Church of the Highlands — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Chris Hodges

Founded 2001

Denomination Non-Denominational (ARC)

Service Times See website for times

Men's Ministry Yes

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.churchofthehighlands.com

Pastor Credentials Founding and senior pastor (since 2001); co-founder of ARC (Association of Related Churches)

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

ARC statement affirms virgin birth, sinless life, crucifixion, resurrection — Trinitarian orthodox per Nicene — green via network.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

ARC affirms Bible as 'inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God' — green.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Yellow — homepage lists Highlands Kids, Motion Students, ONE College, Highlands Haven (special needs); no men's ministry surfaced on fetch — downgrade risk but held yellow pending /groups verification.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

ARC affirms Christ as redeemer of mankind — generic evangelical framing without sola fide specificity — yellow.

Caution

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

ARC network permits women in some teaching/platform roles; Church of the Highlands has had women on preaching platform — yellow/red. Verify specific elder/pastor policy.

ARC network broadly egalitarian — verify Highlands-specific policy on women in leadership

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Single-personality-dominated multi-site campus model with video teaching — red/yellow.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

ARC/Highlands known for topical, application-driven, seeker-sensitive preaching — red per rubric.

WARNING!

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Red-leaning yellow held — homepage tagline confirmed: 'A church family helping people Know God, Find Freedom, Discover their Purpose & Make a Difference' — felt-needs/therapeutic framing remains.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Chris Hodges previously controversial re: social-media engagement with right-leaning content; not explicitly DEI-captured but seeker-sensitive cultural posture — yellow.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Red held — no ARC affiliation stated on homepage; Leadership/About links exist but elder roster not surfaced; single-personality multi-site model stands.

WARNING!

Assessment

Church of the Highlands is the largest church in America by attendance (60,000+ weekly across 20+ campuses). Chris Hodges is a gifted leader who built an extraordinary church planting machine. The ARC network model produces high-growth churches but tends toward seeker-sensitive, topical preaching rather than expository teaching. ARC churches frequently use husband-wife co-pastor models which raises complementarian concerns. Highlands has strong community impact and missions DNA. Key questions: Is Hodges complementarian? What is the elder structure? Is preaching expository or topical?

#megachurch#arc#seeker-sensitive#church-planting#birmingham#multi-site#chris-hodges#mega-church

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Largest ARC church; Hodges co-founded the network. Seeker-sensitive model with minimal confessional accountability. Chris Hodges was publicly controversial in 2020 over social-media activity — verify current teaching trajectory.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260408190302/https://churchofthehig…
↳ Snapshot of churchofthehighlands.com/about (live link)
[2] Live source churchofthehighlands.com/team

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.