Jim Zippay has served as the Senior Pastor of Heritage from its beginnings in September of 1989. Since coming to Christ while a student at the Ohio State University, Jim has been committed to following Jesus with others in a faith community. Jim’s gifts as well as his passions and education revolve around his love for the Word of God.

His educational experience includes a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Luther Rice Seminary, a Master of Divinity from Winebrenner Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Presently, Jim provides counsel for the Executive Team that oversee all the church’s ministries. He also directs the church’s teaching for the weekend services and the Missions ministry. In recent years, Jim has been very involved with local and international missions in Latin America, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia.

1 Corinthians 12:18 has been the theme verse for Heritage and Jim. It has given him much confidence that God is the One who ultimately leads the church and places people where he wants them! Jim and his wife, Beth, reside in Westerville with their two children, Gabriel and Andrea.

Although Pavi’s past ministry has had great impact from his homeland of India to Asia to Latin America to the United States, the local church has never been far from his heart.

A member of the senior leadership team of Great Commission Ministries since from 1995-2005, he’s served as a lead pastor, church planter, respected teacher and mentor, and developer of a sophisticated distance-education theological model. Pavi holds a PhD from OSU, and has been the main session speaker at conferences on several continents.

Pavi’s primary focus at Heritage is to strengthen and develop our leadership development process, moving toward equipping church plant teams in the future. Pavi has been married to Jeanne for 13 years now, and they have two children, Micah & Hannah.

John Thomas joined Heritage’s Pastoral Staff in January of 2007 as Group Life Pastor. Prior to becoming the Group Life Pastor, John served as Men’s Director and Life Group Director. John graduated from Vineyard Leadership Institute in November of 2006. Before joining the Heritage staff, John had a 21 year sales career in the telecommunications industry, retiring from Lucent Technologies in 2001.

John and his wife Karen have been married for 32 years and have 3 grown children, Shalla Johnson (Richard), Jonathan (Delaine), and Heather and 5 grandchildren. John and his family started attending Heritage in February of 1997 after moving back home from Atlanta where they were actively involved in an inner city church.

He is compelled to live a life that is pleasing to God and to teach and encourage others to do the same. The most exciting thing in ministry is to see people trust God and realize the glorious impact He will make in and through them, their families and the world around them.

Bob Buchan serves on the Heritage staff as the Family Life Pastor. He came into a relationship with Jesus during high school and has walked with Him ever since. Bob has rich Christian background through his former involvement with Young Life, The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Campus Crusade for Christ.

He was awarded a B.A. from Otterbein College (Westerville, OH), and then went on to receive Master’s degrees from Georgia State University (M.Ed.), and International Seminary (M.Th.). Bob began his ministerial career as a youth pastor. During the 80’s and 90’s took the lead in starting four churches in central Ohio. Throughout the years, Bob has enjoyed serving as a consultant to church leaders both locally and abroad.

Bob was married to his wife, Linda, in 1979, and they have been blessed with five children, C.J., Amy, Matt, Meredith and Michael. Bob is also the author of the book, First Love that Lasts, published by Destiny Image.

Terry Bartley has served as a pastor for 31 years and is currently the Student Pastor at Heritage.

Coming to Christ as a result of college campus ministry has fueled a life-long passion to reach the next generation and to raise up young leaders. He was the director of the High School Leadership Training program in Myrtle Beach for 10 years. The past eleven years he has directed first the (SIP) Summer Intern Program and now the Nehemiah Project to train leaders for high school and college ministry. God has used these programs to transform hundreds of lives.

Terry married Jennifer 30 years ago. Early in their marriage they did ministry together in 5 cities, in 5 states, in 5 years and ended up with 5 children. He enjoys many sports, but unfortunately has been a Detroit Tiger fan his entire life.

Barb Tornatzky, Women’s Pastor, joined our pastoral team in February 2004 as our Care Pastor. Barb graduated from college with a degree in elementary education and a minor in music from Adrian College in 1972, and taught 5th grade, near Toledo, Ohio. She and her husband Bob began attending Heritage in 1994 and they both graduated from the Vineyard Leadership Institute.

Barb and Bob were married in 1973. Their two adult children, Steve and Sara, and three grandchildren, live in the greater Columbus area. She loves to go biking on Ohio’s rails to trails with Bob, gardening, music, being a grandmother and knitting.

Pastor Barb’s heart is to encourage women to grow in their relationship with Jesus - to find He is truly sufficient for every circumstance, to develop in Godly character, to be responsive to the needs of others, and to use their gifts to serve God - in our church home, in their families and out into the world.

Brian Brooks came to Heritage in January 2003 and previously served as Pastor of Outreach, overseeing Evangelism and Prayer. Pastor Brian now serves as the campus pastor of our Marysville extension. Brian came from the Atlanta area where he planted and served as pastor of New Community Covenant Church in Stone Mountain, GA.

He earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Brian’s passion for the Gospel fuels his desire to be used of God to help seekers come into a vibrant relationship with their Savior, to help people develop into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, and to train others to do the same. Both Brian and his wife Maria have Jamaican roots. Brian and Maria have been married since 1989 and have three children: Matthew, Jasmine, and Lauren.

Loving on people and providing care for them is what Pastor Tom Fletcher loves to do. So it seemed natural that Tom should be in the position of the Care Pastor. Tom came to Heritage and served for four years as the Children’s Pastor.

Prior to his coming on at Heritage Tom worked as a teacher and as a manager in the business world. Tom holds Bachelors degrees in Education and Business Administration from the Ohio State University, and a Masters degree in Pastoral Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary.

Tom and Kate live in Westerville and have two married children, Ryan and Amanda, and two boys in high school and college, Michael and Luke. Tom is blessed to be a part of a team of committed volunteers who daily carry out acts of compassion to those at Heritage and in the surrounding community. Tom is so thankful to be a part of God’s Kingdom work and he draws his strength from God’s promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

John Buckles joined Heritage’s pastoral staff in June 2003 to serve as our Connection and Communications Pastor. He received undergraduate and master’s degrees in Communications from Indiana State University, and is a graduate of the Vineyard Leadership Institute. Before coming to Heritage, he was on the faculty of Otterbein College in Westerville for twenty years.

John desires to see any barriers reduced and removed that restrict ones from getting close to God and one another, and his passion is to cultivate a warm and welcoming atmosphere at Heritage.

John and his wife, Sally, live in Westerville with their four children, Michael (11), Nahom (9), Meron (7) and Jayden (4). They also have custody of a boy Samuel (12) in Honduras, whom they hope to have with them someday soon. In his discretionary time, John enjoys distance running (several marathons) and being with his family in the outdoors.

Joel Hardin serves as an Associate Pastor at Heritage, supporting Operations, Communications and Churchwide Events. Joel’s heartbeat is to help teams and individuals to be more effective in ministry. This job is a perfect fit because he gets to blend two things he loves — pastoral and organizational leadership.

Before joining the Heritage team in January of 2007, Joel was Lead Pastor of Mosaic Church at OSU, where he served for 15 years. Joel holds an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) and an MA (Masters in Architecture) and from the University of Illinois. Joel is a graduate of VLI (Vineyard Leadership Institute), and he also holds a Certificate of Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute. Prior to ministry, Joel worked as an architect for 4 years and continues to hold his architectural license.

Joel and his wife Edie (also an architect) have been married for 17 years and live in Lewis Center with their three children, Anisa, Jack and Christian.