High Pointe Baptist Church sits on Dessau Road in northeast Austin, where it has shaped a corner of Travis County around a single conviction: that the church exists to glorify God by making wholehearted followers of Jesus among all peoples. The phrase is printed at the top of every page of the church's website and is taken straight from scripture, but it is also a working description of how the congregation spends its week. From the Life Classes that meet before the service to the Wednesday night youth gatherings, from the Spanish-language conferences hosted on-site to the small groups meeting in members' homes across the city, the rhythm of the church is built around careful Bible teaching, intergenerational community, and the kind of steady, book-by-book preaching that has become a hallmark of the congregation.
A Confessional Church Built on the 1853 New Hampshire Confession
High Pointe describes itself without hesitation as a confessional church. The leadership is direct about what that means: members together "confess" or "hold to" specific truths of the Christian faith, in the same way the earliest Christians did when they rehearsed the gospel in passages such as 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 2, and Colossians 1. The statement of faith that anchors the church is the 1853 New Hampshire Confession, a historic Baptist confession that articulates eighteen articles ranging from the nature of Scripture and the Trinity to the practices of baptism and the Lord's Supper. The congregation also recognizes the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a more comprehensive explanation of how that confession applies to current issues in the church's life and practice.
The 1853 New Hampshire Confession is laid out in full on the church's beliefs page. It opens by affirming that the Holy Bible was "written by men divinely inspired" and is "a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction." It confesses one living and true God, infinite and intelligent, whose name is YAHWEH, existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection. It teaches that man was created in holiness and fell by voluntary transgression, and that all who are saved are saved wholly by grace, through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God, who honored the divine law by his personal obedience and made a full atonement for our sins by his death. Justification, the confession says, includes the pardon of sin and the promise of eternal life, and is bestowed not in consideration of any works of righteousness but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood. Sanctification is described as a progressive work begun in regeneration, and carried on by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. The church confesses the perseverance of saints, the harmony of the law and the gospel, and the visible church as a congregation of baptized believers associated by covenant, governed by the Word, and led by elders and deacons. Christian baptism is defined as the immersion of a believer in water into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Lord's Supper is the sacred use of bread and wine to commemorate the dying love of Christ, preceded by solemn self-examination.
Elder-Led and Congregationally Governed
High Pointe is structured around a plurality of elders and a congregational form of governance. The Bible's terms for the office are interchangeable: elder, overseer, bishop, and pastor all refer to the same work. The elders of High Pointe are Robert Cline, Mark Cambranis, Otis Fields, Craig Horton, Anil Levi, Daniel Walker, and Juan Sanchez, who also serves as the Senior Pastor. Elders lead the church under the authority of God's Word, primarily by teaching the Word and equipping the saints for ministry. Four qualities mark every elder: godly character, intentional care for the members, deep conviction in right doctrine, and demonstrable competence in handling the Word through teaching.
While elders lead, the congregation itself is ultimately responsible in three areas. In matters of doctrine, in Paul's address to the Galatians, the apostle rebukes the church as a whole for tolerating false teaching rather than the elders alone. In matters of membership and discipline, the congregation is responsible for receiving and removing members, following Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18 about discipline being under the jurisdiction of the church as a whole. In matters of leadership, in Acts 6, the apostles seemed to leave the appointment of godly men in the hands of the congregation. High Pointe is "led by a plurality of Elders, but the congregation is ultimately responsible, under Christ, to receive and remove its members, to establish its doctrine (from Scripture), and to recognize its leaders."
Sundays on Dessau Road: Worship, Life Classes, and Prayer
Sunday is the anchor of the church's life. Life Classes begin at 9:00 AM for adults and for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. The adult classes follow the church's commitment to working through books of the Bible, and the Kids' Life Class uses The Gospel Project, a curriculum that walks children through the sweep of biblical redemptive history. The gathered corporate worship service begins at 10:00 AM, and the church's own description of what happens in that service is worth quoting at length: "Our Sunday gatherings center on the Bible through singing, reading, praying, teaching, and celebrating the Lord's Supper together." Children in kindergarten through fifth grade are dismissed during the worship service to KidsPointe, a gospel-centered alternative that uses The Gospel Story curriculum and frames the Bible as "one continuous story pointing to Jesus as the hero." First-time visitors to KidsPointe are asked to accompany their child and complete a visitor slip with emergency contact information.
