A Church in Lapeer Shaped by Grace and Truth
Hunters Creek Community Church, often shortened to H3C, sits on Metamora Road just outside the city of Lapeer in Lapeer County, Michigan. The congregation describes itself as a community of sinners rescued by Jesus Christ who gather each week to worship the one true God revealed in the Bible. Their stated calling is to actively, faithfully, and truthfully represent the Lord Jesus Christ in Lapeer and its outlying communities, and to share the gospel locally, across the country, and through missionary partnerships abroad.
On the property at 2471 Metamora Road, the church runs three Sunday gatherings, a Wednesday evening children's program, a youth ministry that meets the same evening, small groups that scatter into homes, choirs that rehearse through the school year, and retreats that send men, women, and college-age adults up to Camp Barakel in northern Michigan. The tone is reverent and rooted in Scripture, the schedule is family-friendly, and the preaching is treated as the high point of the week.
Sunday in Three Parts
The Sunday rhythm at Hunters Creek is built around three back-to-back gatherings that allow a family to arrive once and stay all day if they wish.
The day begins at 9:15 a.m. with Sunday School, when classes are offered for every age group and stage of life. The aim is sound, biblical teaching fitted to each stage - nursery through senior saints. At 10:30 a.m. the main worship service begins, opening with announcements, followed by a reverential reading of Scripture and several songs - both traditional and contemporary - chosen to foster worship rather than stir emotion. The sermon follows, and the service closes with a time of personal response that occasionally includes baptisms, child dedications, or other special events. The day concludes with 6:00 p.m. Bible Fellowship, an hour-long review of the morning's message that many in the congregation find especially helpful for retention and application.
Dress is comfortable and varied. The church cheerfully points out that first-century congregations did not worry about it either, and the range runs from jeans and t-shirts to polos and slacks to suits. Visitors are invited to wear whatever helps them focus on worship.
A Pulpit That Works Through Books of the Bible
Preaching is the apex of the week at Hunters Creek. The pulpit follows two patterns: expositional preaching that systematically draws the meaning out of a passage, and topical preaching that addresses relevant life themes through multiple Scripture texts. Both approaches are Christ-centered. Recent series have included extended walks through 1 and 2 Thessalonians, with Pastor Andy Rist working verse by verse through the letters.
The church's philosophy of ministry puts it plainly: they seek to be Word-driven and Christ-centered, timeless in the message, and relevant in the vision. Sermons are archived online and are also available through a livestream on YouTube, making the teaching accessible to shut-ins, traveling members, and visitors who want to sample the church's style before visiting in person.
Children: From Nursery Through Sixth Grade
Hunters Creek takes its description of children as part of the church now, not just its future, seriously. The nursery is open for every service and for Sunday School, staffed by vetted church members who have been through an extensive application and interview process, criminal background checks, two-reference vetting, mandatory sexual abuse awareness training, and adherence to the church's children and youth worker policies.
For older children, the Sunday School hour at 9:15 a.m. is followed by Primary Church for K through 4th graders during the 10:30 service. Parents who prefer to worship together as a family are welcome to keep their children with them. A week-long Vacation Bible School each summer (usually in July) covers K through 6th grade with games, crafts, music, and Bible learning.
The signature children's program is AWANA, which meets Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. from September through April. AWANA is structured around the goal of leading children to saving faith in Christ and helping them become "Approved Workmen Who Are Not Ashamed." The club is divided into Cubbies (ages 3-5, potty trained), Sparks (K-2nd grade), and T&T (3rd-6th grade).
Youth: Wednesday Nights and Sunday Mornings
Students in 7th through 12th grade have their own dedicated ministry led by Youth Pastor Dylan Cline. The main meeting is the Wednesday Youth Group from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m., which features student-led worship through music, Scripture reading, and prayer. The Bible is the curriculum; past studies have worked through Philippians, Ecclesiastes, Titus, and a course on how to study the Bible. The night closes with a small-group huddle built around discussion, hangout time, and prayer.
On Sunday mornings at 9:15, junior high (7th and 8th grade) meets in the old church sanctuary and senior high (9th through 12th grade) meets in the old church basement. The students are also woven into the music ministry through Resounding Joy, the youth handbell choir that rehearses Wednesday evenings before the youth group and ministers periodically in Sunday services.
