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Rev. Leslie Woods is the Senior Minister of Unity Church Austin and the heart behind Shine On Y'all — a growing body of books, songs, and spiritual content created to help people find their light and walk their own path home to it.

 

Her ministry is built on a simple belief: that every person carries something sacred inside them, and that the work of a good spiritual community is to help each other remember it. At Unity Church Austin, Leslie leads with that conviction every week — creating a place in South Austin where longtime seekers and first-time visitors alike feel like they belong the moment they walk through the door. Under her leadership, the congregation has grown not just in number but in spirit, becoming a warm, come-as-you-are community rooted in love, service, and the everyday practice of faith.

 

Rev. Leslie was called to ministry in her late teens serving in her passion of Children’s and Youth Ministry.  She was ordained in 2025 with a Master’s of Divinity from Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute.  She has been serving Unity Church Austin since 2024 as Senior Minister. Her full ministry career, included prior to ordination, is over 30 years of experience. What has stayed constant through it all is her gift for meeting people right where they are. She preaches like she's talking with you over coffee, not down at you from a stage — honest, funny when it needs to be, and always circling back to grace.  She is a walk beside you, t-shirt and blue jeans, let’s keep it real, kind of minister.

 

Beyond Sunday mornings and ministering to her congregation during the week, Leslie pours that same spirit into Shine On Y'all, the ministry and creative home she founded to reach people well beyond the walls of any one church. Through Shine On Y'all she writes books, creates songs, and content designed to walk alongside people on their spiritual journey — offering encouragement for the hard days, language for the joyful ones, and practical faith for all the ordinary moments in between. It's ministry that travels: something you can carry in your bag, play in your car, or return to whenever you need a reminder that you're not walking this road alone.

 

Rev. Les lives in Austin with her spouse and campus “Ruff-erend” Bisous.  Austin is home in so many ways with many memories of South Austin growing up. She enjoys being creative through playing guitar, drawing, and painting.  She finds peace anytime she is near water, be it a river, lake, ocean, or pool.  She loves small gatherings with friends and family. Moments like this return her to center. These are the pieces of an ordinary, grateful life — the same kind of life she believes God shows up in every day.

 

Whether from the front of the sanctuary or the pages of a book, Leslie's message is the same one she signs everything with: shine on, y'all. There's a light in you worth sharing — and the world is better when you let it out.