The nursery is available for children from eight months through pre-kindergarten during both the Life Class hour and the morning worship service. It is staffed by loving, nurturing teachers and offers Bible stories, games, and songs. For a first visit, the church asks parents to print and complete a nursery registration form ahead of time. A Child Protection Policy is in place across the church, and only members who have been active for more than six months may serve in children's ministry; new members are welcome to begin the approval process in advance. The policy requires background screening, reference checks, online child protection training, careful adult-to-child ratios, and the rule that at least two adults are always present with any group of children.
On the second and fourth Sundays of every month, a prayer service gathers at 5:00 PM. Visitors who want to know what to expect when they first arrive are told the service is "pretty casual" and that some people dress up a bit while many others wear jeans and a t-shirt. The church's stated reason for the relaxed dress is simple: "We believe that God cares much more about the condition of our hearts than our outward appearance." Spanish translation is offered during the morning services through a volunteer team using Zoom, and visitors who plan to use the translation are encouraged to bring their own headphones for the best experience. Guest parking is reserved at the front of the lot off Dessau Road, with handicap-accessible spaces reached by following the lot to the right, and a covered drop-off area for those who want to let passengers out before parking.
Preaching That Walks Through Books of the Bible
A clear pattern emerges in the sermon archive on the church's website. The preaching is expository and consecutive, working through one book of the Bible at a time, sometimes for many months at a stretch. Recent series have included expositions of 2 Peter, 2 Corinthians, Isaiah, the Gospel of Luke, Habakkuk, and Acts, with summer preaching series that have ranged across Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs. The senior pastor, Juan Sanchez, is the primary preacher, with occasional messages from Robert Cline, Mark Cambranis, and other men in the church during the evening services. A weekly Spanish-language sermon in the Acts series, "Hechos 2:36-47," is also archived, recorded for the Spanish-speaking members and friends of the congregation.
The audio archive goes back more than a decade and includes full series on the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew, the Pauline epistles of Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians, the historical books of Judges, Daniel, Ruth, and Esther, the Wisdom literature of Proverbs and Psalms, and book-by-book walks through Revelation, Haggai, Jonah, and Leviticus. A regular song of the month is highlighted in the weekly announcements; one recent example is the hymn "Fairest Lord Jesus." Every Sunday morning service is livestreamed on YouTube, and the audio archive is searchable by preacher, title, series, or book.
Children's Ministry: Nursery, Kids' Life Class, and KidsPointe
The children's ministry is built around three coordinated environments for children from eight months through fifth grade. The nursery cares for the littlest ones during both the Life Class hour and the morning worship. Kids' Life Class gathers children in kindergarten through fifth grade at 9:00 AM, parallel to the adult classes, and walks through The Gospel Project. KidsPointe is the children's component of the 10:00 AM worship service itself. Children are dismissed at the start of the sermon for a large-group time in which adults teach gospel-rich lessons using The Gospel Story curriculum, which shows how each Bible story connects to the bigger picture of the gospel and ties Jesus into every lesson. Erin Wyman serves as the Director of Children's Ministry, and she also oversees the paid childcare workers program and the volunteer teams that make the nursery, Kids' Life Class, and KidsPointe possible on Sunday mornings.
Student Ministry for 6th Through 12th Grade
The student ministry at High Pointe is "not separate from the church" but rather a ministry of the church that comes alongside parents in the discipleship of their children. The goal is "presenting them mature in Christ." Mark Cambranis, who also serves as one of the elders, is the Director of Student Ministry. During the fall and spring semesters, students in sixth through twelfth grade meet for a Sunday morning Life Class from 9:00 to 9:45 AM and for Wednesday night gatherings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The normal pattern of these gatherings is to work consecutively through books of the Bible. Wednesday nights combine Bible study with fellowship and games. The student ministry also hosts an annual Disciple Now youth conference, typically held in mid-January, with a weekend of teaching, games, and fellowship hosted at the church and in host homes around the city.
Women's Ministry: Bible Studies, T2G, Retreats, and Brunches
High Pointe's women's ministry is anchored by two Bible study tracks that run during the fall and spring semesters, both meeting on Wednesdays. The morning group meets from 10:00 to 11:30 AM and offers childcare for children from eight months through pre-kindergarten. Recent studies have walked through the Gospel of John and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The evening group meets from 6:30 to 8:00 PM and has covered 1 Corinthians and Ezra-Nehemiah in recent semesters. Each study includes personal study at home, class discussion, and small-group times of prayer and application, with a modest fee to cover the study guide.
