Dr. Shelly Melia

Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Ministry, Dallas Baptist University

Shelly Melia serves as the Associate Dean for the Graduate School of Ministry and the Program Director for both the Master of Arts in Children's Ministry and the Master of Arts in Family Ministry at Dallas Baptist University. Prior to coming to DBU she served for over 25 years in children's and family ministry in Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas. Dr. Melia is also a Licensed Professional Counselor with a special interest in grief and resilience. She holds an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, two master’s degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctor of philosophy from B.H. Carroll Theological Institute.

Dr. Melia has spoken at national conferences such as ETCH Family Ministry Conference, D6 Family Ministry Conference, and the Children's Pastor's Conference. In addition, she is a frequent speaker for local churches and state conventions like Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Missouri. Most recently, she contributed a chapter titled “The Role of Faith or Spirituality in a Child’s Response to Loss” to the new book Bridging Theory and Practice in Children’s Spirituality.

She is the proud parent of Nathan, Lexi, and Braden (ages 22, 20 and 18) and their family pet is a yellow lab named "Maggie".