The River Staff

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”.

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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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Taylor Starr at The River Church

TAYLOR Henry

Pastor of Youth & Children

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!

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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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Mystique Smith at The River Church

Mystique Smith

Worship Director

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.

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Leah Millard at The River Church

leah millard

Administrative Assistant

Leah joined The River staff in August 2021 as our Administrative Assistant. She simply loves serving the staff, members, and guests of The River Church! She graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Illinois in 2013 and moved to Ohio with her husband in 2014. Leah is married and has two young boys who keep life entertaining. She enjoys traveling, reading, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.

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Leslie Stone at The River Church

Leslie stone

Director of Connections & Small Groups

Leslie loves helping people at the River get to know others better and grow in Christ. She graduated from Anderson University with a degree in Education.  She has been a teacher, Children's Director, retreat speaker, and helps plan and emcee various events in the region. Leslie also serves on the Butler County Educational Services Board.  She is married and has two grown children. She loves to travel, organize, hike, kayak, watch football, drink coffee and spend time with family and friends.  

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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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We have a great group of men who serve as the elders at The River. You can email them any questions you have at: elders@HitTheRiver.com

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