We trace our origins to the organization of the Muskegon County Council of Churches on May 26th, 1941, growing out of informal discussions Representatives of 23 congregations gathered at Central United Methodist Church for the founding meeting. It began with 10 member congregations. From the beginning, the group has sought “to minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the people” of our community.

One of our earliest projects during World War II was with area PTAs to provide milk to local school children. In the 1940s, programs included vacation Bible school and training events for Sunday School teachers. The Council sponsored choir workshops and pulpit exchanges.

During the 1960s, the mainstream Protestant organization found renewed energy as it grew to include Catholic and Orthodox traditions. The Council coordinated weekly religious services for Brookhaven and during summer months on The Milwaukee Clipper. In cooperation with the Labor Council, Labor Day Services were held in the Walker Arena. As part of the Goose Egg Lake project (now Blue Lake, the Council worked with other social service agencies to organize a preschool program and a clinic. Housing needs were addressed through a revolving loan fund.

For twenty years (1975-1995) the Rev. Ed Rogers led the Jail/Prison Ministry.

Later, the organization changed its name to the Muskegon County Cooperating Churches. Replacing the term “council” with “cooperating” more accurately described the working relationship among member congregations in service to the community.

The MCCC has a long history of discerning community needs and creating programs to meet those needs. These agencies include Foster Grandparents (1983), Muskegon County Habitat for Humanity (1986), Westshore Dispute Resolution Center (now Mediation & Restoration Services) (1993) and the Institute for Healing Racism – Muskegon (1998).

MCCC contributed to the organization of the Westshore Jewish/Christian Dialogue in 1988 (now the West Michigan Academic Consortium). In partnership with the Michigan Ecumenical Forum, Muskegon County Cooperating Churches sponsored an environmental conference in 1994 titled “Dialogue on the Common Good: Seeking a Sustainable Society”. In 1997 Cooperating Churches co-sponsored a conference “Building Bridges in the Face of Hate” addressing hate groups and their flawed theology. A conference on poverty co-sponsored by Cooperating Churches in 2000 was “Faith in Action: Building a Just and Caring Society” with the Rev. Ron Sider, President of Evangelicals for Social Action as the speaker.

Since 2000 Muskegon County Cooperating Churches has also served as the fiduciary agent for new community organizations. Past agencies under MCCC’s umbrella included the Muskegon Responsible Fathers’ Initiative and In the City for Good. Current programs served in this way are Community Connects Choir and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. MCCC also oversees the Feeding America mobile food pantries offering help to churches by providing such items as tables, as well as instructions on how to run a mobile pantry. Peace and Justice activities and Recovery Congregations are two new programs developed and run by MCCC.