A warm, hospitable place & a greenhouse for growth.

Carmen House Christian Study Center seeks to provide a hospitable place for the OSU community to explore deep questions about the Christian faith in relation to learning, vocation, and human flourishing. We seek to be a greenhouse for Christian spiritual formation, demonstrating the vitality and wisdom of the Christian faith for the life of the university.

We are a member of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers

We envision…

  • Christian and non-Christian students having a judgment-free place to be honest about their questions and doubts.

  • Christian students holistically growing in their faith, including their academic pursuits.

  • Christian faculty at OSU that are actively integrating their faith with their academic work in the university, while being given opportunities outside of the classroom setting to share their lives and perspectives with others in the campus community.

  • Non-Christian students and faculty encountering the people and programs of Carmen House, and being welcomed and surprised by the wisdom and beauty of the way of Jesus Christ. 

Board of Directors

  • Aaron Badenhop, D.Min.

  • Brian Raison, Ph.D.

  • Kweku Nyen

  • Seuli Brill, M.D.

  • Amanda Hullinger, LPCC

  • Keith Little, J.D.

  • Josh Doyle

  • Aaron is Executive Director of Carmen House, and serves as a part-time lecturer at The Ohio State University in the GenEd Bookends program. He is Spiritual Theologian in Residence at Hope Church (EPC).

    After growing up in an extended family with many OSU alumni, he graduated from OSU (’03) with a B.A. in history. While working for 20 years in campus ministry with Cru at OSU, Aaron received an M.Div. from Ashland Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from George Fox University with an emphasis on leadership and spiritual formation, and a graduate certificate in spiritual direction. He is married to Elisabeth and has two daughters, Brooke and Molly. Their family loves to attend Buckeye sporting events and to explore the outdoors.

    Aaron is motivated to help found a Christian Study Center for OSU that can be home-away-from-home, where students, faculty, and the OSU community can explore together how Jesus Christ is relevant to all of life and every academic discipline at the university.

  • Brian has served OSU nearly 30 years. He is a leadership specialist with OSU Extension, and teaches graduate courses in the Dept. of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership. He also serves as a faculty affiliate with the OSU Drake Institute for Teaching & Learning, and an undergrad mentor with STEP (Second Year Transformational Experience Program). He works extensively in leadership development, mentoring, strategic alignment, instructional strategies, and storytelling.

    Brian and his family have volunteered with faith-based service ministries for more than 30 years. He holds a BS from OSU’s Fisher College of Business, the MA in Sociology from Ohio University, and a PhD in Extension Education (non-formal teaching) from Ohio State. Brian notes, "Carmen House offers a place to explore our faith and academic lives, not as separate entities, but in whole. This helps people find purpose and meaning, greatly strengthening their potential."

  • Kweku is a Scrum Master at The Hartford Insurance Company and a proud alumnus of The Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Communications ('21). He is passionate about living out discipleship, apologetics, and theology in everyday life.

    Kweku lives in the Columbus area with his wife, Michelle. Together, they enjoy exploring new restaurants and hosting dinner parties with friends. Kweku is currently working to help establish a Christian Study Center at Ohio State, hoping that the warmth and hospitality people encounter there will lead them to engage with the Gospel in a way that transforms their lives.

  • Seuli has served at OSU for nearly 15 years. She is a primary care physician scientist who loves working at the intersection of medicine, science, and education.

    Seuli is the Director of Primary Care Research and the founding Director of the Center for Health Outcomes in Medicine Scholarship and Service (HOMES). She is also a practicing primary care physician, dual board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, who takes great delight in holistically caring for patients over years and decades. Her clinical and research efforts center on maternal child health, especially on how primary care can provide ongoing postpartum supports to improve short and long-term health for moms and their infants. Seuli has received support for this work from organizations such as Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, The Health Resources & Services Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. One of Seuli's favorite professional responsibilities centers on getting to mentor people at different points of development within the academic continuum.

    Seuli received a BA in French Language and Literature and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Virginia. She received her MD from the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and subsequently completed a fellowship in clinical bioethics from The Ohio State University. Outside of work, Seuli loves spending time with her husband and 3 children, travelling, cooking, and choral music.

    Seuli is delighted to serve on the Carmen House board especially because Carmen House creates sacred space and structures for the OSU community to intentionally pursue faith and knowledge in an integrated way.

  • Amanda is a clinical counselor in private practice in Columbus. She works with adults of all ages, and she especially enjoys working with college students.

    Amanda received her B.A. in English from Wheaton College and completed an M.A. in Religion from Yale University and an M.A. in Clinical Counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary. Her husband received his undergraduate degree from the school of architecture at Ohio State. After spending many years in New York City, she and her husband moved to Columbus with their daughters in 2006.

