Faith in Action: Transforming Communities with Hope

I remain committed to building inclusive, compassionate communities—whether through church planting, violence reduction, creative storytelling, or supporting families in need. From launching churches that welcome all to leading city-wide initiatives to reduce violence, I’m eager to share stories of what God is able to do through ordinary people, especially when it lifts up and meets needs amongst the vulnerable.

Church & Ministry

• “Ohio Methodists expanding ways to draw new members" - The Columbus Dispatch - August 12, 2017 - "It doesn't matter who you are ... the sad story is that many of these people from a variety of walks of life have been really hurt by the church," Joe Graves said. "We're trying to launch a church that is a safe place for everyone."

• ‘I’m just normal, and it’s great’ - “Darst was accepted into the Timothy House and, that following Sunday, he visited the Central Avenue United Methodist Church. A small stature of a women, wearing dreads in her hair and walking around barefoot, approached Darst. Hattie smiled at him and gave him a big hug before introducing him to the pastor, Joe Graves, who advised Darst to become involved in as many volunteer opportunities as he could and to follow his legal agreements to the letter.”

Violence Reduction:

In 2023, Joe Graves and Cityview Church committed to reducing homicide violence in Columbus. Through strategic partnerships, we have been able to help launch various initiatives and funds designed to reduce violence in our city. Here are some news articles that covered this work:

• “Summer program aimed to combat youth violence celebrates graduates”
  Fox28 - Published August 11th 2024

• “Columbus' low 2024 homicide rate giving anti-violence advocates hope” - WOSU 89.7 NPR News - Published March 5, 2024 “Cityview pastor Joe Graves said the low total so far this year is a testament to violence reduction efforts like Operation Under Triple Digits and their coalition's ability to bring people together to lay aside their differences to address violence in Columbus.”

• “How community leaders are working to reduce summer violence in Columbus” NBC4 - May 29th, 2024 - “We have to grieve those lost as a community and then they have to rally back together and say, ‘What can we do to make a difference? What can we do to continue to see the record low numbers of homicides in our community?’” Cityview Church Pastor Joe Graves said.”

• Operation Under Triple Digits aims to bring homicide numbers down in 2024 - FOX28 - January 13th 2024 - “Cityview Pastor Joe Graves is one of the faith leaders joining in the fight. He says the only way to address the problem is to work collaboratively with other people.”

• Church Invests in Community to Reduce Violence - West Ohio UMC News

Creative Writing

As the president of Ohio Writers’ Association, I was fortunate to promote a book of diverse voices. Here are some news articles aboutout our anthology release:

• “Ohio writers’ group publishing new anthology to counter book censorship” - NBC4 - February 5th, 2025 - “We have straight and LGBTQ, we have stories about the trans experience, we have critiques and examinations of religion from both atheists, as well as the ordained and clergy,” said Joseph Graves, a United Methodist pastor who is also the group’s president. “It’s just interesting to me, the spectrum from atheist to clergy, student to professor, gay to straight. But, these stories, all from those different perspectives, they all kind of fit together.”

Infant Mortality:

In 2018, Joe and Allyssa Graves launched Little Bottoms Free Store to help reduce infant mortality in our city. This organization has gone on to serve thousands of families in Franklin County. Here are a few interviews with Joe & Allyssa.

• "For the Kids” - The Columbus Dispatch - March 15th, 2019 - “To make sure they weren't duplicating efforts, the pastors spoke with other groups working in the community and families who live there, and came to realize there was a need for more efforts in combating infant mortality, Joe Graves said.”

• “Central Ohio organization aims to address infant mortality through free store” - "We give out the diapers, and the wipes, and the clothes mostly as an incentive to build relationships with people because we all need support," said Pastor Allyssa Graves from Little Bottoms Free Store. "We all need those relationships in our lives that are just going to be there no matter what."

• “Little Bottoms Free Store helps Franklinton parents get the basics” - NBC4, Youtube.