Meet our new Moderator and Vice Moderator
At its May 14, 2024 meeting, Presbytery of the Miami Valley elected Ruling Elder Janet Miller as Moderator and Minister of Word and Sacrament Lawrence Bartel as Vice Moderator for 2024-25.
Ruling Elder Janet Miller, Moderator
Bath Presbyterian Church, Dayton
I have attended Bath Presbyterian Church since 2001 with my husband, JO, and am using these three influences (see full statement) to be an instrument of God within the world. I have been and am now a Ruling Elder at Bath, chairing the Mission Committee. While my advanced degrees have been technical, now that I am retired from working in technical fields, I am developing my compassionate, caregiving side. I am working to be a Commissioned Ruling Elder which included taking classes at Dubuque Theological Seminary such as Pastoral Caregiving. I completed the Older Adult Ministries Certificate Program with Columbia Theological Seminary and will be taking Clinical Pastoral Education this summer and in the fall. While I cannot disregard the possibility God has a church for me as a lay pastor, I look forward to emphasizing work with PMV’s older adults, both congregants and retired pastors.
MWS Lawrence Bartel, Vice Moderator
Oxford Presbyterian Church, Oxford
Lawrence is the pastor of Oxford Presbyterian Church (OPC). A Buckeye native, he returned to Ohio after graduating from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and serving churches in Chicago as well as upstate New York. Lawrence and his wife, Amy, round out their family with a son, Jens, and daughter, Lydia.
Passionate about life-long learning, Lawrence has been shaped by formal classroom settings as well as the transformative experience of journeys around the region, the nation and the world. In 2016 & 2018, he served as the co-leader for the PC(USA) Mosaic of Peace to Israel and Palestine. Through the ministry of OPC, Lawrence has participated in mission journeys to sister congregations in Colombia and Russia. In 2022, he coordinated a learning journey to Scotland followed by a civil rights learning journey to Georgia and Alabama in 2023.
