A 180-Year Witness on Mt. Moriah Drive
In the rolling hills east of Cincinnati, just off the I-275 and SR-125/Beechmont Avenue interchange, sits Mt. Moriah United Methodist Church. For more than 180 years the congregation has occupied its corner in the Withamsville and Union Township community, and today it identifies itself as a North Star Congregation of the United Methodist Church, a place that welcomes anyone whose church has closed or disaffiliated and offers them "a resting place" where they can stay United Methodist.
The church's tagline, "Sharing Faith & Changing Lives," sets the tone for everything that happens at 681 Mt. Moriah Drive. People travel from miles around, the church explains, because "the Holy Spirit draws us together." Becoming a Christian here, Mt. Moriah teaches, "is not a solo act - it's joining a whole community."
Sunday Mornings: Blended Worship and Sunday School
Worship at Mt. Moriah is described as blended, meaning traditional hymns, a choir, and organ music share the stage with a more modern praise band and liturgical arts groups. The blended service is held each Sunday at 10:15 a.m. in the Worship Center. Adults gather for Faith Formation study and fellowship at 9:00 a.m. in the Worship Center conference room, and Youth Sunday School classes meet at the same hour in the Learning Center.
The pastor includes a Kids' Moment in each service, a brief message aimed at children who come forward to the steps but that, the church cheerfully admits, the adults enjoy too. After the Kids' Moment, children are released to Junior Church (staying in the service is also fine). Personalized worship activity bags with coloring books and activity pages are available on request. A Nursery in the Worship Center is open for newborns through age 4.
First-time visitors are told to arrive 15 to 20 minutes early and to park anywhere they like, including the Learning Center lot just east of the Worship Center. The covered entrance leads into a place full, the church promises, of "friendly smiles and a warm welcome." Church offices are open during the week from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Learning Center.
Faith Circles and Discipleship Bands
Mt. Moriah places unusual emphasis on the small group, drawing directly from the founder of Methodism, John Wesley. Wesley built the early Methodist movement around "Classes" and "Bands," and Mt. Moriah has rebuilt that practice for the 21st century as Faith Circles (a modern take on the Class Meeting) and Discipleship Bands.
A Faith Circle gathers up to 10 people weekly for 90 minutes or less. Around the room, participants answer: How is your life in God? How have you felt God's presence in the past week? Where are you seeking guidance from the Lord? How might the Holy Spirit and Scriptures be speaking into your life? What are you doing as a result? A trained Faith Circle Leader keeps the conversation moving.
The Discipleship Band is smaller still - no more than five - and divided by gender. It adds a layer of accountability, asking participants how it is with their soul, what their struggles and successes have been, and whether they have any sin or hidden things to confess. The Band's deeper conversation aims at what Wesley called being "perfected in Christian Love."
Beyond these Wesleyan groups, Mt. Moriah runs affinity groups such as Purls & Chains, a knitting and crocheting circle that turns out prayer shawls, lap blankets, baby items, hats, scarves, and walker bags for local care centers, senior centers, missions, and hospitals. The Almost Mature Adults (AMA) group gathers empty nesters and retirees for dinner, dessert, devotion, and a rotating "Acts of Kindness" ministry focus. A Wednesday morning Bible study, a Sunday morning Adult Bible Class led by Jeff Cattran, and seasonal Bible studies round out the calendar.
Family Ministries and Youth
Family Ministries welcomes children of every age into the life of the church, citing Jesus' words in Matthew 19:14: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them." Sunday School classes meet at 9:00 a.m., Junior Church follows the Kids' Moment during the 10:15 a.m. service, and a Nursery is open for newborns through age 4.
Middle and high school youth (grades 6 through 12) gather periodically for fellowship, service, and study. Each summer the high school group prepares for a week-long mission in partnership with the Appalachia Service Project, raising funds and building teams throughout the school year before traveling to repair and renovate homes in an Appalachian community. Both middle and high school students also serve at the Wesley Chapel Mission Center in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, an after-school and summer enrichment program for children in an area of intense poverty and ongoing gentrification.
Families can sign up for the Family Ministries newsletter and use at-home resources that reinforce what is learned at church, along with family videos on the church's YouTube channel.
The Ark of Learning Preschool and Childcare
The Ark of Learning has been part of Mt. Moriah since 1964. Operating from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the center cares for infants through pre-kindergarten children on the church campus and, when staffing allows, offers before- and after-school care for school-agers with limited transportation to and from West Clermont elementaries.
