From a Distance
Bible teaching on Moody Radio inspired Ron Morrison to pursue higher education and impact lives as a pastor, mentor, and teacher
By Nancy Huffine / January 31, 2025
In 1978, when Dr. Ron Morrison and his wife, Anita, were dating, one of the common goals they shared was moving beyond their raised-in-the-church backgrounds and into personal relationships with Jesus.
“We both realized we needed to get serious about the Lord, and that's when I made a rock-solid decision to commit my life to Jesus Christ,” Ron says.
Dr. Ron Morrison and his wife, Anita Morrison
When the couple married in 1979, Ron was a full-time factory worker in Cleveland and kept that job for 21 years. But it’s during this time that God planted a seed in his heart that has blossomed now for over three decades in his ministry service as a church pastor.
“During those early years when I was driving back and forth to the factory, WCRF was on,” Ron says of Moody Radio Cleveland. “I was listening to some of the great Bible teachers. I was in the car for half an hour. So for probably nine or 10 years in a row, the teaching that was featured on Moody Radio was helping me.”
Step of faith into distance learning
After several years, Ron began to think about being more than just a Moody Radio listener. He began to think about becoming a Moody student. “It was early in the 1980s when I was listening to WCRF that I found out about Moody Bible Institute distance learning,” he says. “I was still working swing shifts at the factory when I started taking Bible courses from Moody.”
At this point, Ron stops to make something very clear. “Remember, this is back in the day when I was literally either handwriting my answers or typing them using Wite-Out, mailing them in, and then sweating until I got my papers back. When word processors and computers became popular, I thought—oh!—I wish I'd had this when I started!”
A pastor for more than 30 years now, Ron didn’t begin his studies with a pastorate in mind. “At first I wasn't thinking pastoral ministry. I just had this insatiable appetite to learn the Word of God. In the 1980s, I was participating in a ministry at the Cleveland House of Corrections. Invariably, sometimes someone wouldn’t show up to preach, and they would ask me to bring the message, spontaneously.
“I began to realize, I believe the Lord wants me to get prepared to do this. People seemed to think I had the gifting for it. That's when I seriously began to prepare for pastoral ministry, taking preaching courses and theology courses.”
Doctor of Ministry
Over the years, Ron advanced from Moody distance learning to an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree, and eventually a doctorate.
“I finished my bachelor’s degree at another school. Then when I left the factory and could devote full time to ministry, I started taking the graduate courses at Moody in a modular format,” he says. “They would let us come to the Chicago campus while the students were away for a break. For my continuing education, undergrad, and grad school—a significant portion of each of those was done at Moody, but not the actual final degree.”
Ron finished his undergraduate and master’s degrees at Trinity College of the Bible & Seminary in Indiana. He later received his Doctor of Ministry from Alliance Theological Seminary in New York in 2014.
Reaching a mission field in Greater Cleveland
Dr. Morrison at Hope Alliance Bible Church in Maple Heights
In 1995, while Ron was still studying to gain the biblical knowledge and pastoral skills he longed for, he founded Hope Alliance Bible Church in Maple Heights.
“I'm a lifelong Clevelander,” Ron says. “Maple Heights is about two streets from the Cleveland city limits. I live five minutes from the church, and I've never lived anywhere else other than Greater Cleveland. When we planted the church, we did a survey of a five-mile radius from where we live. That reached into three or four little suburbs, and we just happened to find a building in Maple Heights.”
As the church grew, Ron and his wife began to see some crucial needs in the community. “We had a higher than national average of single parent homes, so almost immediately we started a ministry to single moms. People were leaving Maple Heights because the school system was so poor. We started an after-school tutoring program, and we’ve done that for well over 20 years.”
Passion for continuing education
Ron’s love for Moody and his passion for education led him to pursue the founding of a Moody continuing education site at his church. “At one point, Moody had a lot of satellite teaching sites in Greater Cleveland, offering continuing education and college courses,” he says.
When the auto industry slowed down and economic challenges followed, Moody considered discontinuing all of its satellite sites in Ohio. Ron, who had been teaching at one of the Moody satellite sites since 2005, sprang into action.
“I petitioned and said, ‘Can we host at our site? We'll do all the administrative work!’ They agreed to let us do that, and in 2010 we brought Moody to our site. We are still going strong. Currently, I have over 70 students, and we get close to 100 students every semester. Right now, we're doing continued education for people who are either getting ready for college, as I was years ago, or Sunday School teachers and pastors who can’t get away to get an education.”
Moody education program hosted at Hope Alliance Bible Church in Maple Heights
Ron has been an instructor for the Maple Heights classes since the beginning, and though he loves all aspects of Bible teaching, he does have a favorite. “We've been walking through the Old Testament. I love the Old Testament courses. Most people have a familiarity with the stories, and so I like to do a deeper dive into those Old Testament books.”
Making disciples
Along with education, Ron is committed to coming alongside others through personal mentoring and leadership development.
“It's one thing to sit under a brilliant professor in the classroom and take notes and read books. But when that individual is not available to you outside of the classroom, I don't think you get discipled and mentored and coached as you need to,” he says. “I've gone out of my way to just do ‘life on life’ with the guys that I serve. We've raised up other church planters. We've coached a lot of men in ministry. Especially in our context where men aren't fathered well biologically, physically, or emotionally, they need a shepherd who’s going to walk through life with them.
“Outside of the classroom I'm always available. I take guys with me when I'm doing ministry. We sit and talk, no appointment necessary. I’m there to help them grow as a disciple. Especially in our broken communities, people need individuals to join with them and walk them through life.”
Unexpected opportunity at WCRF
Dr. Morrison’s warm, easy manner and engaging demeanor make him a natural at connecting with people. It isn’t surprising that after a chance meeting with Mornings with Brian host Brian Dahlen, Ron was invited to be a guest on the program, bringing his insight on a variety of subjects to WCRF listeners.
“He quickly became one of our go-to guests for pastoral issues,” Brian says. “He is a man of deep wisdom, mature faith, and a peaceful disposition. That combination makes him a confident and compelling guest.”
As a recurring guest, Ron speaks primarily about issues surrounding leadership development and the importance of coaching and mentoring.
“Dr. Morrison is incredibly skillful at identifying and observing issues among followers of Jesus in American culture that need to be addressed,” Brian says. “He always finds the perfect passage of Scripture to highlight both the problem and the solution. Our listeners have a deep love and respect for Ron. We regularly get encouraging and grateful comments from listeners when he’s on the show. His biblical insights and wisdom challenge all of us to grow in our walk with Jesus. His humility is inspiring, and his leadership is exemplary.”
New hopes and dreams
If you ask Ron what his hopes and dreams for the future include, he doesn’t hesitate. “We're in the process of starting a Christian elementary school, remodeling our building, and raising the funds for all that,” he says. “I would love for kids to walk in our building from kindergarten through grad school and have Christians with them all the way along that journey. I want to be able to have all that in a place where it's easily affordable and accessible.”
As he considers the impact that Moody has made on his life and looks forward to being a part of continuing education in the Greater Cleveland community, Ron says, “I have this loyalty to Moody that I don't think will ever change. The people that come to our continuing education classes are from a lot of different churches around the city. But because Moody and Moody Radio are respected, when they hear the name Moody, they’ll say, ‘Okay, yes! This is solid biblical information. I can be a part of that!’”