Growing in God and Investing in People in Miamitown
At 6670 State Route 128 in Miamitown, Ohio, Miamitown Church of Christ is known for the mission that shapes its life: “Growing in God, Investing in People.” The Church of Christ congregation meets at 10 a.m. for a service built around blended music, a live praise band, biblical preaching, and congregational singing. It also gives families and students distinct places to belong: MCC KiDS serves children from birth through fifth grade, while MCC Students gathers students in grades 6 through 12 on Sunday evenings. Around that Sunday rhythm are ministries for worship, pastoral care, missions, family connection, and service beyond the gathering. The church office can be reached at 513-353-2226.
The church intends to create an environment where people experience a life-changing relationship with God, accept others where they are, love with purpose, discover their personal calling, and continue growing in Christ. Those aims are expressed through five core values: God is First, Devoted to God, Growing God’s Kingdom, Actively Investing, and Connecting with People. The result is a church that describes its work not as attendance alone, but as changed lives, mature disciples, active service, and relationships that extend beyond the congregation.
Coffee Bar, Sunday School, and the 10 A.M. Gathering
- The Coffee Bar opens at 8:45 a.m.
- Sunday School begins at 9 a.m.
- The worship service begins at 10 a.m.
- MCC KiDS worship and Bible study take place at 10 a.m.
- Youth Group runs Sunday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
There is no single dress expectation at the 10 a.m. service. Some people wear jeans and a T-shirt, while others dress up. For first-time guests, the emphasis is simple: being present and seeking God together. Services last about 75 minutes. They are designed to feel neither like a rock concert nor like a funeral, with a team that greets arrivals, people leading from the stage, and a mix of singing and opportunities to listen during worship. Communion also has a place in the service rhythm.
Sunday morning is the natural gathering point for families. Children are welcome in their own age-group worship and Bible-study settings while adults gather for the main service. The Coffee Bar and Sunday School begin before worship, providing earlier gathering times for conversation and preparation as well as the 10 a.m. service. Severe weather is treated seriously: Sunday activities are canceled or adjusted only in severe conditions, with announcements carried by WKRC Channel 12 and the decision made jointly by Preaching Minister Dusty Delafield and the Eldership.
MCC KiDS and MCC Students
MCC KiDS is described as safe, secure, and fun. The ministry covers children from birth through fifth grade and meets during the 10 a.m. worship time. Elementary-age children have worship and Bible study in one setting, while toddlers have separate worship and Bible study in classrooms. Families with infants can place them in nursery care for children from birth to two years old. This arrangement lets parents participate in the service while young children receive attention suited to their age.
MCC Students is the church’s ministry for students in grades 6 through 12. Its regular gathering is Sunday night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., giving students a consistent time together and opportunities to use their gifts in service. Youth & Family Minister DJ Collier says his favorite part of ministry is helping people find places to use their gifts and serve, a conviction reflected in the student and family ministries.
Family connection is extended through churchwide MCC events. These gatherings are planned with the full family in mind and are intended to bring multiple generations together for activities rather than treating different age groups as separate worlds. The children’s and student ministries thus sit within a larger pattern of relationships, worship, service, and shared family life that also includes gatherings for multiple generations.
Blended Music and a Live Praise Band
The 10 a.m. service is explicitly identified as blended worship, led by a live praise band. The worship ministry is made up of a diverse group committed to leading the congregation in worship, and the team works with familiar songs to help people connect with God. The musical approach can therefore include congregational singing rather than treating music as background presentation.
The people on stage are part of the same church they serve. Their approach is deliberately approachable: the goal is a service where attendees feel known from the greeting at the door through the message and music. Participants can sing or listen during worship songs, while biblical teaching and practical application connect the songs to life. The music ministry also creates places for musicians, vocalists, technology support, and video and audio production.
Preaching Minister Dusty Delafield’s messages add interactive learning and an element of humor to biblical teaching. His approach is described as sound biblical truth with practical application, designed to challenge and encourage people rather than make the gathering feel formal or remote. The result is a service presentation that fits the church’s broader aim of helping people grow in God and invest in people.
