ST. BARNABAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH: HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
Fellowship/Mission Days
St. Barnabas was founded by Fr. George Hill, who was the curate at St. Thomas
Episcopal Church in Terrace Park in the late 70’s. He had noted there was no Episcopal
church in Montgomery and that the area would likely be a fertile place for a new church
start.
Supporters of the concept of a new church, and clergy from the area’s neighboring
churches, met in December 1980 and discussed the prospect of starting a mission in
Montgomery. With the support of Bishop William G. Black and rectors of surrounding
churches, what is now St. Barnabas began as a mission affiliated with Holy Trinity
Church, Kenwood.
For the first year there were regular meetings of the Mission Council to plan the start of
the new church. On December 1, 1981, the first church service was held at Sycamore
High School. There were 28 people at the first service, drawn from established churches
to meet in a high school, who believed in the vision of a new church. The fledgling
church was helped immensely early on by experienced members “on loan” from
neighboring Episcopal churches (St. Thomas and Holy Trinity), who provided priceless
experience, insight, know-how, and volunteer hours to the new church start.
Sycamore High School was home to St. Barnabas for 10 years, on a series of one year
at a time agreements, hosting a 9:30 am service. The new church was portable in
nature, owing to its rented space, and members set up crosses, candles, portable altar,
small electronic organ on a rolling platform, prayer book carts, etc. every Sunday
morning. By that first Christmas Eve, there were 55 people in attendance; by Easter
there were close to 70.
An 8 am service was soon added, using a chapel at nearby Good Shepherd Catholic
Church. Parishioners brought music and liturgical items to Good Shepherd and then
transported them to the high school. The congregation held dinners, Bible studies, and
choir rehearsals in the early years in many of the existing churches of other
denominations in Montgomery (including the Lutheran, Methodist, Swedenborgian, and
Presbyterian churches), and developed an enduring relationship with Rockdale Temple.
Parish Status. In late 1982, Father Hill selected the name St. Barnabas for the mission
church. He believed it appropriate to choose as the church’s namesake a saint
remembered for extending comfort and encouragement to others. The Diocese gave its
blessing for the church to become a free-standing parish, ending the satellite affiliation
with Holy Trinity. At the Diocesan Convention of December, 1983, St. Barnabas was
received as a parish of the Diocese and Father Hill as the founding Rector. St. Barnabas
still has the distinction of the shortest timeline from a forming fellowship to full parish
status in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, due in large part to the faith and support of
Bishop Black.
In the mid 80’s, St. Barnabas took on a special mission to the local community by
establishing an adult day healthcare center to provide care and supervision for elderly
adults. This was the first major community outreach effort of St. Barnabas. The center
was initially staffed exclusively by St. Barnabas members with geriatric registered
nursing and recreational therapy backgrounds and parish volunteers. Later, St Barnabas
was joined by other local churches and the center became an area-wide ecumenical
outreach. After two years, additional healthcare facilities providing similar services
emerged, and the church-run healthcare center closed.
Land and Building Phases
In 1984, the congregation began planning for a future land purchase and construction of
a permanent church home. A number of potential sites were identified in the area and,
after several attempts to purchase land fell through, the congregation purchased two
adjacent residential properties along Montgomery Road in 1987. There were homes on
each property which were rented for income while the land purchase loans were paid off.
Prior to construction, the homes were sold, then literally cut in half, transported to other
properties, reassembled, and recycled as “new” single family dwellings.
Within 3 years, the congregation had retired the land purchase debt and turned its
attention to planning for construction of a building to serve as the church home.
Construction began in the fall of 1990. During construction, dedicated parishioners
provided months of volunteer labor to save money and to add personal touches to the
church building. The church building opened in the spring of 1991 and was dedicated by
Bishop Black on St. Barnabas Day, 1991. Sunday attendance was averaging 120
persons when the building opened.
The original construction included the Sanctuary, Administrative Wing, Sacristy, Narthex,
and an unfinished basement. Over the next 5-6 years, parish volunteers completed the
undercroft, adding a nursery, classrooms, kitchen and parish hall.
By the mid 90’s, church membership had reached 700 and a building addition was
needed to house the burgeoning church programs, especially the Church School and
youth programs. By that time, St. Barnabas’ Sunday School average attendance was 2nd
highest in the Diocese. An addition was built in 2001 providing additional classrooms,
choir rehearsal space, offices, and an additional fellowship hall.
