Spiritual Leader: Cliff Dailey is the Queen Creek Hometown Hero for June

Cliff Dailey has devoted his life to caring and nurturing the spiritual needs as the youth and young adults director at Flatiron Church.

Originally set on a career in business, his world travels led him to expand his vision of life and become a minister.

With his wife and two sons, Dailey is devoted to helping Queen Creek remain a strong community.

Name: Cliff Dailey 

When and why I moved here: I moved here January 2022 to build a powerful, supportive community that stands the test of time. 

What I like most about living here: If you have a helpful idea, then someone in Queen Creek can help you build on the idea. I’ve noticed that other transplants have great energy to join in on building something new, and the former residents give insight into what the town needs most.

What I do: I build legacies that echo into eternity. But a less exciting way to say it is that I’m the youth and young adults director at Flatiron Church. I’m responsible to help people ages 11-30 ground themselves in eternal truths that make them stronger students, employees, friends, spouses, parents and cultural leaders. I develop leaders to expand this vision not by force but through faithfulness to God and the people we help. The result is building a community who develops their own legacies which outlive them and echo into eternity.

What does being nominated for this category mean to you? Being nominated means an ordinary person can have a bigger impact than they expect. What then becomes extraordinary is to gather more ordinary people in a room to coordinate serving our town even better.

What does it mean to be a Queen Creek resident? Being a Queen Creek resident means that you get to literally make one of the best cities in American history. If you can dream it, then at least one Queen Creek leader can help you build it.

Changes I'd like to see in this area: I’d love to collaborate and see more local, annual events that the high school students and young adult population wants, respectively (You can message me on Instagram @thedaileycliff to make more happen). We are facing a mental health crisis, and the best solution is to offer relevant community events that foster in person connection in an increasingly isolating and digital world. Queen Creek is known as a good high school town, and we can leverage that strength to serve the high schoolers and young adults who stay in the area. 

Favorite community cause & why: While it’s hard to choose one, I’d have to say Queen Creek High School PTO. Principal Scott Lovely and his PTO team bring clear vision and high energy to serve the staff and students. Impact is so tangible and will outlast each person that serves on that team. 

My family: I’m blessed to have met my beautiful wife, Leah, many years ago in China. Since then, we have been married five years, and she delivered two sons: Abraham and Judah. They are my pride, joy ... and sometimes pain. My hope is that they can find this article one day down the road and gain new inspiration that they, too, can do extraordinary things as an ordinary person. 

My interests and hobbies: When I’m not building up other people, I like to start new, impactful things. My recent side project has been starting the brand Soul Winner with my buddy Jordan Garner. It pains my wife sometimes, but I have a hard time sitting still! 

People who inspired me (and how): My parents and my wife have inspired me the most, even though they are not perfect people. When I was about 10 years old, my mom told me “You can do anything you put your mind to, Cliff.” I clung to that vision, and I have learned my limits along my way to doing everything I put my mind to. My stepdad has taught me year after year what true grit is. My dad showed me that starting and managing a business is hard, but good work. And my stepmom modeled for me that you can find joy working with some of the hardest people: teenagers. However, my wife has demonstrated most clearly to me what it means to embody the love of Jesus day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. She has supported me in the decision to move from Florida to Arizona and start a church, despite moving away from her family and friends. She gave up countless evenings to let me study for my master’s degree, especially when I had long work days. She freely gave up many evenings for months so I can grapple with the church’s growing pains. And best of all, even in the moments she came to me in honesty that she was bitter about how much time I’ve been giving elsewhere, she trusted me with the changes I led in our weekly calendar. Leah has gladly supported the vision God has given me to make a big difference in our city, and she finds people and ways to help expand that vision. Her strong, sociable, quiet, gentle spirit can impact our great city in more ways than I ever could. I believe that our kids are going to be even stronger leaders because they get more time with her than I do!

My guiding philosophy: I will "seek the welfare of the city" (Jeremiah 29:7) I live in because serving others honors God and fulfills my greatest purpose.

My advice to today’s youth: See your mistakes as maps instead of mirrors. The hardest part of some mistakes is the guilt that comes with making an error. When we see our mistake in the mirror all we tend to do is focus on the negative, or the error. And if we don’t change our perspective then we get stuck in the guilt, and guilt compounds with the consequences. However, if we can humble ourselves and identify what we can learn, then we can see our mistake as a map that guides us to a greater vision and purpose for our lives. Ultimately, there’s great Bible lore where God gives us infinite ability to see our mistakes as a map when he teaches that Jesus “became sin though he did not have any sin, so that anyone who believes in him shall have the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In other words, Jesus took on our guilt when he sacrificed his life on the cross to free us from infinite guilt; therefore, anyone who believes in him shall learn the infinite ability to keep learning from their mistakes and not focus on the error, as God wants for them on this side of eternity.

The Queen Creek Independent is pleased to announce Cliff Dailey as the June 2025 Hometown Hero bestowed in the category of Spiritual Leader.  The Queen Creek Independent along with East Valley Institute of Technology and the Queen Creek Olive Mill salute Mr. Dailey as this month's Queen Creek Hometown Heroes Awards recipient.