Nurture & Outreach Commission

• Rev. Kathleen A. Nice, Transitional General Presbyter, Teaching Elder
• Mrs. Jennifer Whitford, Certified Christian Educator, Ruling Elder
• Ms. Martha Pool, Presbyterian Women

 2023

• Ms. Tina Johnson, Ruling Elder
• Rev. Rick Nutt, Teaching Elder
• Rev. Alice L. Phillips, Teaching Elder
• Mrs. Susan Rike, Ruling Elder

2024

• Rev Steven B. Brand, Teaching Elder
• Mr. Stephen M. Hills, Chair, Ruling Elder
• Rev. Amy House, Teaching Elder
• Rev. Diane Baldwin, Teaching Elder

2025

• Rev. Mary Gene Boteler, Teaching Elder
• Ms. Susan Fisher, Ruling Elder    
• Mr. Gregory Menssen, Ruling Elder 
• Mrs. Paige Tolar, Ruling Elder

Also available on YouTube.

You may have heard of the exciting movement of the Spirit happening with Presbyterian campus ministry at The Ohio State University. Thanks to the effort of leaders from several churches in the Presbytery of Scioto Valley and funding from a grant from the Ministry Initiative’s Board, we Presbyterians have entered fully into partnership in ministry at Jacob’s Porch, an ecumenical and collaborative campus ministry of the PC(USA), ELCA, UMC, and MC(USA) to the main campus of Ohio State University. This partnership resulted in the formation of a new Ukirk board to support Presbyterian ministry at Jacob’s Porch and the calling of the Rev. Taylor Barner to serve as the full time Presbyterian Campus Pastor at Jacob’s Porch. We truly believe that the Spirit is at work at OSU creating something new and innovative that may also serve as a model to other campus ministries nationwide.

Mission

OSUKirk offers an open and inclusive understanding of Jesus and his call on our lives to young adults and college students of central Ohio and on OSU’s campus while giving a unique perspective of and opportunities from the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Vision

The vision of OSUKirk is to partner in ecumenical ministry with Jacob’s Porch to help nurture a deeper and more mature faith in young adults, and foster connections with PC(USA) congregations.

The Rev. Taylor Barner is our new Presbyterian campus minister serving The Ohio State University at Jacob’s Porch. He believes in seeing young people as not simply the future of the Church, but also as leaders of the present Church. Taylor would love to come serve in leadership at your church soon either by preaching, teaching a class, or speaking at a youth group event. We hope you will consider welcoming him to your church soon so he can share more about Jacob’s Porch and the campus ministry at Ohio State University! Please sign up to add your church to the list of Taylor’s 2023-24 schedule of visits: Campus Minister Church Leadership Visits. You can also reach Taylor directly at Taylor@jacobsporch.com.

Support Presbyterian Campus Ministry at OSU

Building the ministry we envision will require all-hands-on-deck from churches from all across the state of Ohio in order to have the reach and impact that we hope to have on campus. In addition to your prayers and/or providing a meal for a Sunday night gathering, you can support this ministry through your financial support. Gifts of any size will go a long way to deepening our important work with students. This could be a one-time or recurring contribution from you or your church’s mission, outreach, evangelism, or young adult ministry funds, or could also be a gift from the funds your church has collected through the Pentecost Special Offering of the PC(USA). We are building this ministry from the ground up, so individual and/or church support will have an immediate and profound impact on our work.

In addition to smaller gifts, we are also interested in establishing partner churches who share our commitment to campus ministry at OSU and can contribute more significant funding and support. We have established three tiers for our partner churches and would love your church to consider what support at a partnered level might look like:

• Partner Church – Contributions in excess of $500
• Covenant Church – Contributions in excess of $2,000
• Buckeye Church – Contributions in excess of $5,000

If your church can partner with us in building this ministry, please reach out to a member of the OSUKirk Board to explore together what a more robust partnership might look like!

If you plan to support us in any way, please let us know by filling out the form or by emailing us at ukirk@jacobsporch.com. Contributions to OSU’s Presbyterian campus ministry can be made by sending a check made out to the Presbytery of Scioto Valley [4131 N High St B, Columbus, OH 43214] with “OSUkirk” in the memo line. or by emailing us at ukirk@jacobsporch.com.

In Christ’s Service, OSUKirk Board Members:

• Rev Trip Porch, chair – trip@indianolapres.org
• Rev Todd Tracy – ttracy@spcnewark.org
• Bob Patterson – bobpatterson1305@gmail.com
• Dr. Fred Hitzhusen – hitzhusen.1@osu.edu
• Kathi Bubb – kathibubb@gmail.com

Nurture and Outreach Commission supports education and events for pastors, church leaders, clerk training, elders and deacons.

• The annual Partners in Education (PIE) event provides leadership training for all elders, deacons and church leaders. This event is typically held the first or second Saturday of January.
• Pre-presbytery events: The goal of pre-presbytery events is to provide programs with timely topics such as older adult ministry, environmental concerns, drug overdose awareness and other current topics.
• Resource Center:The resource center, located in the Presbytery of Scioto Valley Office provides books and resources related to worship, congregational life, devotional, age level ministries and other topics relevant to church and church life.

Matthew 25:31–46 calls all of us to actively engage in the world around us, so our faith comes alive and we wake up to new possibilities. Visit our Matthew 25 resources for more information.

Nurture and outreach commission assists congregations in mission service and stewardship and provides encouragement, guidance, grants and resources to congregations in mission, prophetic witness, leadership development, worship, evangelism and administration. Some of the ways we do this is through:

• Mission Projects
• Mission work Trips
• Self-Development of People (SDOP)
• Peacemaking Events
• Local Mission
• Global Mission
• Stewardship and Ecological Concerns
• Promotion of Peace and Social Justice
• Westside Urban Mission
• Neighborhood Mission Grant
• Peacemaking Mission Grant
• We work in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church (USA)-presbyterianmission.org

The commission for nurture and outreach provides programming and coordination for older adult ministry.

Purpose:

• Interchange between congregations and the Presbytery of ideas and information related to older adults so that a willingness to care about Older Adult Ministries can be built up in the congregations and the Presbytery.
• The mission of the Presbytery of Scioto Valley’s Older Adult Ministry Team is to partner with congregations to provide life-enhancing programs for and with older adults.

Vision:

• Provide support, resources and encouragement to all congregations, session and staff in establishing and maintaining meaningful older adult ministry programs and activities.
• Maintain a central collection of books, articles, and other related resources pertaining to the issues of older adults.
  Maintain awareness of community organizations who share similar interest for information useful to congregations.
• Communicative information and a activities from OAM committee to the congregations at Presbytery meetings.
  Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network (POAMN):
• The Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network actively addresses the new challenges and ever changing needs of our church’s aging membership, and advocates on behalf of our older adults. POAMN members include pastors, educators, and many others who work with older adults in our congregations, presbyteries and retirement communities.

VISIT THEIR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION

“Presbyterian Women understands that scripture asks us to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. As such, Presbyterian Women provides information about justice and peace and ministry to inform mission and community-building work.” –PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN’S MINISTRY WEBSITE

Visit our Presbyterian Women webpage for information and resources.