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The Presbytery of Cincinnati
Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio
Ruth Mattis was part of a mission group that built this gazebo for Buckhorn Children’s Home.
Anyone who thinks they are too old to go on a mission trip should just ask Ruth Mattis. At the age of eighty, Ruth is finding new ways to be in mission with her congregation, St. John’s Westminster Union Church, a union between St. John’s United Church of Christ and Westminster Presbyterian Church in the suburban Delhi area of Cincinnati, Ohio.
When a multigenerational team was formed to do basic landscaping and build a gazebo for the residents of Buckhorn Children’s Home in Kentucky, Ruth thought she was too old and lacked the strength for such a labor-intensive project. But with encouragement from her church family, she and about twenty people of all ages were on their way.
Ruth learned that mission is not all work, even though she used her creative skills in helping to provide meals for the workers. Mission is also about being present with others: praying, worshiping, and laughing together; taking time to listen to one another; sharing stories about faith. Ruth returned to Cincinnati grateful for the opportunity to serve, yet humbled by the attention, love, and kindness she received in the company of the Buckhorn children.
The Rev. Kathryn Barlow Westmoreland, pastor of St. John’s Westminster, says, “Mission at our church is about ‘doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with our God’ whether it is laying a cafeteria floor at a children’s home, sharing our facility and grounds with our neighbors, or doing mission with urban congregations. Like that gazebo, everyone needs a shady place for rest.”
The Presbytery of Cincinnati has 85 congregations with 16,195 members.
Presbytery Staff
Rev. James DiEgidio, general presbyter
Rev. Yvette L. Dalton, associate general presbyter
Elder Janis Adams, stated clerk and resource center director
Marion Montefiore, administrative assistant, office
Sandy Phillips, coordinator of administration and finance
Donna Burckle, bookkeeper
Elder George Hufford, hunger action enabler
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Jane Daveler, BOP
Elder April Davenport, GAC
Merciful God, may your Spirit inspire us and challenge us at any age to serve you, the world, and each other. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ps. 5, 147:1–11 Ps. 27, 51
Deut. 9:13–21
Heb. 3:12–19; John 2:23–3:15
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