In 2002, St.Barnabas paid forward the help it had received in the early 80’s from
established congregations by forming a New Start team which led to the establishment
of a daughter congregation, St. Mary Magdalene in Maineville, Ohio. A number of
members of St. Barnabas volunteered to serve as founding members of the new
congregation.
St Barnabas in the Community
St. Barnabas has had a strong involvement in Montgomery and surrounding
communities. Fr. Hill served for several years as a volunteer fireman and police chaplain
in Montgomery. The church, in turn, served occasionally as a community meeting place
and a concert hall for local and touring choral groups and chamber orchestras.
In the early morning hours of April, 9, 1999, a Category F4 tornado swept through the
area surrounding St. Barnabas, causing fatalities and great damage to the community.
A number of parishioners were injured and their homes damaged. In the immediate
aftermath, St. Barnabas volunteered to serve as an emergency response center,
providing communications, supplies, and volunteer coordination. Parishioners manned
phones and mapped areas for dispatch of volunteer teams. School busses from the
Sycamore district shuttled volunteers from the St. Barnabas parking lot into the storm
ravaged areas to clear fallen trees, help clear debris, and help homeowners sort through
their scattered possessions. The Red Cross and news organizations used the church
parking lot as a marshaling spot. St. Barnabas continued in this role for several weeks
following the storm, serving as a meeting hall for local community leaders to meet with
residents to coordinate the recovery efforts.
In the early 80’s, a relationship developed between St. Barnabas and the Findlay Street
Neighborhood House, a social service facility serving children, youth, struggling families,
and disadvantaged individuals in the West End of downtown Cincinnati. This has
emerged as the major outreach activity for St. Barnabas and has been an active yearround effort for more than two decades. St. Barnabas parishioners take a direct hand in
the center’s after-school programs, summer day camp, cultural and recreational field
trips, and holiday meals and gifts for families at Thanksgiving and Christmas. In addition,
Findlay Street kids have participated in the Vacation Bible School programs at St.
Barnabas. St. Barnabas also has an ongoing relationship with CAIN (Churches Active in
Northside) to help stock a food pantry and to cook and serve meals on a rotating basis
with other churches.
St. Barnabas has carved out a niche in the community as a supporter of the arts. The
sanctuary was designed and constructed to enhance musical presentations. Since
opening, the church has served as a concert hall for groups as diverse as barbershop
quartets, choral groups, the Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and the
Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, as well as parish liturgical offerings. In 2007, a Rodgers
5 Manual Trillium pipe organ was installed in the sanctuary and dedicated in a concert
benefiting Grace Episcopal Church, New Orleans, which had suffered substantial
damage during Hurricane Katrina. St. Barnabas has presented benefit concerts over the
years to honor veterans, Habitat for Humanity, and other worthy causes.
St. Barnabas has been blessed through the years with talented and exceptional lay
talent. Several members of the congregation have served in wider community roles. The
current Superintendent and School Board President of the Sycamore Community School
district are members of St. Barnabas. The current CEO of the Greater Cincinnati Habitat
for Humanity is a former Sr. Warden. The current Blue Ash/Montgomery Rotary Club
Citizen of the Year is an active member of St. Barnabas.
St. Barnabas and the Diocese and Beyond. Mindful of the support through the years
of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, St. Barnabas parishioners have served our Diocese on
key committees: a former Sr. Warden was for several years the 1st Vice President of the
Standing Committee; others have served on the Commission on Congregational Life, the
board of the Episcopal Community Services Foundation, and various other Diocesan
committees (Stewardship, Liturgy & Music, Finance).
In 2000, Bishop Herbert Thompson announced plans for a Great Commissioning Service
to assemble members from every Diocesan congregation to Cincinnati for a weekend of
worship and evangelism, headlined by a visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Fr. Hill
volunteered St. Barnabas to plan and lead the organization of the event. Central to the
plans was finding a suitable venue for a celebratory liturgy for 10,000 persons scheduled
to attend the event. The site selected was the newly constructed basketball arena for
Xavier University. The Diocesan Great Commission service was the inaugural event for
the new facility. St. Barnabas volunteers handled logistics, housing questions, tickets,
and entertainment options for the visitors. A special outing organized by the St.