Built on Christian principles, the curriculum introduces children to prayer, basic Bible stories, and caring for others alongside age-appropriate learning. Tuition is paid weekly; a credit card is kept on file for each family, and a late fee of $1.00 per minute per family begins at 5:35 p.m. The Ark is led by Director Lauren Spaid, with Robin Beier also serving in the center's leadership. Tracey Hochberg directs Family Ministries across the church.
Music and Arts
Music at Mt. Moriah lives out Paul's instruction in Colossians 3: "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit." Creative Worship Director Doug Heflin oversees a layered program.
The Praise Team is a small group of singers and instrumentalists who help lead Sunday worship. Open to youth and adults, the team includes guitarists, percussionists, keyboardists, and singers of every range; rehearsals are Sundays at 9:45 a.m. The Sanctuary Choir is active September through June, welcomes singers aged 13 and up, and rehearses Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. A Brass Ensemble plays throughout the year, especially during Advent, Christmas, and Easter.
Mt. Moriah also has a long history of special shows, many of them original productions written and directed by Doug Heflin. Singers and non-singers, builders and painters all take part. The most recent production, "Motionless," was a wordless musical landscape exploring the boundaries of time and the connections between God and humanity.
Reaching Out: Near and Far
Mission Outreach at Mt. Moriah follows 1 John 4:19: "We love because God first loved us." The church describes its mission as reaching "down the street, in the Greater Cincinnati Area, in another state, in another country."
On the church's own grounds, the Hopeful Pantry operates as a blessing box holding food, personal items, and a place for prayer requests, with a simple rule: "Take what you need, leave what you can." Christmas Anonymous partners with the Child Focus organization to identify local families in need and provide clothing, shoes, diapers, coats, toys, and Bibles. The Almost Mature Adults (AMA) group rotates its Acts of Kindness ministry, while Mt. Moriah Men host fellowship, food, and a new student stipend for high school graduates entering their first year of college. Mt. Moriah Women, formerly United Methodist Women, meet monthly from fall through spring for learning, service, and support.
Regionally, the church supports the Safety Net Alliance of Clermont County, Southeastern Ecumenical Ministries, the Clermont County Community Services shelter, Inter Parish Ministry, and Matthew 25 Ministries. Nationally, the Appalachia Service Project, Wesley Chapel Mission Center, Red Bird Mission, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) all receive support; the congregation collects empty pill bottles for recycling through Matthew 25 and fills School Kits and Flood Buckets for UMCOR. Mt. Moriah also partners with the Jackson Area Ministries gardening project, providing seeds and plants to families in need.
Internationally, the church connects with Daughters of Cambodia, which works with women and girls escaping the sex industry, and the Southern Sudan Health Project, which serves more than 10,000 people each year through Home Health Promoters in rural villages.
What Mt. Moriah Believes
Mt. Moriah holds to classical Christian doctrine: the God of the Bible is the only true God, infinite in power, wisdom, and goodness, revealing himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - three equal, distinct, but inseparable persons. The Father is the creator and sustainer of all things. Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, whose sinless life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension provide the only way to the Father. The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and Son, present in the world to make people aware of sin, righteousness, and judgment, leading them through faithful response to the gospel, indwelling every Christian from the moment of salvation, and endowing each believer with spiritual gifts.
The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the only written Word of God, inspired by God and written by human authors under the Holy Spirit's guidance. People are made in God's image but are corrupted by sin, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and adopted into the family of God. Baptism is an outward and visible sign of God's grace and is open to anyone at any age; Holy Communion is celebrated at least monthly, with all who seek forgiveness invited to Christ's table.
Leadership
Pastor Beth Anne Crego leads Mt. Moriah. A former critical care nurse with short-term medical mission trips to Nicaragua and a longer call to help start a church in Edinburgh, Scotland, she graduated in May 2013 from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and has served United Methodist churches in the West Ohio Conference at Brecon UMC, North Bend UMC, and Westwood UMC, where she helped create "Cincinnati's Longest Ice Cream Sundae." She and her husband John, who works for P&G, are the parents of sons Jack and Joshua.
Tracey Hochberg is the Family Ministries Director. Noah Jacobsen is the Music Director, a recent graduate of Northern Kentucky University with a bachelor's degree in music and a passion for piano pedagogy. Lauren Spaid directs the Ark of Learning, with Robin Beier also serving in the preschool's leadership. Doug Heflin is the Creative Worship Director.
Online services and an archive of sermons are available on the church's YouTube channel. Giving is welcomed online through Breeze, by text at 513.548.3369, and through "First Fruit" automated giving drawn directly from a checking or savings account.