Cincinnati – Dayton District

Rev. Dr. Melonie A. Valentine serves as the Presiding Elder over 26 churches located in the Cincinnati-Dayton District of the Ohio-South Ohio Conference of the Third Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; under the leadership of the Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Frank Madison Reid, III.

As an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, she has twenty-three years of previous pastoral experience serving churches throughout Southern Ohio including St. Paul in Circleville, Quinn Chapel in Ironton and Bethel in Middletown, Ohio. She continues to serve as ex-officio on various annual conference committees of the Ohio-South Ohio Conference.

She retired from the United States Enrichment Corporation with thirty years in corporate management positions as well as Organization Development. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration degree(s) from Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio; a Master of Divinity degree from Payne Theological Seminary, in Wilberforce, Ohio; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

She has previously taught as a part-time instructor at Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus in the College of Business, and classes in the Doctor of Ministry programs for both Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce and United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Beta Eta Omega Graduate Chapter in Dayton, OH.

She has written and presented various workshops in Teambuilding, Evangelism, Church Officers Training and Women in Ministry. As a writer she published, Quit Waiting to See Who Shows Up: Discipleship Development for the Local Church; and is currently working on other publications, Faith from the Margins: A Devotional Response to The Bible, and Are You Missing the Mission? – Today’s Discipleship Development for the Local Church.”

She and her husband, Richard of 42 years are residents of Chillicothe, Ohio and are members of Quinn Chapel AMEC in Chillicothe. They have three adult children, Tracie Lynn Valentine Burgess of Pickerington, Matthew Todd Valentine of Chillicothe, and Courtney Laurel Valentine Ballen of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. They have three grandsons, Kendall Jr., Matthew Jr. and Aaron.

She clings to the encouragement from Romans 8:28, We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. NRSV.