Pastor Harding was saved at the age of eight through the bus ministry at Marquette Manor Baptist Church located on the near south side of Chicago. Mike accepted the call to preach when he was 11 years old through the ministry of Dr. Bill Schroeder. Mike attended BJU in 1974 as a Bible major/Greek minor and graduated with high honors in 1978. He, then, received his Master of Arts degree in 1979 from BJU graduating with a 4.0 grade point average. Mike, also, earned his Master of Divinity degree from Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary graduating Summa Cum Laude (3.99 GPA) and is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry from International Baptist College. Pastor Harding received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in 1995.
Upon graduation from BJU, Mike served as youth pastor for six years under the leadership of Dr. Bill Schroder at Oak Forest Baptist Temple. Under his ministry the youth group grew to an average attendance of 200 (7th - 12th grades) on Sunday. Out of his ministry dozens of young men have surrendered to the pastoral ministry and many others have surrendered to vocational Christian service.
In 1985, Mike accepted the call to pastor the First Baptist Church of Troy near Detroit, Michigan where he has been serving for 18 years. Under Pastor Harding's ministry the church healed spiritually and grew from an average attendance of 175 to an average attendance of 650. The Sunday and Wednesday evening attendances average between 450 and 475 respectively.
In addition, Pastor has endeavored to build a godly, strong Christian school (Bethany Christian School) with an emphasis on putting young people into the gospel and music ministry, a strong fundamental and militant stance for the whole counsel of God, a consistent practice of personal and ecclesiastical separation, and a God-centered theology. Both the church and school have a national reputation for excellence in its music ministry. Pastor Harding has spoken and written extensively on the subject of Christian worship and music. In addition, he has published numerous articles in Christian magazines, periodicals, and theological journals dealing with music, worship, separation and theology.
Pastor Harding has served as president of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Association of Michigan, as vice-president of the Michigan Association of Christian Schools, as well as serving on the GFA board, FBF board, NBT board, and BJU board.
Mike is married to Jennifer (Howell) and has one son (Luke - 14 years old) and three daughters (Rebecca and Rachel [21 year old twins] and Maaike [18 years old, pronounced "Micah"]). Jenny is a soprano soloist of considerable reputation who is completing her Masters of Voice Performance from Eastern Michigan University. She, also, directs the choral program at Bethany Christian School, and has labored intensively to train her children in music. The Harding girls have won many local, state, and national awards, scholarships, and competitions in violin, cello, piano, and voice, and regularly minister in both classical and sacred venues.