About us

THE RIVER CHURCH

The River Church is a Christ-centered relationally-driven community of people who are committed to leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. The River's vision is to follow God's current toward everything that Jesus has for your life.

No matter where you are in life, we are committed to helping you take your next steps with Jesus. Because no perfect people are allowed here, we like to say that The River is a safe place to investigate the claims of Christ!

Our services are identical and are at 9:30am and 11:00am on Sunday morning. You can dress casually, grab a cup of free coffee in The River Cafe and bring your coffee into the service with you.

You will find that we are passionate about marriages, families and single adults. We are compassionate to people who have been wounded and experienced brokenness. The River is a church that is known for being welcoming and exciting. It’s more than a friendly church–it’s a church where you can make friends.

Our focus isn’t solely on meeting our own needs, but we continually direct our efforts to the community and world around us. The River Church has established strategic partnerships with local care agencies as well as international missions agencies. We not only send people to serve the poor and needy with Christ’s love and message, but we send resources as well. In fact, we have committed to tithe from our general offering to assist these ministries. That means 10% of our general offering is designated outside our church family!

You will find a Biblically-based congregation that, while not perfect, is striving to be all that Jesus calls his people to be. Our ultimate goal is to make Jesus Christ famous in all that we say and do!

Growth Track guides you to discover your redemptive purpose and live the life God created for you.

The Growth Track is made up of four steps that equip you to
1
Connect to the church
2
Discover the strengths of your purposeful design
3
Develop your personal leadership
4
Use your God-given gifts to make a difference in the lives of others
OCTOBER CLASS

river strategy

the River 5
Connect to the church
1
Discover the strengths of your purposeful design
2
Develop your personal leadership
3
Use your God-given gifts to make a difference in the lives of others
4
Register today!
5
Connect to the church
1
Discover the strengths of your purposeful design
2
Develop your personal leadership
3
Use your God-given gifts to make a difference in the lives of others
4
Register today!
5
We want everyone at The River to have 5 friends that do not yet have a relationship with Jesus that they are praying for and reaching out to with the good news
1
We want everyone at The River to get to know the 5 homes around them and to be praying for and reaching out to their neighbors with the good news
3
We as a church believe that we can see these things happen when each of us have the 5 purposes active in our lives: connect, grow, serve, reach, worship
5
We want everyone at The River to commit to praying for their “River 5” for 5 minutes a week and/or connecting with them
2
We as a church are strategically targeting the 5 mile radius around our Liberty Township campus
4

the river staff

Brad Mitchell at The River Church

Brad Mitchell

Lead Pastor

(513) 755-7777

Brad joined The River staff as lead pastor in August of 2010. We are excited to have Brad as our lead pastor because he has brought a great vision to The River for us to be “a relational community that builds friendships to share Jesus with our five-mile radius and beyond”.
Bio
Brad Mitchell at The River Church

Ryan Price

Associate Teaching Pastor

(513) 755-7777

Brad joined The River staff as lead pastor in August of 2010. We are excited to have Brad as our lead pastor because he has brought a great vision to The River for us to be “a relational community that builds friendships to share Jesus with our five-mile radius and beyond”.
Bio
Taylor Starr at The River Church

Taylor Henry

Pastor of Youth & Children

(513) 755-7777

Taylor joined The River Church after graduating from Liberty University in 2020. At Liberty, Taylor studied religion with an emphasis in Christian Ministries and a minor in Writing. Taylor has spent the past five years serving in volunteer ministry roles that have included Children's Ministry, Student Ministry, and Worship Ministry. Taylor believes Children's Ministry and Youth Ministry are vital components of all local churches - as children and teens are the future of the church! Taylor enjoys spending time with her husband Garrett and their two fur-babies Axel and Rocky, listening to music, baking and specialty coffee!
Bio
Mystique Smith at The River Church

Mystique Smith

Worship Director

(513) 755-7777

Mystique is a native of Cincinnati, and loves God and her family. A wife and mother of two, keeps life busy. She has traveled the world singing, performing, and conducting a variety of genres of music. Mystique was a top 10 national finalist on the show "Gospel Dream" on GMC in 2006. She taught choral music (traditional, gospel, show choir), as well as guitar, and music history, theory, and appreciation for seven years at both private and public schools.
Bio
Leslie Stone at The River Church

Leslie Stone

Director of Connections & Small Groups

(513) 755-7777

Mystique is a native of Cincinnati, and loves God and her family. A wife and mother of two, keeps life busy. She has traveled the world singing, performing, and conducting a variety of genres of music. Mystique was a top 10 national finalist on the show "Gospel Dream" on GMC in 2006. She taught choral music (traditional, gospel, show choir), as well as guitar, and music history, theory, and appreciation for seven years at both private and public schools.
Bio
Leah Millard at The River Church

Leah Millard

Administrative Assistant

(513) 755-7777

Mystique is a native of Cincinnati, and loves God and her family. A wife and mother of two, keeps life busy. She has traveled the world singing, performing, and conducting a variety of genres of music. Mystique was a top 10 national finalist on the show "Gospel Dream" on GMC in 2006. She taught choral music (traditional, gospel, show choir), as well as guitar, and music history, theory, and appreciation for seven years at both private and public schools.
Bio
Elders at The River Church

Elders

(513) 755-7777

Mystique is a native of Cincinnati, and loves God and her family. A wife and mother of two, keeps life busy. She has traveled the world singing, performing, and conducting a variety of genres of music. Mystique was a top 10 national finalist on the show "Gospel Dream" on GMC in 2006. She taught choral music (traditional, gospel, show choir), as well as guitar, and music history, theory, and appreciation for seven years at both private and public schools.

Zach has been the Youth Pastor of the River Church for the last 8 years. Zach graduated from Cincinnati Christian University in 2013 with a B.S. Degree in Biblical Studies with a Youth Ministry minor. He is very passionate about reaching teenage students for Jesus and making sure students love others and serve others regularly. He is married to wife, Amanda, and they have one daughter, Ryleigh. Zach loves football, racing, film, and spending quality time with his family.

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Tami joined The River staff as the RiverBank Kids Director in the summer of 2017. Tami doesn’t sit down much on a Sunday morning. In addition to keeping the Riverbank Kids programs running smoothly and organizing a steady stream of volunteers, Tami and her husband, Greg, have two children of their own to corral.

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Cara joined The River’s staff as the Administrative Assistant in July of 2015.

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CHRISTY BUCHER

Maintenance Engineer

Christy has been cleaning The River Church’s building for a long time. We are so grateful for her desire to keep our facilities clean for our guests. She also serves on the mission team and also as a volunteer with our student ministry.

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