Harvest Community Church

Our Story

It all started with prayer. These prayers were born of diligently petitioning the Lord in how He wants to move in the lives of individuals and what that looks like through the collective pursuit of our Triune God. We know that we were built for community with God and others. We also know that one aspect of that community comes in the form of the gathering which is not to be forsaken. From Wednesday night Bible studies and prayer gatherings, to the reality that God wanted to use ordinary people to do Kingdom work, we waited for His conviction to guide our steps. That conviction came in the form of a “trial run” that would be the potential launch of a home church. The location, Black River, MI in a pole barn on September 20, 2023. We prepared to gather and prayed that there would be some sort of conviction and clarification of how He would use us.

What was expected to be a small gathering ended up being much larger than what we had expected. We got a front row seat to seeing that God wanted to move in this rural community. We worshipped, learned from the Holy Scriptures, gathered, and broke bread together. It was a wonderful day of worship that led to more pointed prayer for what the future looks like. We were all well aware of what it looks like to get out in front of God instead of waiting for the revelation of His plan. We prayed, we waited, and then prayed more.

The Lord opened up door after door but it took some time to come to a realization. God was telling us to catch up. We were not running ahead of Him; He was telling us to get a move on. Thirty-six days after that “trial run” we planted Harvest Community Church. The day was November 5, 2023 and we are still in awe of how God continued to show up when we chose to be obedient to his prodding.

Through all this, one thing has not changed. We continue to blanket all that we are afforded to steward in prayer. We continue to be intentional when it comes to sharing the love of God to others. We continue to realize that we do not have to serve our Sovereign God, we get to! We would be honored to be a part of your spiritual journey.

It has been stated that if you find yourself in the “perfect church”, you should leave before you ruin it. We are far from perfect but fervently committed to living more righteous lives through God’s grace and mercy. Seasoned, seeking, or new to your faith journey, we would love for you to worship with us.

Meet the Team

Pastor Craig Macdonald

My name is Pastor Craig Macdonald and I would like for you to get to know just part of my story.

I am a retired Army Veteran of 23 years. In November of 2023 we answered the calling to ministry as the Lead Pastor of Harvest Community Church in Ossineke, Michigan. When I say “answered the calling,” what I mean is that a group of devoted followers of Jesus Christ were led to planting a church. It all started with prayer and an initial service in what we now refer to as “the pole barn service.” This led to the planting of Harvest just over a month later. We have been serving the community through this ministry since then.

I have been married to my wife Michelle (Shelly) for just over 3 decades. Shelly works in the medical community as a Family Nurse Practitioner. We have two adult children, Blake and Devin. The summer of 2024 was unique as we became empty nesters when both boys moved to Southern Michigan to pursue their careers and school. Blake as a biomedical technician and Devin in a culinary arts program to be a chef. My family has been a wonderful support network for me and keeps me grounded.

We have seen God moving in big ways and are nothing short of being in awe of His provisions as we faithfully seek for Him to lead us on this ministry journey. We teach God’s truths through the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God found in His Holy Scriptures.

Our Mission: To lead people to a devoted and restorative relationship with Jesus Christ through sound biblical teachings and actions that glorify and magnify God.

I pray that you find this site to be a place of inspiration and affirmation for your walk with the Lord.

God’s deepest blessings as you seek a deeper relationship with your Creator!

Michael Minkos

Leadership Team, Men's Bible Study Group Leader

Welcome to Harvest! I am pleased to be part of the leadership team here at Harvest . I have been retired since 2012 and I worked for 35 years as an ironworker out of Columbus, Ohio. I accepted the Lord in 1983 at a Phil Driscoll concert. My wife, Debra and myself have served the Lord in many areas of the church; but most of our involvement has been in missions, either at home or abroad. I am a father of four and a granddad to nine; whom I love very much. My main purpose here at harvest, is to serve our church family, show the love of Christ, as well as helping to alleviate any added things that might prevent our Pastor from being fully devoted to the leading of our church family. I am in awe of how the Lord has blessed Harvest and even more excited of where it is going as we give Him the praise.

Michael Smith

Leadership Team, Adult Sunday School Leader

I was born again November 29, 1989 at Hubbard Lake Baptist Church, and taught boys fifth and six grade Sunday School there. I married my wife Carrie in 1990, had 3 children all girls. Moved back to Hillman where I grew up. After that, I worked at Wayne Wire Cloth products for 23 years before going on disability. I started attending the Hillman Free Methodist Church around 1994 where I began teaching boys fifth and six grade Sunday School and became the head trustee there in about 1999 through 2007. I also ran the sound system there. I now have 4 grand children, 2 boys and 2 girls, and am teaching the Adult Sunday School here at Harvest Community Church.

Karen Frampton

Leadership Team, Treasurer

I am Karen Frampton, child of God, and I serve as secretary on the Leadership Team. I have always been a follow-the-rules sort of person. After 25 years, I retired from serving Circuit Court as an adult-felon probation officer and a State of Michigan parole officer. Right after graduation from Michigan State with a degree in Criminal Justice, I married the man God so graciously put in my life. We were an attached-at-the-hip sort of couple. I learned to be an excellent construction helper when we designed and built our house one nail and timber at a time. It was during this construction we found out God was in turn building us. My husband’s coworkers invited us to a Bible study and we both accepted the Lord that night. We went sailing on our Hobie Cat in a beautiful strong wind the following day and God taught us who was in control. As was our way, we hauled in as much wind in the sails as possible and tipped the boat over twice. My husband believed that was our baptism - one dunk for him, one for me. God kept His hand on us over our 46 years. We dealt with pride and the Lord took us from the object of our pride. But he brought us back. We dealt with infertility and He allowed us to adopt three wonderful foreign born children who have given us five grandchildren. Three were born after the Lord craved more attention from me and moved my husband to live with him. I rejoice that one day I will reunite with my husband and other family members because we love Jesus. And I rejoice that I belong to the loving church family of Harvest Community.

Debra Minkos

Women's Bible Study Group Leader

I always loved being involved with people of all ages and knew no stranger; hence my 30 year career as a nurse and in the medical field. My desire to know Jesus was always there even at a very young age; and my journey to embrace and accept Him as my Lord and Savior was over many years of struggling, searching and surrender. Living for Him now has brought so much peace and joy to my life especially as I get to share Him with others. My husband, Michael and I have always been involved in some form of missions, local as well as foreign. I have taught Sunday school, teens, young women, adult ministries, speaker as well as biblical counseling. Michael and I have 4 children and 9 grandchildren. Our summers are full of using our home as a respite, men and woman retreats, and loving on those grandbabies. My desire is to look vertical first and then love on those horizontally, to teach truths seasoned with much love and grace, and to make disciples to carry on at Harvest and the community.