Beyond the weekly studies, the women's ministry sponsors a slate of seasonal events: an annual Ladies' Tea Party held in the Fellowship Hall, a Women's Christmas Brunch in early December, a Family Christmas Singalong with carols, cocoa, and cookies, and a Ladies Fall Retreat that takes the women off-site for a weekend of fellowship and teaching. The theme of the most recent retreat was "Awestruck," focused on standing in awe of who God is and all He has done. There is also a Titus 2 discipleship ministry called T2G, in which a small group of younger women meets monthly with two older women to read and discuss a chapter of a book together, building intergenerational relationships across the women's ministry.
Men's Ministry, Young Adults, and Senior Adults
The men's ministry is built around regular men's breakfasts in the Fellowship Hall, held on Saturday mornings several times a year. The meals are hearty: eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, fruit, and more. The gatherings include fellowship, equipping, and a time of prayer, and the church specifically invites men to bring older sons, unchurched co-workers, friends, and family members. There is no cost and no registration required. Other men's events include an annual pickleball outing at an indoor pickleball facility in Pflugerville.
Young adults at High Pointe meet informally for lunches after the morning service, often gathering at restaurants near the church in north Austin. Recent lunches have met at Halal Bros on West Braker Lane. In the fall, the young adults host a Friendsgiving gathering at a member's home. The senior adult ministry serves members aged 55 and older, with regular luncheons at Luby's on East Anderson Lane after Sunday morning services. The senior luncheons are scheduled several times a year and serve as a relaxed time of fellowship for the older members of the church.
Life Groups and the High Pointe Institute
Life Groups are the small-group backbone of the church. The phrase the ministry uses to describe them is "relational discipleship": groups that exist to facilitate discipling relationships among church members, helping one another toward Christlikeness. Life Groups meet on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month in the homes of various members of the church, and they are open to members of High Pointe and to those in the membership process. The church's stated hope for Life Groups is that they provide a concrete context where discipling relationships can form and where members can help each other along the path of Christian maturity, fulfilling the "one another" commands of Scripture.
The High Pointe Institute is a one-year training program that meets on Wednesday evenings during the spring semester. It is designed for growing disciples who want to be equipped for ministry both in the church and the world. The goal is to form mature disciples who are growing in their knowledge and love for God, who are committed to the church's mission, and who are devoted to helping others follow Christ. The Institute works to instill a commitment to Scripture, a better grasp of the biblical storyline, a solid foundation in Christian doctrine, and an increasing ability to connect theology to Christian living.
Spanish-Language Ministry and Coalición por el Evangelio
High Pointe places a deliberate emphasis on reaching Spanish-speaking neighbors in Austin. Spanish translation is offered during the morning services through a volunteer team using Zoom software, and visitors who plan to use the translation are invited to stop by the Connection Center on Sunday morning to learn more. The church also hosts a Spanish-language page on its website ("HP Español") that lays out the same mission and discipleship structure as the English-language ministry: reaching non-believers with the gospel of Christ, gathering worshipers into the body of Christ, equipping the saints with the Word of God, and dispersing and sending members into the world.
Each year the church hosts Coalición por el Evangelio, a Spanish-language conference held on-site at the Dessau Road campus. The most recent conference, titled "¡Esperamos al Rey!" (We Await the King!), focused on how the future hope of the Christian transforms present faithfulness. The Coalición por el Evangelio is a broader Spanish-speaking gospel coalition; High Pointe partners with it to bring this conference to Austin.
Membership, Serving, and Equipping
The path to membership at High Pointe begins with the Meaningful Membership Class, which is offered several times a year on Sunday afternoons from 1:15 to 4:30 PM. The class covers three areas: what the church is and why a Christian should join, what High Pointe believes, and what you need to know about High Pointe. The class is taught by pastors and ministry leaders and is open to anyone interested in becoming a member or simply learning more about the church.
