Hillsdale Assembly of God

Church Board

Our Missionaries

• Jacob & Julie Bock (Spain)
• Donna Bustos (Mexico)
• Flynn & Sherri Clanton (Argentina)
• Paul & Methchild Clark (Germany)
• Ruth Clark (Philippines)
• Doris Johnson (Brazil)
• Mark & Patricia Kinney (Argentina)
• Karen & Henry Linderman (France)
• Carrie & Matt Rove
• Richard & Lori McLane (Poland)
• Steven & Trina Pennington (Ethiopia)
• Jim & Becky Petersen (Zambia)
• Kevin & Karen Prevost (Spain)
• Steven & Kim PuffPaff (Jamaica)
• David & Kristen Speer (Mexico)
• Earl & Arlene Stubbs (Southern Asia)
• Robert & Rhonda Thompson
• David & Damaris Thompson (Kenya)
• Terry & Deborah Waisner (Pacific Asia)

Our Sixteen Key Teachings

The following are the sixteen key teachings of our church. We belive these are real, Bible-based truths that build a firm foundation of Christian beliefs.

1. The Bible is a collection of messages from God to man that he inspired the authors to write. It is how he chose to reveal the truth about himself to mankind, and it tells us how to be saved from God's judgement for disobedience. As God's words to us, it is perfect, without fault, and completely true. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12)
2. There is One True God who has revealed himself as the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ the Son of God and Savior of the World, and the Holy Spirit who lives with us, never leaves us, and guides us into the truth. (Deuteronomy 6:4, John 1:1, John 4:24)
3. Jesus died for our sins. He was both fully God, having the humility to set aside His glory and submit himself to death, and fully man, facing the same pains and passions as us without doing wrong. (Philippians 2:5-11)
4. Though God created mankind to be good, Adam and Eve willingly disobeyed God and all of mankind, as their children, are born into disobedience and death. (Genesis 3, Romans 5)
5. Anyone can be saved from God's judgement for disobedience by believing that Jesus died for them and accepting his sacrifice as a gift of forgiveness. (John 3:16, Romans 10:9, 1 John 1:9)
6. There are two rituals we are told to observe in the Bible: baptism in water as a symbol of dying to our old ways and living a new life with Jesus, and communion as a symbol to remember how Jesus died for us.(Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
7. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a special experience available to everyone who gives their life to Jesus. (Acts 1:8)
8. You can know you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit because the outward evidence of this experience is speaking in a language you don't know. This could be a real human language or words your spirit speaks to God, even though you don't know what you are saying. (Acts 2:1-4)
9. We believe in something called sanctification. It means that, as you follow Jesus and try to live for him, you become more like God and less like people in the world. It means you learn to obey God more and to stay away from disobedience. (Philippians 2:12-13)
10. The church has the mission to seek out people who don't follow Jesus and share the message of forgiveness from disobedience through his sacrifice on the cross for us. (Mark 16:15-16, 2 Peter 3:9)
11. God has chosen people to serve the church in roles of leadership. There are five different kinds of leaders God has given to the church: missionaries, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. In addition, every Christian is told by God to share the message of Jesus with other and encourage each other in their faith. (Ephesians 4:11, 1 Peter 2:9)
12. God is able to heal people who are hurt, sick, or even dying. When Jesus died on the cross, he earned healing for our minds, bodies, and spirits. (James 5:14-16)
13. At some future moment in time, Jesus will appear in the clouds, all believers who have died will rise from the dead and be caught up in the air, those Christians who are alive will join them, and they will all be taken to Heaven with Jesus in an event called the rapture. (1 Corinthians 15:51, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
14. Jesus will return with his followers after 7 years of suffering on the earth and begin a benevolent rule over earth for 1,000 years. During this millenial reign of Christ, many of the Isrealites, who are God's chosen people, will recognize that Jesus is the Messiah and place their faith in Him. (Revelation 20:1-6)
15. A Final Judgment will take place, where those who have rejected Jesus will be judged for their disobedience and face eternal punishment. (Revelation 21:8)
16. We look forward to the perfect new Heaven and new Earth that Jesus is preparing for all people who have accepted Him. We will live with Him there forever following His millennial reign on Earth. (2 Peter 3:13)

Our Missions Commitment

While you may not personally be able to reach others around the world with the good news about Jesus, by giving to missionaries you are able to be a part of their important work. We believe this to be so important that, in addition to what people give to missions, we contribute 10% of our donations to the support of missionaries at home and abroad. We also encourage our members to give to the Seed Offering program. Those who participate give a 1% donation of their earnings toward this offering. This offering goes to the support of local, home, and foreign missions.

Our Church History

During the summer of 1941, a tent meeting was held at the Assemblies of God campgrounds in Grass Lake, Michigan, where G. Raymond Carlson was the speaker. Inspired at the camp meeting, Mr. & Mrs. A.L. Moyer contacted Rev. Scott of the Michigan District Assemblies of God to discuss starting an Assembly of God church in Hillsdale. Rev. Scott, Rev. Cooley, and Rev. Foote talked about the need for a church in Hillsdale, and Brother Cooley was appointed the first Pastor. Until proper housing could be found, the Cooleys resided with the Moyers at 141 S. West Street, a house now owned by the church and used as its parsonage.

The church was first located in the storefront at 76 S. Howell Street that in presently the Broad Street Market. By 1943, the congregation outgrew this storefront and began renting the Lakeview School on Griswold Street. In 1944, they were finally able to purchase land on the corner of West and Hallet street, next to the Moyer residence, and a basement was built to house the church.

The church met in the basement for some time. In 1952, the congregation helped plant an Assembly of God church in Reading. To accommodate a growing church, the basement was enlarged in 1953, and a sanctuary was finally built on top. In the years to come, the church went through many more building projects and improvements. A parsonage was built at 15 Armstrong Street in 1958, the basement was remodeled in 1965, and the sanctuary underwent a major remodeling transformation in 1968. The exterior was also bricked.

In 1974, the congregation voted to change it's name to Maranatha Temple. The word Maranatha is found in the King James Bible and means 'Our Lord Come.' While the name stuck for a while, it was eventually changed back to Hillsdale Assembly of God.

In 1986, the church underwent another building project, this time erecting a new church building between Hillsdale and Jonesville, just off of M-99 on Beck Road. This is the facility where we hold our services today. It is a beautiful building with two stories, offices, many class rooms, and a large fellowship hall and sanctuary. We are blessed to enjoy all God has given us.

Staff Pastors

Support Staff

Our church is in voluntary cooperative fellowship with and a member of the General Council of the Assemblies of God and our church resides in the Michigan District. We believe it is important to be a part of a fellowship of believers who share your faith.

The Assemblies of God are not a denomination, but a voluntary cooperative fellowship of churches. Simply put, this means that, as Christians who share key teachings in common, we have chosen to work together under the title 'Assembly of God'. Each church is still self-governed, with their own constitutions and bylaws, exercising freedom to follow God as He guides each church to follow Him.