Adults: Small Groups, Sunday School, and Retreats
Adults at Hunters Creek have multiple layers of community. Beyond the corporate services, the church runs an active small-group ministry. Small groups meet in homes for Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and an evening snack. Some meet weekly, others monthly, and others every other month. Each group is hosted by a church member and led by a deacon or elder.
The Adult Sunday School hour at 9:15 a.m. includes a college-age class that meets in the basement of Pastor Joel's home, just north of the Old Church building, with basement access from the back entrance. The class covers a variety of Bible topics and shares prayer needs together. The annual highlight is a College/Career retreat at Camp Barakel, usually the first weekend of the new year, that mixes winter outdoor activities with teaching from God's Word.
Men's ministry centers on a Sunday School class for men of all ages, a monthly Saturday morning Men's Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. for food, Bible study, and prayer, and a fall retreat at Camp Barakel in mid-October. Other men's events - basketball, wild game dinners, skeet shoots - are added from time to time and announced through the bulletin and online calendar.
Women's ministry includes Fall and Spring Bible studies (often on Monday evenings), a women's softball team during the summer that plays against other local church teams, and the women's musical groups described below. For those age 50 and over, the JOY ("Just Older Youth") fellowship meets about once a month, with a monthly lunch in the Community Room.
Music That Serves the Congregation
Music is treated as a means of worship rather than performance. The Chapel Choir, for grades 9 through adults, rehearses Sunday afternoons from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. during the choir season (September through May) and leads worship in the Sunday morning service under the direction of Pastor Joel. The choir also prepares a Christmas musical and a Spring Festival of Praise.
For younger singers, King's Kids (grades 4-8) prepares two large musicals a year that include singing and drama, rehearsing on selected Saturdays from September through March. Sonshine Choir (K-3) rehearses on Sunday mornings under the direction of Sharon Caminiti in the weeks before the Christmas and Spring musicals. The Resounding Joy youth handbell choir (grades 9-12) rehearses on Wednesday evenings before the youth group meets, ministering periodically on Sundays and for special events.
What the Church Believes
Hunters Creek's Statement of Faith centers on the Bible as the verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God and the only authoritative rule for faith and practice. The church affirms one true God eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and confesses Jesus Christ as God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, sinless in life, substitutionary and atoning in death, bodily raised, and returning personally.
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Christ, on the basis of his shed blood. Believers are eternally secure in him. The church teaches a literal six-day creation, the historicity of Adam, and a personal, pre-millennial, imminent return of Christ to rapture the church before the Great Tribulation, followed by his reign in the millennial age and final judgment.
On marriage and human sexuality, the Statement of Faith teaches that God creates each person as either male or female, that marriage is the exclusive union of one man and one woman, and that sexual intimacy is reserved for that union. The church also teaches the sanctity of human life from conception through natural death.
The church distances itself from the ecumenical movement and from groups it considers theologically liberal, while emphasizing the inerrancy of Scripture, expository preaching, and the sufficiency of the gifts listed in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 for the work of ministry.
Reaching the Community, Lapeer, and the World
Hunters Creek's stated ministry philosophy is obedience to the Great Commission - sharing the gospel in Lapeer, across the country, and around the world through local and foreign missionaries. The statement of faith cites Matthew 28:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as the engine for that work. The church partners with missionaries in places like Ukraine, where Pastor Andy and his wife Holly served prior to his call to Hunters Creek, training pastors at Kyiv Theological Seminary.
Locally, the church's presence is felt through the AWANA program that draws children from across the area, the women and college retreats at Camp Barakel, and the small groups that meet in homes throughout the community.
Giving, Getting Connected, and Staying in the Word
Members and visitors can give by placing cash or a check in the offering plate during Sunday services, by online giving through a secure Tithe.ly form, or by setting up automatic bill pay through their personal bank. Online giving and the sermon archive make it easy for traveling members and regular attenders alike to stay connected.
The church also publishes a church directory through Instant Church Directory and maintains an online calendar of events. Each year, Pastor Andy invites the congregation to read through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs together, with a printed plan available for anyone who wants to follow along.
Visitors looking for a place to ask honest questions, hear expository preaching, and find a community that takes the Bible seriously are invited to come as they are. A seat is being saved.