Members and regular attenders who want to serve the church body can pursue service in six main areas: Children's Ministry (including the nursery, Kids' Life Class, KidsPointe, and paid childcare workers), the Welcome Team (greeters before and after the service and Connection Center volunteers), Media (sound board, slides, and livestream operation), Facilities and Grounds, Hospitality (conferences, events, and members' meetings), and Membership Assimilation. The Welcome Team is led by David Martinez; the Media Team is led by Dan Walker, who also serves as an elder; Facilities and Grounds is led by Peter Westerfeld, the Director of Church Operations and Administration; Hospitality is led by Beth Hyman; and Children's Ministry is led by Erin Wyman, the Director of Children's Ministry. Austin Burns, the Pastoral Assistant, leads the membership assimilation process. Because volunteering in children's ministry requires a six-month membership threshold, the church encourages prospective volunteers to begin the interest form process early.
Conferences, Retreats, and Equipping Seminars
Throughout the year, High Pointe hosts a range of conferences, retreats, and equipping seminars that are open to members and often to the wider community. The annual Vacation Bible School runs for one week at the end of May and beginning of June and is designed for everyone, with programs for kids, teens, and adult classes in both English and Spanish. The 9Marks Weekender and the Biblical Exposition Workshops, hosted by the church in partnership with outside organizations, draw pastors and ministry leaders from across the region for focused training on church health and expository preaching. Recent equipping seminars have focused on discipleship and parenting, with childcare provided for members during the Saturday morning sessions.
Each year the church also gathers the whole congregation on the fifth Sunday of the month for a church-wide fellowship hour, often built around a theme such as worship through singing, with families encouraged to bring baked goods to share. Other seasonal events include the Memorial Day picnic with church-provided barbecue and member-provided sides and desserts, the Ladies Fall Retreat in Waco, the Men's Pickleball Event, and a wreath-making afternoon in the spring. Annual giving and a year-end Christmas card exchange in the church foyer round out the calendar of recurring gatherings.
Sister Churches in Central Texas
High Pointe lists five sister churches on its visit page, each one a Baptist or church-planting congregation in central Texas that shares a close gospel partnership with the Dessau Road congregation. Cedar Pointe Baptist Church is in Cedar Park. Emmaus Church is in Georgetown. Kinney Avenue Baptist Church meets in the Zilker neighborhood of Austin. Milwood Baptist Church meets in the Milwood neighborhood of Austin. Park Hills Baptist Church meets in the Rollingwood neighborhood of Austin. The relationships are close enough that the sister-church list reads like a network of like-minded congregations across the Austin metro, with overlapping preaching styles, doctrinal convictions, and ministry structures.
Pastoral Team and Staff
The pastoral team is led by Juan Sanchez, the Senior Pastor. Robert Cline serves as the Senior Associate Pastor and is also an elder. Austin Burns serves as the Pastoral Assistant. Mark Cambranis is the Director of Student Ministry and an elder. Erin Wyman is the Director of Children's Ministry. Peter Westerfeld is the Director of Church Operations and Administration. Behind the scenes, Brenda Kerlin serves as the Financial Administrator and Sarah Esquivel as the Front Desk Administrator. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Inquiries about the church, including requests for someone to come speak at a community group or event, are handled through a speaking request form on the church's website.
Giving, the Church App, and Staying Connected
Giving is available online through the church's Church Center platform, by text message, and by mail. For text-to-give, members text "GIVE $" followed by the amount to a dedicated number and follow the secure link they receive back. Checks sent by mail use a separate P.O. Box address so that giving can be processed independently of the church's main office. The church maintains a Church Center app for members and regular attenders, with directories, event registration, Life Group sign-ups, and a giving portal. The church is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and X, and sermons are available on a dedicated Spotify podcast and in the Apple Podcasts library, in addition to the YouTube livestream and the searchable audio archive on the church's website.
A Diverse Family United by Faith in Jesus
The church describes its congregation in a single sentence that captures something of the breadth of who is present on a Sunday morning in northeast Austin: "We're a diverse family united by our faith in Jesus Christ." The congregation includes longtime members of the surrounding neighborhoods, young families with children in the nursery and KidsPointe, students in the middle school and high school years, young adults gathering for lunch after the service, and senior adults who have walked with High Pointe for many years. It includes English speakers and Spanish speakers worshiping together in the same room with the help of live translation. It includes members who serve on the elder team, members who teach children's Sunday school, members who run the sound board, members who host Life Groups in their homes, and members who bring baked goods to the fifth-Sunday fellowship hour. The diversity is not an accident; it is the visible expression of the church's stated mission, taken from the website's front page and repeated on every page that follows: to glorify God by making wholehearted followers of Jesus among all peoples.