Snapshot: Kelley Presbyterian Church in McDonough

Website: www.kelleypres.org

Service: 11 a.m. blended worship.

Average Sunday attendance: 50

Pastor: The Rev. Dan Ottaviano

Denomination affiliation: Presbyterian Church (USA)

Vision Statement

“Connecting all generations to serve together with God in Jesus Christ.”

History

The church grew out of a small Sunday school class that began meeting in 1896 in the farm community of Kelleytown, several miles northeast of McDonough. In 1899, the Atlanta Presbytery began providing worship services. New member Henry Holcomb Kelley led a core group that organized Kelley Presbyterian and donated land on which a church was built.

Mostly part-time student pastors led the congregation. In 1994, the church installed the first full-time pastor and in 1997 earned the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta award for outstanding small church of the year.

Pastor’s path

Ottaviano, who grew up in the District of Columbia area, served as a chaplain in the naval reserves. After 20 years of naval service, he retired in late 1998 and lived in the Virginia Beach area, serving a church and teaching at a university until his son graduated from high school.

The pastor then moved to Florida to work on a church start, and took his love of tennis to a new level by becoming certified by the U.S. Professional Tennis Association to teach the game.

Using tennis as a ministry tool has become "a peculiar and distinctive part of what I am and my skill set. I’ll always be doing youth tennis ministry,” Ottaviano said.

The pastor’s education includes a bachelor of arts degree from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, a master of divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School and a doctor of ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Ottaviano’s naval service included three tours of sea duty, three meritorious service medals and a commendation for ministry at the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

Ministries

The church’s most distinctive community outreach tool is the USTA-sanctioned Quickstart beginners tennis clinics for elementary-age children. Ottaviano teaches at the clinics, which are held as a Wednesday after-school program for eight weeks in the fall and spring. After an hour on the court, the youngsters head back to the church for Bible lessons, youth activities and an evening meal for their families.

A nearby neighborhood offers free court time for the ministry, which serves more than 30 students per session. “More important than forming them in tennis is forming them in the community of God,” the pastor said.

A youth-led Sunday service is held once a month. Several middle and high school students mentor elementary kids through the tennis ministry and in youth activities.

The church supports the Helping Hands food pantry, a homeless shelter in Atlanta, and recent tornado and earthquake relief efforts. A quarterly healing and wholeness service is held, with the next one scheduled for June 26.

Thoughts from the pastor

Kelley Presbyterian “is about being a healthy and wholesome intergenerational church to serve well within and beyond Christ’s church.”