The President and the Board of Trustees of Acadia Divinity College are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Melody Maxwell as the Associate Professor of Church History. Dr. Maxwell will begin at the College on August 20, 2018.

Since 2013, Melody has served as the Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, teaching courses on Christian History, Biblical Studies, Missions and World Religions. From 2012 to 2013, Melody worked at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas, as the Director of the Great Commission Center, and from 2011 to 2012 she served as an Adjunct Professor at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama.

Melody’s research interests include Baptist history, religion and gender, global Baptists, and world Christianity. Her passion for Baptist missions as well as women in ministry is reflected in her published work for both the academy and the church, including Doing the Word: Southern Baptists’ Carver School of Social Work and Its Predecessors, 1907-1997 and The Woman I Am: Southern Baptist Women’s Writings, 1906–2006.

Previous to her university career, Melody was the Design Editor for the Woman’s Missionary Union, a nonprofit organization that offers a wide range of missions resources including curriculum for age-level organizations in churches and leadership training.

Melody earned her PhD in 2010 from the International Baptist Theological Seminary, in Prague, Czech Republic. She graduated Summa cum Laude with a Master of Divinity (2003), from the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, and with a Bachelor of Arts (2001) from Union University where she was also Honors Student of the Year.

Since 2014, Melody has been widely involved in the Baptist World Alliance, serving on several committees and commissions including the Heritage and Identity Commission and the Mission Commission. From 2006 to 2010, she was a member of the BWA’s Emerging Leaders Network.

Currently, Melody serves as the President of the Fellowship of Baptist Historians, and also served as the Vice President of the Fellowship of Baptist Historians. She is committed to offering leadership as a board member for several organizations including the Baptist History and Heritage Society, the North American Baptist Fellowship, and the Texas Baptist Women in Ministry.

Melody is originally from Tennessee, where her family resides. She enjoys travel, having visited more than 40 countries to lead and participate in mission trips, to study, and for sightseeing.

Please join the President and the Board in welcoming Melody to Acadia Divinity College.