About Us

Explore this page to learn more about our mission, core beliefs, and our staff & leadership.

Investing in people to experience Christ’s transforming power, together.

Expectant Prayer

Generous Living

Authentic Connection

Empowering & Equipping

Embracing All People

We believe the best way to accomplish our mission is to embrace the ongoing cycle of connecting, equipping, and serving others.

Morris Evangelical Free Church will be a hub for authentic relationships and gospel ministry.

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  • In 5 years, MEFC will be a mission-focused church where people find their place and purpose in our faith community.
  • We will equip members of the body to grow in their own faith journey and walk with Christ through biblical preaching, investing in one another, and providing opportunities to serve.
  • We will be known as intentional Christ followers that live generously and love one another.
  • The people of MEFC will be like gears that intersect and turn; authentically connecting with one another, encouraging each other toward spiritual growth and the study of God’s word, purposefully equipping each person to use their unique gifts and talents to advance the gospel in our community.
  • We will see households actively leading and nurturing each generation to love Christ and follow his word. The gears keep turning, our faith is continually progressing, and God’s kingdom keeps expanding.

What We Believe

God

We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible

We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

Jesus Christ

e believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church

We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living

We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ's Return

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

The EFCA

The EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America) is a family of self-governing churches united around the same core beliefs. Together, our mission is to glorify God by multiplying transfor­mational churches among all people.

Elders

Russ Gesch

Spencer Wayne (Chairman)

Allen Wold

Ron Gausman

John Helsper

Matt Dorweiller

 

General Board

Ron Gausman (Chairman)

Spencer Wayne (Vice-Chairman)

Adam Sperr

Renee Konz

Nic Young

Penny Schmidgall

Nancy Helsper

Terry Nohl

Raul Mendoza

Staff

Hector Franco

Senior Pastor

David Benjamin

Worship Pastor

Tom Loyola

Interim Pastor

Carrie Swartley

Children’s Ministry Director

Kolby Gausman

Church Administrator

Landon Wolf

Media & Tech Assistant

Service Times

Sunday mornings at 8:30 & 10:30

En Español at 11am

Location

901 Scotts Avenue

Morris, MN 56267

Contact Us

(320) 589-2808