Welsh appointed as Bethesda Healing Ministries executive director

Tim Welsh, who has been involved with central Ohio pro-life organizations for two decades, is the new executive director of Bethesda Healing Ministries (BHM). The Bethesda board selected him for the position at its September meeting.

Welsh was president and chief executive officer of the Pregnancy Decision Health Centers for nearly a decade and previously was executive director of Ohio Right to Life for 10 years. He also founded Angels Nurture and Disciple (a mentoring program for new single mothers) and founded and still runs Bottoms Up, a nonprofit organization which collects and supplies diapers for single mothers in need in central Ohio. 

“Over the years, I’ve had enormous respect and admiration for BHM,” Welsh said. “Judy Schlueter (BHM’s founder) and the many volunteers at Bethesda have done an amazing job bringing this organization to where it is today.  They deserve our great thanks for what they dedicated their lives to here at BHM.  I’m honored to be in a position to build on their achievements here.”

 “It’s incredible to have Tim at the helm of this organization,” said Gary Anderson, Bethesda board chair. “I’ve known Tim for 30 years and he is exactly what this organization needs to sustain the great legacy of BHM.  His unique ability to engage forward thinking while respecting history is precisely why we named him.”

Bethesda Healing Ministry will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year. It was founded in 1994 by a small group of dedicated Catholics for the purpose of providing a confidential, safe place which offers support, prayer, reconciliation and spiritual renewal for anyone wounded by the tragedy of abortion.  

Welsh said there are three priorities for Bethesda: recruiting more volunteers, attracting more members (clients), and marshalling more resources.  Outreach will be a large part of each one of those efforts, and the outreach starts with churches.  There also will be a renewed focus on social and electronic media.

“Just as St. Paul went to Corinth to be among the people in his day, so too will BHM go to where people are.  That means being present in social media and electronic media,” he said.
In the next few months, BHM will be enhancing its website, executing a cohesive social media strategy and developing productive partnerships to attract more members and volunteers, all of which will take some funding.  Welsh doesn’t think that will be a problem.
“If we are doing God’s will, he will take care of the money.  He is very generous and he works through people in miraculous ways,” Welsh said.

People interested in getting involved with the ministry may call Bethesda at (614) 718-0277 or may call Welsh directly at (614) 419-6985.  Those seeking hope and healing from an abortion may call Bethesda’s confidential hotline at (614) 309-0157.