Graduate Profile: Melissa Lynn DeRosia (Van Wert)
Rev. Melissa Lynn DeRosia (Van Wert) credits Alma’s Religious Studies program with allowing her to explore a variety of religions and ideas about religion.
“I was attracted to Alma because it was a small liberal arts school, allowing me the freedom to explore my call to ministry in meaningful ways.”
“I valued a great deal the time I spent learning and studying Buddism, Hinduism, Islam and other ways of living out faith including feminist theology,” the 2001 alumnus says. “This major has broadened my faith and my scope of understanding the ways other believe and practice their faith. Being able to place the context of my relationship with God in a feminist theology has empowered me to value the experience of God’s children.”
DeRosia continued her education at the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, where she graduated in 2005 with a master’s degree in divinity. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the solo pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Caro, Mich.
The Midland native was drawn to Alma by its small campus and religious affiliation.
“I was attracted to Alma because it was a small liberal arts school, allowing me the freedom to explore my call to ministry in meaningful ways,” she says.
While at Alma, DeRosia was involved on the swim team, was president of Kappa Iota (a social sorority) and was a founding member of Theta Alpha Kappa (an honorary religious studies fraternity).