Barnabas coordinating team was a night at the Cincinnati Zoo. In an inspired and playful
moment, the committee organized a meet & greet session with the Archbishop in the
Primate House at the zoo.
Parishioners served on the 75th General Convention Planning Team and later as floor
volunteers at the convention held in Columbus, Ohio, in 2006.
St. Barnabas parishioners have participated in ministries far beyond Ohio as well. In
2002, parish youth went on a mission trip as part of a nation-wide Appalachian Service
Project. Medically credentialed parishioners have made yearly medical mission trips to
Belize for the past decade. Other parishioners have served as missionaries to Costa
Rica and Jerusalem.
St. Barnabas has mentored numerous candidates for Holy Orders who are now serving
as deacons and priests in the Diocese.
Recent Years and the Present. Since the late 2000s, St. Barnabas, like many mainline
denomination churches, experienced a downturn in membership of middle-aged and
younger persons. During this period, St. Barnabas expenses continued to grow against
flattened income. The Vestry addressed membership/financial issues head-on by
communicating the issues with the congregation and making difficult but necessary
decisions about the running of the church and its budget.
The financial challenges have been presented in a forthright manner to the
congregation. For the past couple of years, the congregation has responded to special
giving appeals, including a three-year development campaign, to the extent that much
progress has been made in balancing the budget, retiring debt and becoming current on
Mission Share arrearages. In addition, the congregation has earmarked some of the
special funds raised for clergy transition expenses.
In the spring of 2011, Fr. Hill announced his retirement from active ministry to the
congregation, effective January 1, 2012. On St. Barnabas Day, 2012, the congregation
celebrated the 30 plus years of ministry of George and Amy Hill and the congregation’s
blessings and accomplishments since its founding.
In 2012, The Vestry unanimously approved the call, sanctioned by the Bishop and
Canons of the Diocese, of Fr. John Keydel as Interim Priest in charge of St. Barnabas.
Fr. Keydel accepted the call. St. Barnabas was indeed fortunate to have a priest in
charge with Fr. Keydel’s experience with interim ministry, and recent experience as a
Canon on the Bishop’s staff in the Diocese of Michigan (Canon for Ministry Development
and Transition Ministries).
In April of 2013, Bishop Breidenthal gave his blessing to St. Barnabas to form a SelfStudy and Discernment Task Force to guide the process of identfying the next clergy
leader of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. One year later, the Task Force identified The
Rev. Canon Nancy Turner Jones as their selection for St. Barnabas’ Priest in Charge.
Pastor Nancy earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Miami University, Oxford, and a
Master of Music degree in organ performance from the University of Cincinnati College
Conservatory of Music. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Lexington (KY)
Theological Seminary and her Doctor of Ministry degree from the School of Theology,
University of the South, Sewanee, TN.
Pastor Nancy was raised in Hamilton OH where her great-grandfather pastored
the Lutheran parish, She has served a number of parishes as rector or interim priest,
and also served as Dean's Canon at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati.
In August, 2014, Bishop Breidenthal officially welcomed Nancy as our Priest in
Charge. In a short time, she has focused her considerable energies on our youth and
children’s ministries, as well as on new membership. In just 6 months, she hired a parttime director of youth ministry, and welcomed more than 30 new families to the church.
In 2014, a small group of parishioners looked hard at the data collected by the
Self Study and Discernment Task Force, and developed a plan to grow the church,
called Intentional Transformation. That group recruited additional members who
established key goals and initiatives to achieve this growth.
Three main goals were established by the Intentional Transformation group: 1)
enhancing the parish experience; 2) increasing our interface with our various
communities; and 3) bringing new members to the church. Twelve new initiatives were
developed to accomplish these goals. In addition, new focus on children’s ministry and
youth engagement were added to the plan.
These new programs were introduced to the parish at a new event in 2015
called March Gladness. Each new ministry was represented at a table with food and
sign-up sheets. The very well-attended event marked the beginning of a new chapter for
the church, a new path for its parishioners, and a bright outlook for the future. St.
Barnabas continues to grow in size and spirit with Dr. Jones as our shepherd.
May 2015 [Acknowledgement: “A Time to Dance – Celebrating 25 years of St. Barnabas
Episcopal Church” by A. B. Zelek