Hello, my name is Melissa Blakey. I’m the new Content Writer for Monk Development, builders of Ekklesia360, and I couldn’t be more excited about that. Welcome to our new blog. I thought I’d use this post as a way for me to introduce myself and to tell you about some of the exciting plans I have for this blog!
My goal for this blog is to reach church communicators, pastors, and church admins and to provide them with clear, quality content that will help them engage their churches and further their mission.
At MonkDev, builders of Ekklesia 360, we are always developing new resources that are intended to help churches with their strategy. Through the blog and our social media channels Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, I plan to give you access to all of the resources we've developed and all of the accumulated knowledge I’m gathering from my team here. I'll be announcing Ekklesia 360 product updates, celebrating great church website designs, sharing best practice, and so much more!
Also, I plan to have guest bloggers and conversations with thought leaders in church communication so that we can help you tell your church’s story in an excellent way! Okay, now let’s transition over to the fun stuff. Here’s what you need to know about me:
My passion for serving others grew through volunteering as a small group leader for women in their mid-20s, a fellowship working with International Justice Mission, and during my cross-cultural missions trip to the Czech Republic where I discovered my love of students.
Just as other new hires at Monk/Ekklesia360, I’ve been asked to answer several fun questions that all of my fellow colleagues have had to answer when they first got hired. So here we go:
What's the oddest request you received while working at a church?
I had the opportunity to take a couple of refugee kids with us on a high school camping trip to Lake Arrowhead last summer. Probably the oddest/most fun thing was taking them to Raging Waters and trying to convince them to ride the waterslides. They were terrified but I pulled one girl into a six person raft that sloshes down a waterslide and she had a blast.
Have you gone on any missions trips? Where did you go, what did you do?
Yes! I’ve been on a few but my favorites were to the Czech Republic where my church partnered with Young Life and the other was roadtripping with 10 high schoolers to Denver a couple of summers back. We worked with the Center for Student Missions and learned all about urban ministry. It was intense, but so fun!
Do you have a favorite genre of books to read? What’s your all time favorite book?
My favorite genres are either Christian leadership books or teen postapocalyptic fiction. But my all time favorite book is probably “The Great Gatsby.” It’s so good I’m afraid to read it too much in case I spoil it.
What are three random Melissa facts everyone should know about you?
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People say I’m fun because I’m pretty extroverted and get excited about little things easily.
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I love the color purple.
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You’ll probably catch me watching Jeopardy if I’m home and it’s on because I love trivia and have a decent knack for it.
If you had a free round trip ticket for anywhere in the U.S. where would you go and what would you do?
I just can’t pick one place... San Francisco to to my favorite writing spot, the Buena Vista Cafe. New York to see a show and walk around downtown so that I could remember what it’s like to be in a big metropolis, and then I’d visit Chicago to see how it’s changed, eat some pizza, and go to the Museum of Science and Industry and then Hawaii with my husband because I’ve never been.
What are three things that give you life?
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Being outside and enjoying nature
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Really good worship music
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Having an adventure with my husband and laughing a lot
What was your favorite TV show as a kid?
"The Wonder Years." It shaped me in ways I’m still discovering.
If you could give someone one piece of advice what would it be?
Be authentic. It’s too much work trying to pretend.
What excites you most about your new position at MonkDev, builders of Ekklesia360?
I’m most excited about being able to use my writing ability to help churches and ultimately, to further God’s mission. I’ve wanted to be able to do that in a full-time way since I became a Christian in college and now I get to! I’m passionate about the Church because I’ve been able to be a part of some fantastic church communities where I’ve needed love and been shown Jesus’s love with skin on and it changed my life. I want others to get to experience that kind of grace and community and I’m happy to support our partner churches who are doing that.
Because I’d like to create a community where we can all share ideas, I would love to hear from you about what kinds of blog topics you would like to read about here. What topics concern you most as a church communications professional? Or maybe need something that your current website isn’t offering. Let me know and I’d be happy to write about it. Fill out the form at the bottom of this page.
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