Deacon Nick Bates
Interim Executive Director
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.
Nick serves as a Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) called to ministries of advocacy and social justice. He serves on various committees and boards within the faith community.
Beginning in 2016, Deacon Bates was called to serve part-time as the director of the Hunger Network in Ohio, while continuing to coordinate a secular state budget coalition group. He continued to serve both with Ohio Voice and the Hunger Network in Ohio until 2023, when he became a full-time employee of the Hunger Network.
Deacon Bates has earned the respect of many secular advocacy groups, having been chosen to serve more than 2 years as a co-chair of the state's leading health and human services coalition in 2023.
Deacon Bates is married to Katie, an elementary school music teacher in Madison County. Together they have two children.
Rev. Dr. Amariah H. McIntosh
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.”
Director of Public Policy
In addition, Rev. Dr. McIntosh earned a Certificate in Theology and Racialized Policing from the Certificate in Theology and Racialized Policing from the Howard Divinity School, Washington, DC, and is set to complete a Certificate in Trauma and Spiritual Care from the University of the Redlands, San Francisco, CA.
Rev. Dr. McIntosh is a current member of Toledo-based ecumenical expressions such as the Interdenominational Ministers Alliance, Methodist Ministers Affiliation, United Pastors for Social Empowerment. Her prior ecumenical leadership posts were with the Kentucky Council of Churches where she was Chairperson of its Justice and Advocacy Committee and At-Large member of the Council’s Executive Board.
Additionally, Rev. Dr. McIntosh has served with groups such as Evansville’s Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment (CAJE) where she chaired a research committee on re-entry and recidivism, Lexington, KY’s Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action (BUILD), and the Alliance for Congregational Transformation in our Neighborhoods of Youngstown.
Other areas of involvement for Rev. Dr. McIntosh include service on the Alumni Board, President’s Roundtable, and the Black Church Studies Advisory Committee of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary; and Co-Director of Nehemiah Project, Director of Social Concerns, and Former Statistician of the Ohio Central Indiana Annual Conference of the CME Church. She has engaged in legislative advocacy with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Ecumenical Advocacy Days, Kentucky Council of Churches, CAJE, and the Ohio Council of Churches.
Rev. Dr. McIntosh was the recipient of the inaugural Linsey/Hoyt Ecumenicity Award from the CME Church and is a member of the NAACP and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Deanna is a resident of Columbus, Ohio. She earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Paralegal Studies at Columbus State College, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Rhetorical Communications at The Ohio State University and a Master of Legal Studies from Northcentral University. Deanna completed a certificate in Ministry Studies at Ever Increasing Life Ministries and a diploma of completion in Ministry Education at Ever Increasing Word Ministries. Deanna is a Licensed Minister through Good Life Church of Columbus, Ohio.
Deanna has worked in corporate and public sectors. For ten years she was an entrepreneur of an early childhood learning center. Her beloved occupation has been working for non-profit organizations.