Rev. Amelia Cleveland-Traylor, MD

Board Member · Board of Advisors

Amelia was born in Sandusky, Ohio. She made a profession of faith on December 12, 1976, after watching a movie called “The Burning Hell.” Her early Christian life was marked by legalistic and evangelistic fervor. She spent many hours leading student Bible studies and knocking on doors. She was nicknamed “reverend” by her high school basketball team. She was the valedictorian of the SHS Class of 1982. She then went to Oberlin College where she majored in chemistry and met her future husband (Michael). She received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and did her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan. After residency training, she moved to Cleveland, Ohio to fulfill and obligation to the National Health Service Corp. After this, she accepted a position working for the Cleveland Clinic.

For years, Amelia had been a dedicated layperson within the church. She received and answered a call for pastoral ministry May 2000. Pastor Amelia was ordained as an elder in the Free Methodist Church in 2005. Her ministry responsibilities have included pastoral care, praise and worship leader, women’s ministry director, youth ministry/pastor, small group leadership, and faith and fitness. Amelia has served on the MEG (ministerial, education, and guidance) Board and the MAC (ministerial appointment committee) in the Ohio Conference. She was also a member of the Genesis BOA between 2013 and 2015. She has been privileged to participate in short-term mission trips to Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda (Africa). Immediately before becoming a conference superintendent, she served as one of two pastors of discipleship at Garfield Memorial Church, a large multi-cultural and diverse United Methodist Church in Pepper Pike, OH. In addition to serving as superintendent in the River Conference, Amelia was elected to serve on the FMC Board of Administration at the 2019 General Conference. She is currently the chair of the River Conference MEG board.

Amelia Cleveland-Traylor is a board-certified obstetrician gynecologist currently employed by the OB Hospitalist Group rendering care at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She was a staff physician at the Cleveland Clinic for more than a decade. She has also held significant administrative positions as the residency program director and lead physician at Rochester General Hospital. She has a special interest in indigent health care and women’s health. Her passion for issues of justice have led her to pursue more education. She is currently enrolled in the master’s in justice and advocacy cohort at Fuller Theological Seminary and is a Cohort 2 graduate of Passion2Plant.

Michael and Amelia co-founded Christ Community Fellowship in Twinsburg, OH. After that, they served as Pastors of New Hope FMC (Rochester, NY). They have been married since 1987 and have two marvelous children (Matthew and Michaela). Matthew is a practicing attorney in Manhattan, NY. Michaela is a graduate from Howard University. She is currently teaching in Houston, TX and will begin law school in 2023.

Amelia became a certified group fitness instructor in 1998 and enjoys dance, Zumba, aerobics, music, basketball, and football (including the Cleveland Browns!). She and her husband routinely work out together at Orange Theory Fitness.