Epiphany United Methodist Church sits along Loveland Miamiville Road in Loveland, Ohio, a Clermont County town northeast of Cincinnati. The congregation calls itself a regional church reaching people throughout southwest Ohio, and its tagline - "Passion for Christ, Love for All" - hangs over a worship life that ranges from a contemporary Saturday evening service to a traditional Sunday morning liturgy, alongside children's choirs, handbell ensembles, and a community orchestra that welcomes outside musicians.
Three Weekend Services, Contemporary to Traditional
Epiphany offers three weekend services designed to fit different musical and worship preferences. On Saturday evenings at 5:00 p.m., the praise band leads a contemporary service in the sanctuary. Sunday morning opens with another contemporary service at 9:00 a.m., followed at 10:30 a.m. by a traditional service featuring the VIP Choir, organ, handbells, liturgy, and classic hymns. The church occasionally offers blended services as well.
Services typically run about an hour. Each gathering includes a children's moment led by the Director of Family Ministries, a sermon from one of the pastors, monthly communion, and announcements about current activities and mission opportunities. The contemporary services move through music, prayer, and the children's moment before opening to the sermon. The traditional 10:30 a.m. service makes space for a choir anthem, the doxology, and congregational hymns from the United Methodist Hymnal.
Visitors are invited to come as they feel comfortable. Greeters meet people at the main entrance on the north side of the building, near a playground and a covered portico that makes it easy to drop off family during bad weather. Parking is off Paxton Road and Loveland-Miamiville Road, across from the Oasis center. After each service, coffee is brewed by a team of volunteer baristas at the welcome area, and the Welcome Desk connects visitors with members who can share more about small groups, mission work, and the church's many ministry opportunities. Live services are streamed for those joining from home and recordings are posted afterward.
A Sanctuary Alive with Music
Music is woven into nearly every corner of Epiphany's life. The worship arts program includes a praise band, the VIP (Voices in Praise) Choir, the EUMC Community Orchestra, a children's choir, two handbell ensembles, and a media arts team. The community orchestra is a town partnership - the church invites outside musicians to play alongside members. Rehearsals happen throughout the week: the praise team rehearses Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., the community orchestra meets Wednesdays at 5:45 p.m., the TrebleMakers handbell choir gathers Thursday mornings at 10:00 a.m., the Joyful Noise handbells play Thursday evenings at 6:15 p.m., and the VIP Choir rehearses Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. Each year the church offers accessible music classes such as beginning ukulele.
Directing the program is Corbin Castillo DeSpain, Director of Music and Worship, with Hannah Duff as Associate Director of Music and Jen Ziebol-Williams serving as Contemporary Worship Associate. Tom Long is the church's organist and Calvin Stovall the collaborative pianist. The Epiphany Praise Team recorded a debut album, celebrated at a release evening that took the place of the regular Saturday service and drew the community together for a night of contemporary worship.
Children, Nursery, and Wee Three Kings Preschool
Epiphany Kids is the children's ministry arm, serving children from infants through elementary grades. During all three weekend services, the nursery is staffed for infants through age three. Children ages three and up are checked in, given a security sticker, and start in the sanctuary for worship and the children's moment before being led to a dedicated children's area for music, skits, and age-appropriate faith lessons. Children are always welcome to remain with their parents in the sanctuary.
Epiphany is also home to Wee Three Kings Preschool, a Christian preschool serving young children through play-based, developmentally appropriate learning. The preschool encourages children to ask questions, explore, and experiment through child-initiated, child-directed play, helping them build a positive self-image in a loving Christian atmosphere. The school maintains its own site, and an annual scholarship golf outing at Hickory Woods Golf Club raises money for the Wee Three Kings Scholarship Fund so that more families can afford tuition.
Youth from Fifth Grade Through High School
The youth program serves students in fifth through twelfth grade and is led by Director of Youth Ministries D'Waughn Hazard. The program's stated commitments are that every young person should feel loved and accepted in their uniqueness, be encouraged to grow in knowledge of themselves and Jesus, and learn to love themselves and others with that same grace.
Most weekends, youth meet in the youth space during worship rather than remaining in the sanctuary; on the first weekend of each month, the program encourages students to stay and experience the full service in the sanctuary with their families. Junior High (grades 5-8) gathers Sunday afternoons from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m., and Senior High (grades 9-12) meets Sundays from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. A confirmation class is offered each year from mid-November through spring break, covering Christian history, theology, and United Methodist heritage.
Agape Inclusion is a small group designed to give LGBTQ+ youth a safe space and community; it meets Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. Each year the youth group embarks on a domestic mission trip in addition to the international trips.
Life Groups, Bible Studies, and Cottage Meetings
Discipleship at Epiphany runs through small groups, book studies, and seasonal gatherings. Life Groups meet in homes and at the church throughout the week, covering parenting, marriage, finances, and spiritual formation. Recent and recurring studies include "Get Out of Your Head" by Jennie Allen, "Men of Virtue" by Zachary Wagner led by Pastor Scott Russ, "Breakthrough" by Barb Rooze, and Paul David Tripp's gospel-centered "Parenting." Online book discussions also take place via Zoom.
