In 1980, the Presbytery of Mackinac began investigating the possibility of a “leisure ministry” in the Schuss Mountain/Shanty Creek Resort area in Bellaire, Michigan. As a result, the Schuss Mountain/Shanty Creek Leisure Mission was chartered in 1982, with Rev. Irvin (Gus) Nussdorfer as “Pastor/Director of a mission development.”

The first worship service was held in the shell of a building on September 19, 1982, with four families present. They continued to meet outside while construction went on around them. The building, which resembled the chalets in the area, was dedicated December 12, 1982. Financial help was provided by the churches in Traverse City, Harbor Springs, Sault Ste. Marie, and Petoskey, as well as the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly.

The mission ministry had a steering committee (not Elders). In March 1982, it was decided that 10 percent of the budget be spent for mission. By 1986, the church was known as the Church in the Hills, and the steering committee consisted of three classes of three members each.

In 1987, Pastor Nussdorfer was charged with determining if Church in the Hills could become an organized church, with a target membership of 100, a budget, and Elders and Deacons.

On December 11, 1988, Church in the Hills was officially chartered by the Presbytery of Mackinac and was no longer considered a mission church.

The congregation did not grow as had been hoped, and in April 1992, a proposal was made to sell the property.

Rev. Duane Ferris served as Interim for the 1993 calendar year, and he reported twenty-two members.

In February 1994, Rev. Don Gordon took the position of Stated Supply, and the congregation grew to over sixty members. The church was officially incorporated October 16, 1994, and a two-year moratorium was placed on the sale of the property.

By 1995, the congregation had outgrown the original building and both the Session and the Presbytery approved a building/remodeling project. Pledges were solicited,  and in July 1996, the foundation for a new worship center was poured. Members of the congregation provided most of the labor and expertise, and the addition was completed without the need for a mortgage. In 1998, the new building was dedicated, and a new organ was also purchased through pledges.

Rev. Gordon retired in the fall of 2002, and Russ Brandt served as Interim Pastor. In December 2002, the congregation called Rev. John Deal as the first called pastor for the congregation. He left in the summer of 2004, and the Session called the Rev. James Pitts as Interim Pastor.

In 2007, the Rev. Andrew Pomerville was called as pastor. In 2011, he was called to the Peoples Church in East Lansing, and the congregation called the Rev. David Ramage as pastor starting in 2012.