Who We Are

Our Redeemer Church has gathered together for 60 plus years in the Midland community.  And while many things have changed over the those years, many remain the same.

On January 25, 1953 a group organized what was then the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Midland.  They were families of faith with a heart to meet for worship and to show their community the love and grace of God.  And it seems that over those years only the names have changed.

The church celebrated its 10th anniversary by adopting the new name Our Redeemer Church, Evangelical Mennonite.  Our Redeemer celebrated its 50th anniversary acknowledging the new name of its partner denomination The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (fecministries.org) previously known as the Evangelical Mennonite Church.  In October 2009, the church family again acknowledged another name change by joining with the Evangelical Free Church of America, and is part of the Great Lakes District. 

The names of the pastors and families have changed too.  The church has been served by nine senior pastors, with Lowell Gisel faithfully serving 20 of the church’s 60 years from 1982-2002 and most recently Mark Burks from 2003 to 2022.  While many of the names of those founding families are no longer present, new family names have come and gone over the years.  And while those names have changed the heart still remains the same.

“Many changes have taken place in the last 60 years, but it is a true example of God’s goodness and grace that families still gather at Our Redeemer for worship and to make our community a better place.”  Pastor Mark Burks added.

Today the Our Redeemer Evangelical Free Church it is still a family of faith with an emphasis on worshiping together and serving our community as an inter-generational family.