The CORE Beliefs of Miamitown Church of Christ
The church’s beliefs center on God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, humanity, eternity, and salvation. God is affirmed as the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and as one God existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The church believes the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son as God, lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation, and gives power to live, understand spiritual truth, and witness to God’s love and grace.
Jesus Christ is described as the one and only Son of God, sent from the Father, born of the virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, fully human and fully divine, and without sin. Because of God’s love, Jesus offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for humanity’s sins through obedience and death on a cross. God raised him three days later, demonstrating power over sin and death. Jesus ascended to Heaven, sits at the Father’s right hand, and will return to judge the living and the dead.
The Bible is God’s Word to all people, written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The church calls it the supreme source of truth for Christian belief and living and, because it is inspired by God, infallible truth. Humanity was made in God’s image but willfully disobeyed God. That disobedience, called sin, separates people from God, and people live forever either reconciled with God through forgiveness or separated from him because of sin.
Salvation is presented as God’s gift rather than something earned by human effort. The response involves faith, belief, repentance, baptism, and a lifestyle that confesses sole allegiance to Christ. The church emphasizes that all five are equally important and equally involved in receiving the gift. Its “Map of Hope” develops this response through 19 biblical passages, moving from the hopelessness of sin to the offer of rescue, reconciliation, and redemption.
Nineteen Bible Passages on the Journey to Hope
The “Map of Hope” is a distinctive expression of the church’s message. It follows 19 Bible passages in a deliberate progression. The journey begins with passages that show God wants all people to be saved, that Jesus is the only source of salvation, and that the gospel reveals the full extent of God’s love. It then turns to the hopelessness of sin, including passages that define sin as rebellion against God, acknowledge that all have sinned, and connect sin with death.
The middle of the map finds hope even in hopelessness. Romans 5 reminds readers that God loved people at their worst point, and 1 Corinthians 15 presents the gospel story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. The response to God’s offer follows through passages connecting belief, baptism, confession, and repentance with salvation. Titus 3 and Ephesians 2 emphasize grace, mercy, and faith rather than good works as the basis of being saved.
The final passages describe the result of hope in three words: rescued, reconciled, and redeemed. To be rescued is to be freed from confinement or judgment. To be reconciled is to have one’s position with God settled harmoniously and to become a new creation in Christ. To be redeemed is to be bought back for a purpose, purchased by Jesus for lives of action, holiness, and love for others. The map turns a collection of scriptures into a shared story of sin, grace, response, and purpose.
Five Branches, Five Core Values
The mission statement, “Growing in God, Investing in People,” is unpacked through five values. They are not abstract labels; each is tied to a specific way of living:
- God is First. Following God is the priority in all things, based on Jesus’ instruction to love God with heart, soul, and mind.
- Devoted to God. This means complete dependence on God and abandonment of self, following Jesus’ call to deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow him.
- Growing God’s Kingdom. The church seeks to increase and develop devoted disciples of Jesus, making disciples who make disciples in the spirit of the Great Commission.
- Actively Investing. Members take personal responsibility and do what they can to move the gospel forward, being willing to meet people where they are in order to share its blessings.
- Connecting with people. Real relationships are built through compassion, service, and support, with each person using the grace and gifts received from God.
The church’s logo makes those values visible. Five branches represent the five commitments. The first branch is the longest, has no offshoots, and points upward, making God’s singular priority clear. On the second, leaves partly obscure the branch, symbolizing self-abandonment, faith rather than sight, and dependence on God. The third branch divides and subdivides, depicting disciples who make disciples who make disciples. A simple arrow on the fourth represents investing in people and advancing the gospel. The fifth branch has several offshoots, symbolizing intentional connections with other people.
The values are thus both identity and direction. Spiritual devotion is expected to produce service, relationships, active participation in the mission, and intentional connections with people. The branching image provides a memorable picture of a church that begins with God, grows through devoted disciples, and reaches outward through investment and relationship.
