About Us
Melanie Newton
Jesus took hold of me when I was a young woman, and I have been on this great adventure ever since. My life is a gift of God, full of blessings in the midst of difficult challenges. The more I have learned and experienced God’s absolutely amazing grace, the more I have discovered my faith walk to be a joyful walk. I am still seeking that joyful walk every day.
I am a Louisiana girl who responded to God’s grace through the college ministry of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ). At that point, I chose to follow Jesus as His disciple. Soon, I began leading women’s Bible studies in college and continued doing so while my husband Ron attended Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas.
Even while raising our three children, I was actively involved in starting and teaching Bible studies wherever we lived. My passion from the first has been to lead women to a joyful relationship with Jesus. Adding to my “mommy” experiences are several years of homeschooling and developing science activities for children that illustrate biblical truth.
Being part of the women’s leadership team in several large churches provided me the opportunity to write Bible Studies and deliver biblical messages to women’s groups. Serving as the Women’s Ministry Director for a large Protestant association of churches showed me the need for quality Bible Studies to be easily available and affordable. It also led me to pursue lifestyle disciplemaking.
My focus
Discipling women has been my mission for more than 50 years now. This is reflected in the resources offered on this website.
- Joyful Walk Bible Studies for growing Christians and Graceful Beginnings studies for anyone new to the Bible.
- Lifestyle Discipleship training and resources to connect with nonbelievers, establish new and young Christians, then launch more disciplemakers to reach their peers.
I teach Scripture according to the plain, normal, historical meaning of the words in their original languages—avoiding over-allegorizing, sensationalism, or twisting the Bible’s message.
You can follow me as a regular contributor to bible.org, one of the world’s largest Bible resource websites. My Bible Studies are featured on many top websites and popular blogs such as Ben and Me and Faithfully Planted.
I am available to speak at retreats and conferences. Choose a topic from one of my studies or your own topic. I also offer Lifestyle Disciplemaking Training events to churches large and small. My goal is to lead women of all church backgrounds to a lifestyle of disciplemaking—personally as well as incorporating the process into existing women’s ministries. I have also helped women start and lead Bible Study groups of their own.
Joyful Walk Ministries
Melanie Newton is the director of JOYFUL WALK MINISTRIES, which exists to help women learn to study the Bible for themselves and grow their Bible-teaching skills to lead others on a joyful walk with Jesus. Her husband, Ron Newton, Ron is a 1978 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and the author of the award-winning book No Jerks on the Job. He is also the host of the video series BLUE COLLAR MAN STUFF. In that series, he shares how the Word of God comes alive in the hard work of ordinary laborers.
Joyful Walk Ministries and Blue Collar Man Stuff are ministries of Integrity at Work (iWORK), a 501(c)(3) a non-profit organization headquartered in Texas. Donations to Joyful Walk Ministries or Blue Collar Man Stuff are administered by Integrity at Work.