Cottage Meetings with Lead Pastor Rev. Jennifer Applegate happen in members' homes throughout the year, giving small groups a chance to spend time with the senior pastor in a relaxed setting. Other recurring gatherings include Pub Theology, held the second Tuesday of each month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at DVD Brewing for open conversation about faith, and the Midweek Mix on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and connection. Messy Church, a worship experience designed for families, children, and the young at heart, meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with crafts, dinner, and relaxed worship.
Stated Commitments: Grow, Serve, Invite, Give
Epiphany organizes its life around five commitments. Grow describes a discipleship pathway that helps people change how they see the world and become more like Christ. Serve is rooted in listening for what God is calling the church to do in local communities, taking the specific talents of each ministry out into the community. Invite frames the church as a safe, inclusive, healing, and compassionate place that keeps its doors open to anyone looking to join others in their faith journey. Give reflects the church's practice of operating with minimal debt and directing 10% of its operating budget to missions. Worship is described as ever-evolving, creative, and offering a variety of ways for people to experience the fullness of Jesus through music, service, learning, or the sacraments.
Mission Across Greater Cincinnati and Beyond
Epiphany is plugged into a wide network of local, regional, and international partners. Locally, Epiphany serves quarterly at Matthew 25 Ministries sorting clothes and packing health care kits for shipment to disaster victims; prepares and serves breakfast for about 100 guests at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine on the first Sunday of each month; supports NEST with tutoring, play, and learning activities; and gives time to the Loveland L.I.F.E. Food Pantry, Milford Miami Ministry, and MountainTop, which distributes personal care items alongside Goshen Methodist Church's food pantry on the last Friday of every month.
Other partnerships include New Life Furniture Bank, the family-friendly Hands Against Hunger meal-packing program, People Working Cooperatively for critical home repairs to low-income elderly and disabled homeowners, Scrap2Home (building furniture from scrap wood for families in need), and Martha's Ministry, a meal ministry that brings food to EUMC members and friends in times of need. The church also supports UMCOR, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, with 100% of donations going directly to disaster relief and recovery. Giving to any of these funds can be arranged online through Church Center.
Each year, Epiphany sends teams on international mission trips. A team travels to Mexico in November to build relationships and assist local ministries, and a Cuba team works alongside Cuban congregations reaching into local communities and nursing homes each January.
Inclusion, Care, and Pastoral Support
Epiphany describes itself as an inclusive and affirming church, and several ministries are designed to make that commitment real. Two autism support groups meet monthly - one for adults 18 and older with autism and another for parents of children of any age with autism - creating a place for shared experiences and conversation. Agape Inclusion, mentioned above, supports LGBTQ+ youth. The Care Pastor, Rev. Mark Hollinger, oversees pastoral care and a roster of Care Ministry volunteers who make home and hospital visits. Anyone needing a visit, a listening ear, or prayer can reach out to the church for support.
The church has applied for grant funding to install automatic handicap-accessible doors, making the main entrance easier for people with disabilities, older adults, and families. This breadth of ministry earned Epiphany the first-ever "Next Gen" Award at the West Ohio Conference, a recognition of its Agape Inclusion, Messy Church, and Community Orchestra ministries.
Resources on Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation
Epiphany maintains a substantive resources collection centered on faith, service, social justice, and reconciliation. The curated reading and listening list includes books such as The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Teaching Black History to White People, The Color of Compromise, Stamped from the Beginning, and So You Want to Talk About Race, alongside podcasts and videos such as the Scene on Radio series "Seeing White" and "Race and the Gospel." A Social Justice and Antiracism Facebook group keeps members connected for ongoing learning and conversation between Sundays.
Staff, Giving, and Getting Involved
The senior staff is led by Rev. Jennifer Applegate as Lead Pastor, Rev. Scott Russ as Associate Pastor of Christian Life and Missions, and Rev. Mark Hollinger as Care Pastor. Supporting the pastors is a ministry team that includes D'Waughn Hazard (Youth), Windy Robinson (Family Ministries and Preschool), Corbin Castillo DeSpain (Music and Worship), Hannah Duff (Music), Michael Yarick (Creative and Media), Becky Dawson (Membership and Connections), Tom Long (Organist), Calvin Stovall (Collaborative Pianist), Jen Ziebol-Williams (Contemporary Worship), Rachel Kobernick (Assistant Creative and Media), and Anna Hazard and Heather Ziebol-Williams as SALT Coordinators. The church is part of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Great Miami River District within it.
Giving can be arranged online through Church Center (operating, capital, missions, or memorials), by text message, or by envelope. Spaces within the building are available for outside groups to rent, and the church hosts a wide range of activities that draw on those rooms. Anyone wanting to get involved can sign up to serve as a greeter, usher, welcome desk host, barista, communion steward, SALT team member (audio, video, and lights), Sunday school teacher, or with Table 41 Productions, the church's arts and production team that handles drama, design, construction, lights, and audio for the church's year-round shows and its annual Christmas production. First-time visitors can plan ahead here.