Mt. Morris Community Church is a local community of Bible-believers at 7245 North Center Road in Mt. Morris, Michigan. Holding forth the Word of Life is its motto and the center of a congregation known for Bible-centered teaching, three Sunday gatherings, and ministries that extend from nursery care through Senior Saints. The church is affiliated with the Independent Fundamental Churches of America (IFCA).
Three Sunday Gatherings at 7245 North Center Road
Mt. Morris Community Church meets in person at 7245 North Center Road. Its regular Sunday rhythm starts with classes, moves into the main worship gathering, and continues into an evening service for adults, teens, and children together.
- 9:30 a.m. Sunday School: Children in kindergarten through sixth grade study New Testament books, while the 180 youth ministry serves students in grades seven through twelve.
- 11:00 a.m. worship: The main service includes Junior Church for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.
- 5:00 p.m. worship: Adults, teens, and children gather for the evening service. Alongside it, teens have Bible study and children in kindergarten through fifth grade have Truth Quest.
Sunday School classes last approximately one hour. The children's classes use the Generations of Grace curriculum. The 180 ministry emphasizes Bible teaching and fellowship for junior high and senior high students, and Gary Morris leads it.
The 11:00 a.m. worship gathering is the church's regular live broadcast, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern each Sunday. Other services and special events are also livestreamed. The morning service can be watched through the church's livestream.
Junior Church, Truth Quest, and Nursery Care
Nursery care is provided for both the 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. services. The baby nursery is directly outside the sanctuary entrance, and families may take an in-house pager that alerts them if a child is fussy or needs a parent's attention. A separate nursery off the gymnasium gives older children a place to learn and play.
Junior Church is offered during the 11:00 a.m. service for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. They sing worship songs and work through an overview of Bible teaching designed for elementary students. Major biblical themes are taught on a three-year cycle, and Christian Howd leads the ministry.
Truth Quest is the club-like evening program for the same age group. It combines Bible lessons and verse memory with games, snacks, and crafts.
Children in kindergarten through sixth grade also attend the 9:30 a.m. Sunday School classes. Vacation Bible School is offered during summer for the same grade span.
A Youth Mission with Families at Its Center
Students in grades seven through twelve gather at 5:00 p.m. for Bible study, snacks, and fun. The youth ministry says it is committed to training the next generation and coming alongside families in the spiritual stewardship of their young men and young women.
Its mission directs the student ministry to:
- Instill foundational biblical truth through God-focused preaching and teaching.
- Use music for God-honoring worship and call students to serve the church family.
- Form inner convictions consistent with biblical truth.
- Bring the gospel of redemption through words and deeds.
- Build genuine fellowship among students.
The Sunday evening combination of worship, Bible teaching, food, and activities gives teens a regular ministry setting alongside the church's adults and younger children.
Men at Breakfast, Women on Wednesdays, and Senior Saints
Adult ministry provides fellowship and teaching for different stages of life. The church seeks to equip people for service and help them apply biblical truth in daily life. It also creates opportunities for younger and older adults to meet, so that younger members can seek wisdom from older members and older members can be encouraged by younger ones.
Women's Mid-Week Bible Study
Women's activities range from weekly prayer meetings to small-group studies across the year. All women are invited to the Mid-Week Bible Study on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. in the lower level. Bea Niepoetter leads the gathering.
Men's Breakfast and Study
The Men's Breakfast takes place in the Fellowship Hall on the first Saturday of each month. The church also plans a quarterly men's study on Sunday evenings. Its aim is to train men, young and old, to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ.
Senior Saints
Senior Saints is for people age 65 and older. Its fellowship and Bible teaching make room for older adults to gather around the teachings and shared life of the church.
Pastors, Elders, and Deacons
Senior Pastor Aaron Burton grew up in a Christian home in the Flint area and attended Bible college after high school. Before joining MMCC as pastor in spring 2016, he spent fifteen years in Christian school teaching, Bible camp direction, and youth ministry. He holds a master's degree in Bible and emphasizes communicating God's Word and challenging believers in their spiritual walk.
Associate Pastor Jordan Steiner grew up in Mikado, Michigan, in a Christian home. He attended Appalachian Bible College, double majored in Bible and Theology and Youth and Family Ministry, and graduated in spring 2022. He played collegiate soccer and basketball and has an interest in using sports as a way to minister and connect with others.
The elders are Aaron Burton, Curt Drier, Jordan Steiner, Ralph Weidenhammer, and John Montague. The deacons are Mike Wood, Curt Drier, Dave Ellis, Walt Rutherford, Chris Howd, Josiah Hillaker, and Junior Loyer. Curt Drier serves in both groups.
What MMCC Believes
Bible, God, and Creation
MMCC affirms the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired by God and without error in the original writings. The Bible is the supreme and final authority in faith and life. The church believes in one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal and divine, with distinct but harmonious roles in redemption.
