented the friendships with these amazing generous people who supported my dream to become a minister.
The job I was offered after graduation/ordination was with a minister whom I very much admired, but it was a 4 hour drive away. Still, my guidance told me to say “yes.” It was a wonderful time but also exhausting, and my mother grew sicker and needed more hands on care. I had to make a decision.
I left Unity of Wimberley after one year. Then, over the next year and a half I was invited by 2 different churches in D/FW to apply to be their permanent minister. I was not hired by either, and it was a hurtful, trying time. I was tempted to doubt–here I was, ready and willing to dedicate my life, soul and heart, and (it seemed) no one wanted me. However I kept these two thoughts uppermost in my mind:
1. To minister is a verb…if I am meant to “be a minister,” I must be one all the time, in everything I do–not just if and when hired by a church to take on the role– and not by preaching but by loving people unconditionally wherever I find them.
2. If it is meant to be my job, I will be given it. If it is supposed to be someone else’s job, I don’t actually want it.
I was guided to wait with love and as much patience as I could muster. In the meantime I doubled down on my spiritual practice and found ways to serve–at other churches, in prisons, community centers, women’s retreats, at the business where I was employed, in my family and in sharing of myself and my music in secular as well as sacred settings. Around this time, gay marriage became legal in Texas and I soon found I was in demand to perform weddings for the LGBTQ+ community. It was such a joy for me to help people exercise this right that had so long been unjustly withheld from them. (In fact, it was almost 2 years after my ordination before I did my first “straight” wedding.)
Then, only 1 1/2 years into senior ministry, Covid happened. Suddenly the whole paradigm of spiritual community changed. The very ways I loved and connected with my congregants were no longer possible. I had to somehow make a community of people who could not safely be in each others’ physical presence. The girl who could “not relate to screens” was thrust into the world of Zoom and Facebook Live as the main ways to do my work.
We had no equipment for live streaming at the church and at first I did my services from my guest bedroom at home with my phone for a camera. As small a community as we were, we banded together and raised the money to purchase professional video equipment. Then we moved into the church building –just me, my music team (standing 6 feet apart), the sound engineer and my husband and daughter, who volunteered to run the video cameras.
Also, in order to keep my formerly close knit community in touch with each other and with me, I began a live stream of music, inspirational reading and prayer at noon, Mon-Fri– in addition to our Sunday services and twice weekly zoom classes.
To be a new minster is hard. To be a new minister during a pandemic was perhaps the greatest challenge I have ever faced.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What sets me apart as a minister is my dedication to serving and teaching love and only love, separate from any dogma or doctrine. This means unconditional love and absolute acceptance of every person who walks in our doors (and those we pass on the street and in the grocery store). We are not here to judge but to love one another. So often traditional churches say they welcome everyone but still have the intention to change the people who don’t ‘fit” into preconceived notions of what it means to be “spiritual” or “Godly.”
You don’t even have to believe in God to come and be accepted by us. In fact when people tell me they don’t believe in God, I like to ask them to tell me more about that. Usually they describe a terrifying, judgmental being who lavishes favors upon some while condemning others to lives of suffering and hardship, and then after death throws the majority of them into hell for not being “good” enough, while rewarding a pious few. I tell them that’s EXACTLY the same God I DON”T believe in. I believe in Love itself–in being in loving relationship with others and with oneself. I teach that the places called Heaven and Hell are human constructs, and actually heaven and hell are states of mind. When we are in separation, enmity, prejudice, hatred, judgment, etc. we are in hell, and we tend to drag others there with us by our behavior and attitudes. Likewise, when we love, nurture, support, serve, and connect with people in acceptance and appreciation–we find we are in heaven, and tend to invite other people along with us.
My ministry is practical. We are not reading about pious people from long ago, but learning how to apply wisdom and love to our daily interactions in the world of 2025–at work, at play and at home.
I invite people to call me by my name. I’m Melinda. You don’t have to call me “Reverend” anything. I do my best to lead with my humanity and let people know that I do not in any way stand above them. I’m not better than anyone else, It just happens that my education and my jam–my happy place– is to use spiritual principles, heart-centered music and a variety of the world’s sacred literature and poetry to connect people to the truth of the love that is already inside them. I’m not here to change anyone but to help us all to become more authentic and true to who we already are at depth–beings who were created by love and who long to express and experience love.
The other thing that sets me apart is my gift and skill in using music to open and connect people in ways that only art and beauty can do. My ministry and music are not separate things, but part and parcel with each other. On any given Sunday you may hear original songs, or music by the Beatles or Van Morrison or Alanis Morissette or from the genre of theater or movies or even folk or jazz. I choose music to support the message of love, connection and practical growth in the real world. Years of connecting with people from the stage prepare me to create an experience of elevation and emotional intimacy even in large groups of people.
When I was hired by my current community I told them that it was guaranteed that I would make many, many mistakes along the way, but I would never make the mistake of not loving them. I have remained to true to both of those promises.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I say find someone who has what you want, and ask them! I mean find someone who is successful and happy in a similar profession–in whom you can see a spark of joy in doing what they are doing. (You don’t want just skill or expertise, you want to see vitality and joy!) The worst they can do is say no. I find that most successful people are happy to share what they have learned along the way and to support someone else in succeeding as well.
I found that ministers I had looked up to and worked with as a musician over the years were delighted to support me, mentor me, be a resource for me as I navigated this new world.
I also had a short musical acquaintance with a man who had worked as a musician and music director for many years before determining he wanted to become a minister. I found his number through mutual friends, invited him to lunch, queried him about his journey and asked him to mentor me. Some of your readership may know him from his days as a popular D/FW musician and recording artist, as former long-time music director of CSL Dallas, or as Senior minister of Unity of Houston–of one of the largest churches in the Unity movement. Reverend Michael Gott has been my supportive friend and prayer partner for over 12 years now and we still meet weekly by phone to support each other in our work.
Love people and love yourself. Remember that real relationships are not meant to be transactional and that people can tell when transaction not real interest is your motivation. Approach with openness, curiosity and confidence. In networking, focus on commonalities rather than differences. See the places where you can have a genuine connection with someone–not just professionally but personally–you both love dogs, you came from similar backgrounds, you’re both redheads or Leos–whatever! Showing true interest in people without expectation of return ironically makes them more open to giving you a “yes” if you do at some point voice a request.
Pricing:
- We operate solely on love offerings. No pledges, no demands, no guilt. Just an understanding and teaching that life is about flow–about giving and recieving, and that we shortchange ourselves when we skimp on either..
Contact Info:
- Website: www.churchofonelove.org. Will soon be www.unityfarmersbranch.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unityfarmersbranch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unityfarmersbranch
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@unityfarmersbranch
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/ccbTPRAHex
- Other: www.unityfarmersbranch.podbeam.com
Image Credits
Melinda Wood Allen, Bob Allen, Nan Cook, Jay Stephenson
