Contact

Deacon Nick Bates, JD
Director,
nbates@ohiochurches.org

The Governing Board of the Ohio Council of Churches is pleased to announce that it has called Deacon Nick Bates as the Interim Executive Director of the Ohio Council of Churches. For over a hundred years, the Council has been a Jesus Christ movement for unity, justice, and peace. Deacon Bates began this new call on January 1st of this year. He will serve in a half-time capacity.

 Deacon Bates brings extensive experience to the Council in the ecumenical and interfaith arenas.  Since 2004, Nick has worked in the non-profit advocacy and organizing sector on issues related to state budget and tax policy, immigration, voting rights, fair wages, multi-system youth, school funding, and much more.  

 Nick is a graduate from Capital University (2006), as well as Capital Law School and Trinity Lutheran Seminary in 2012. Deacon Bates passed the bar in 2012 and was ordained in November 2014 as a Deacon in the ELCA- Southern Ohio Synod.

Deacon Bates is married to Katie, an elementary school music teacher in Madison County.  Together they have two children.  

The Ohio Council of Churches is pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. Amariah H. McIntosh of Toledo, Ohio has recently accepted the call to serve as the Council’s Director of Public Policy in a half-time capacity. Rev. Dr. McIntosh, an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, succeeds the Rev. Brandi N. Slaughter who recently began service as a member of the faculty of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Rev. Dr. McIntosh has served as pastor of congregations in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio where she is the current pastor of Phillips Temple CME Church in Toledo. A longtime ecumenist and justice advocate, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in History and Afro-American Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; a Master of Divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, Louisville, KY; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. Her doctoral project was titled, “What Does the Lord Require of You? African American Leaders of BUILD (Building A United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action) Reflect on Micah 6:8.”

Executive Committee

Dave Long-Higgins, United Church of Christ

Deb Oskin, Church of the Brethren

Adam Sornchai, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Allen Harris, Christian Church, (Disciples of Christ)