[12] According to church literature, the primary use of the name Xenos in the New Testament denotes sojourners in a foreign land, a biblical description of Christians whose ultimate home is in heaven.

[2][12] Bible studies were conducted for several years at the "Fish House," a large campus-area residence where a group of OSU students lived.

During this period, the leaders, Dennis McCallum and Gary Delashmutt, supported themselves as house painters, with some occasional help from fellowship members, under the name "Christian Brothers Painting".

In 1991 Dwell launched Urban Concern, a Christian inner-city charity recognized by President George H. Bush in his "Thousand Points of Light" awards.

[16] Together with Columbus city government and business leaders, Dwell continues to expand Urban Concern and contributes the majority of its financial and volunteer resources.

Akili boasts several features uncommonly found in area high schools, including strong emphasis on career, trade, and life readiness, as well as a satellite option for collegebound upperclassmen hosted on the Franklin University campus.

[22][23] Each year, one of the guest speakers hosts a course in conjunction with the conference that can be taken for college credit through Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

[9] A former member of Dwell maintains a website titled "Xenos Is A Cult", which shares hundreds of allegations of controlling and cult-like behavior, including over 150 testimonials of abuse from parents, friends, and ex-members.

[30] SpiritWatch Ministries, a Christian organization that monitors spiritual abuse and cult-like activities, say the practices ex-members describe are comparable to cults.

[6][27] Allegations include giving alcohol and tobacco to minors,[9][31] overcrowded, dangerous and unhygienic conditions in church-organized shared living "ministry houses",[28][32] lack of privacy,[27][32][30] intimidation,[32][33][34] financial abuse,[35] gay conversion practices,[32] love bombing,[27][36] controlling member's medical decisions,[37][32] shunning to include shunning members suffering mental illness[37][32] and shunning ex-members who leave of their own volition,[32][7][11] mishandling accusations of sexual abuse,[37][32] shaming minors after their sexual information was extracted and shared with adults,[27] time demands at the expense of school, work, and relationships with non-members,[9][28][30] pressure to cut ties with friends and family outside the church,[30] and other forms of abuse and control.

[38] Articles on the Dwell website written by the church's co-founder, Dennis McCallum, denies claims of abuse or toxic practices within the organization, stating that allegations are often motivated by hate or are exaggerated interpersonal conflicts.