Hospital, Home, and Shut-In Care
Pastoral care at Miamitown Church of Christ is organized around being present with people through different seasons of need. Ministerial staff and church members take part in hospital visitation. Membership care focuses on people who become disconnected from the church, with calls or visits from staff and members intended to renew contact and offer support. The church describes this as a developing ministry because staying connected requires sustained attention.
A shut-in ministry sends visitors to nursing homes or the homes of people who cannot readily attend services. Those visits bring a Christian friend for conversation and prayer and let someone know they are cared for. A related home communion ministry carries part of the worship service to people who are absent because of sickness or a hospital stay. Together these ministries extend the church’s care beyond the Sunday gathering itself.
Missions Beyond Miamitown
Missions are a major emphasis for MCC, with the goal of working with as many projects as possible. Short-term mission trips give members firsthand exposure to the challenges and opportunities faced by missionaries, and participation has been a recurring part of the church family’s ministry. The approach combines serving projects, ongoing support, sponsorship, and material gifts.
Three mission relationships receive direct support. Christian Arabic Services is represented by Safaa Fahmi; Bethlehem Living Water is associated with Jay Henry; and Living Water Christian Mission is represented by Salonique Adolphe. MCC also supports the Herko Family Mission in Jamaica through work trips and supports Master Provisions with material assistance and special gifts. Students connected with Living Water can be sponsored, providing another concrete way for people in the congregation to participate in missions.
The variety of these partnerships reflects the “Actively Investing” and “Growing God’s Kingdom” values. Missions are presented as an ongoing pattern of learning, going, serving, giving, and staying connected to workers and projects. Supported ministries, short-term work trips, student sponsorship, and material assistance give congregational members several ways to participate.
Dusty Delafield’s Biblical, Practical Messages
Dusty Delafield has served as MCC’s Preaching Minister since August 2005, following eight years with the Christian rock band fishHook. He is a graduate of Kentucky Christian College, known at the time as KCC and now as KCU. His messages combine biblical truth, practical application, and interactive learning, with an emphasis on motivating and challenging people. He considers the moment someone comes up out of the water after baptism into Christ to be the most meaningful part of ministry.
DJ Collier serves as Youth & Family Minister. His ministry focuses on helping people discover and use their gifts in service, and he works closely with the student and family life of the church. The two ministry roles illustrate the congregation’s desire to speak and serve with purpose rather than leave people at the doorway of church life.
The teaching record is extensive. MCC retains an sermon library with series and audio going back to 2006. Recurring subjects across the years include worship, prayer, missions, families, growth, stewardship, faith, freedom, and the changing seasons of discipleship. The breadth of the record shows a long history of Bible teaching and church life centered on discipleship, spiritual maturity, worship, and active service.
Serving, Hospitality, and the Martial Arts Ministry
Behind each Sunday gathering is a network of serving teams. Nursery workers care for infants, children’s workers lead MCC KiDS, hospitality volunteers greet people and staff the Coffee Bar, and the worship ministry includes the praise team. Communion also has a team serving in setup, cleanup, communion meditation, and home communion. A safety and security team supports the worship team behind the scenes.
MCC also reaches into martial arts through Miamitown Martial Arts Ministry, which Dusty Delafield owns as a ministry of the church. The partnership gives the “Actively Investing” value a practical expression outside the main worship gathering and reflects the church’s commitment to invest in people through service and support.
A Church Centered on Hope and People
Miamitown Church of Christ is organized around a simple pair of aims: growing in God and investing in people. Its story of hope moves from sin to salvation, from forgiveness to new life, and from belief expressed in faith, repentance, baptism, and confession to lives marked by holiness and love. Its ministries put that story into practice through blended worship, children and students, pastoral care, missions, serving teams, and family gatherings.
At 6670 State Route 128, the church describes itself as an authentic community that seeks to befriend people, connect through God’s Word, and help each person discover a calling. The values behind that description are visible in the branching logo and in the recurring rhythm of worship, teaching, service, and care that defines life at Miamitown Church of Christ.