    Amanda is a lifelong learner, a mentor, and a mental health advocate. She supports the arts and occasionally can be found attending OSU’s theater productions or events at the Wexner Center. Amanda is motivated by Carmen House's mission to engage students, faculty and the OSU community in meaningful conversations about academics, culture, spiritual formation and human flourishing.

  • Keith is an attorney at Bailey Cavalieri, LLC, specializing in Director and Officer (D&O) Liability.

    Keith is a “double Buckeye” having graduated from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business with a degree in Finance and then graduating from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He remains involved at both schools, serving on the advisory council for the Fishers Honors Cohort Program and actively mentoring law students.

    He is married to Renee (also a “double Buckeye”) and has two sons, Grayden and Cole, and a daughter, Allie. When they are not cheering on the Scarlet & Gray, they can often be found visiting one of the many U.S. National Parks on their adventure to see them all (maybe). Keith is passionate about supporting and growing the Carmen House Christian Study Center to be a unique home for OSU students, faculty, alumni and friends to explore and experience the wisdom and grace of Jesus Christ.

  • Josh Doyle is an entrepreneur and a second generation home builder based in Northwest Ohio. After a degree in finance from Fisher College of Business at OSU, he joined Owens Corning’s Financial Leadership Program where he learned valuable insights into running a successful business. After three years at Owens Corning, Josh decided to return to his roots designing and building true custom homes.

    Within his first year in business, he was recognized by the renowned national Home Builder Magazine as a “Home Builder 2.0,” one of the nation’s most innovative builders. Now, with over 1,200 custom-designed and built homes, and 15+ years in business, Homes by Josh Doyle continues to be recognized as one of the top custom home builders in Ohio (by Builder Digest and the Toledo HBA).

    Josh is married and has three daughters who love to travel. As he thinks about his daughters’ future and future students at Ohio State, he is drawn to the idea of providing a hospitable place to experience God’s love and to be encouraged to grow deeper in faith.

 FAQs

  • We are inspired by the Christian Study Center movement, and find the work of Upper House at the University of Wisconsin a beautiful model of a comparable space we hope to someday inhabit.

  • Early in the 20th Century, an Ohio State freshman named Fred Cornell decided to write the lyrics to what would later become The Ohio State University's alma mater: Carmen Ohio.

    In Spanish, "Carmen" can be translated as "hymn" or "poem." It is likely that the word "Carmen" was chosen because Cornell borrowed a tune from a Christian hymnal, the Spanish Hymn, for his adapted lyrics. In Cornell's own words:

    "The ease of singing the Spanish Hymn accounts for much of its use... Other music was considered and discharged, both original and adapted; all of us know the hymn... There is a real and lasting quality about such simple harmonies that lends dignity to the phrases."

    Today, just about every Buckeye is still familiar with the tune of Carmen Ohio, yet few of us would remember its origin.

    As a Christian Hymn in many hymnals, a common set of lyrics to the Spanish Hymn would have been Psalm 25. This Psalm, including the first line of the song, prove to be filled with meaning for a Christian Study Center on the doorstep of Ohio State:

    "To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul." (Ps. 25:1 ESV)

    Our use of the name "Carmen" points to the vision that all of life, including life at the university, could be aimed at lifting up our soul to the presence of God.

    • Carmen House Christian Study Center has applied and been officially approved as a non-profit organization in the state of Ohio!

    • We have been building a board of directors, and we held our first board meeting in December of 2024.

    • Aaron Badenhop has been ordained through the EPC to provide leadership for Carmen House (an independent non-profit) while serving as Spiritual Theologian in Residence at Hope Church.

    • In February of ‘25 we co-sponsored a symposium for undergrad students, grad students, and faculty featuring guest speaker and Christian psychiatrist (and Buckeye fan!) Curt Thompson, MD.

    • Carmen House has received notification of 501c3 tax-exempt status in spring of ‘25.

    • In March of 2025 we launched a cornerstone program of Carmen House we are calling our monthly Speaker Series.

    • As of spring of 2025 Carmen House has been accepted as a member of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers.

    • In the short-term, Carmen House operates out of a co-working space and event venue called COhatch across from the OSU bookstore.

    • In 2025, we will be focusing on a capital campaign in order that Carmen House Christian Study Center might secure a more permanent location and have the necessary funds to pursue this mission and vision.

  • Carmen House will not come to fruition without the financial support of ministry partners. To get behind this important new initiative, donate through our sponsoring organization as we launch Carmen House. Give Here

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