Jesus Christ was born of Mary, a virgin, by the Holy Spirit, and is both the Son of God and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is affirmed as a divine person who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment and serves as the agent of the new birth. MMCC also believes in the literal Genesis account of creation, humanity's creation in God's image, and the fall of humanity into sin.
Salvation and the Local Church
Salvation is understood to be completely the result of God's grace. Christ freely took on humanity without sin, honored the divine law through personal obedience, and made full payment for sin through his substitutionary death. The church affirms God's electing grace according to foreknowledge, holds that the gospel blessings of salvation are freely offered, and teaches that faith in Christ is the immediate response.
Justification includes the pardon of sin and the gift of eternal life. It is based not on works of righteousness but on faith in the Redeemer's blood and righteousness. The church is described as a congregation associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the gospel, observing Christ's ordinances and governed by his laws.
The mission of the church is tied to the Great Commission: making individual disciples, building up the church, and instructing people in Christ's commands. MMCC holds that the local church has the right of self-government and that Jesus Christ is its only head.
Baptism, Communion, Resurrection, and Return
Baptism is understood as immersion in water by a believer in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It represents the believer's identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the death to sin and new life in him. At the Communion Table, believers remember Christ's broken body and shed blood through the sacred use of bread and wine.
The church affirms the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, everlasting blessedness for the saved, and everlasting punishment for the lost. It also believes that Christ ascended bodily to God's throne. Christ's return is described as twofold: he will first appear before the Tribulation to take the believing church to himself, then return to earth with his church before the Millennium.
Civil government is affirmed as divinely appointed for the good order of society. Magistrates are to be prayed for, honored, and obeyed except when their demands oppose the will of Christ. MMCC rejects the Tongues Movement, also called the Charismatic Movement or Charismatic Revival, and says it will not permit its teaching in church, Sunday School, Bible school, or other sponsored meetings. It also rejects neo-orthodoxy, neo-evangelism, and the Christian unity philosophy associated with the National World Council of Churches.
Worship as Heart, Song, and Daily Life
MMCC defines biblical worship as the attitude and expression of the heart in praise, adoration, and love for God. Worship is meant to be a vital part of each Christian's daily life, directed to the triune God, generally through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The church holds that worship is not confined to an earthly building or location and may be practiced anywhere at any time. It cautions, however, against outward actions that become empty ritualism or tradition. Believers are instead encouraged to approach God in spirit and truth.
Expressions of worship include praise and thanksgiving through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The church also names the dedication of oneself as a living sacrifice, doing good, sharing with others, and giving back to God a portion of the material wealth entrusted to believers. The meaning of these expressions rests on the attitude of the heart.
Although MMCC encourages systematic worship together on the first day of the week, it describes that gathering as an extension and overflow of each believer's daily worship. The same spirit of worship therefore shapes both private faith and the church's gathered Sunday life.
A Mission Reaching from the Church to the World
The ministry of Mt. Morris Community Church is aligned with the Great Commission and encompasses evangelism, discipleship, ordinances, preaching, teaching, and edification. Its intended audiences extend in four directions: individuals and families within the church, the surrounding community, the nation, and the world.
Within church families, the ministry is meant to provide evangelism, instruction from God's Word, edification, opportunities to exercise spiritual gifts, fellowship, spiritual leadership, encouragement, counseling and care, and lessons in stewardship. These ministries are intended for people at every age level.
Outreach through church members is to extend into the surrounding community, with the aim of bringing people to Christ and helping them grow in Christ. At the national level, the church supports home missions through prayer, personnel, and money. Its vision also reaches the wider world in the same way. MMCC holds that this ministry flows from individual believers who walk with God, maintain a biblical testimony, and allow the Holy Spirit to minister through them to others.
Stewardship, Giving, and Gospel Media
MMCC teaches that God is the ultimate possessor of all things and that salvation is the only true possession believers own in this life. Lives, time, families, material wealth, natural abilities, spiritual gifts, the truths of God's Word, and the ministry of the gospel are entrusted to believers as temporary responsibilities. Good stewardship means using these gifts in the ways God directs and being faithful with what will one day be brought into account.
That principle has a practical expression through giving options. Gifts can be made through Zelle or PayPal, by mailing a check, or by placing them in the church office drop box. PayPal also supports recurring donations, and both Zelle and PayPal allow gifts to be designated.
Sermons are available as videos on YouTube, through the sermon archive, and in an audio format. The teaching collection includes messages on biblical books, Christian doctrine, and subjects such as prayer, family, growth, suffering, communion, unity, and church history. The morning worship gathering remains the regular livestream at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday.
From nursery care and Sunday School through teen ministry, adult Bible studies, Senior Saints, missions, and the teaching of God's Word, Mt. Morris Community Church expresses its motto through worship, fellowship, service, teaching, and the Great Commission.