Higher Ground Church meets on Walters Avenue in Northbrook, Illinois, sharing space with Grace Lutheran Church every Sunday at 11:15 AM. It is a non-denominational congregation pastored by Tim and Leigh Brubaker, with a stated mission to equip a biblical community to wholeheartedly worship God and live out the Gospel. From a children's program during the service to a Monday-night prayer call and a steady rhythm of local service projects, the church has built its life around following Jesus together on Chicago's North Shore.
A Newer Congregation Sharing an Older Building
Higher Ground Church is a young, non-denominational community that meets at 2245 Walters Avenue in Northbrook, in the building that is home to Grace Lutheran Church. The arrangement is a practical partnership: the congregation gathers in a sanctuary already used by another church body while running its own services, programs, and prayer meetings. Visitors who arrive on a Sunday morning will find an accessible Northbrook building and a small, family-style congregation rather than a sprawling campus. Written correspondence is handled through a separate registered office in Deerfield, and most inquiries route through a single general inbox at info@highergroundchurch.net.
Mission, Values, and a Written Doctrine
The church defines its purpose in a single line on its About page: Higher Ground Church exists to equip a biblical community to wholeheartedly worship God and live out the Gospel. The congregation is pointed toward scripture as the guide for both belief and practice.
Five values shape daily life together:
- Inclusive community - every person is welcomed into following Jesus.
- Authentic spirituality - members bring their whole selves before God and one another.
- Doctrinal substance - difficult questions are faced by pursuing biblical answers.
- Active surrender - people are challenged to take the next step of obedience.
- Holistic Gospel - Christian faith is brought to bear on every area of life.
Higher Ground has written a doctrinal statement into its constitution covering the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church, and the future. It affirms that the Bible is God's inspired, trustworthy, and authoritative Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). It confesses one God, Creator of all things, existing eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). It holds to the Virgin Birth, the sinless life, the atoning death, the bodily resurrection, the ascension, the priestly intercession, and the promised return of Jesus Christ (Luke 1:26-38; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7; Revelation 22:20).
Salvation is described as a gift received through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, restoring the broken relationship between God and humanity (Ephesians 2:1-10). The church is pictured as a living spiritual body with Christ as its head, charged with taking the gospel to the world (Ephesians 4:11-16). The statement closes with confidence in the future resurrection of believers to eternal life and the bodily return of Christ as the ground for living immovably for Him today (1 Corinthians 15:12-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
Sundays at 11:15 AM
Sunday worship is the anchor of the week. The service begins at 11:15 AM at 2245 Walters Avenue in Northbrook and is followed by a time of fellowship that often spills into conversation over coffee. Once a month, on the last Sunday, the whole church stays after the service for the All Hands Prayer Session, gathering from 12:15 to about 1:00 PM for unhurried, hands-on corporate prayer. The church praises God for the fruit of the previous weeks, lifts up needs in the community and the world, and seeks His wisdom together. No RSVP is needed - members simply remain after the regular service.
Sermons and full services are available online through the church's YouTube channel, HigherGroundNorthbrook, so anyone who cannot attend in person can watch live or catch up later.
Kids Konnection During the Service
Children are a fundamental and visible part of the church family at Higher Ground. The Kids Konnection program runs during the Sunday service and uses games to help children build friendships alongside age-appropriate lessons that introduce foundational Bible concepts - who Jesus is, the story of God in the Old and New Testaments, and what faith looks like in a young life. Parents can sign children up on arrival, and anyone interested in volunteering can inquire at info@highergroundchurch.net.
A Week Shaped by Prayer
Prayer is the connective tissue of Higher Ground, woven through both Sundays and weekdays. Three recurring gatherings keep that rhythm going.
The Monday Night Prayer Meeting runs from 7:00 to 8:00 PM each week as a virtual gathering. Members and friends log in to pray for the church family, the local community, and global needs, and to ask God for direction in the church's mission and ministries. Anyone can join or share a request by emailing Leigh Brubaker at leigh@highergroundchurch.net.
The Thursday Worship Rehearsal gathers from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at the church building. The worship team prepares music for the following Sunday, working from a vision of joyful, celebratory praise drawn from Psalm 95:1. New voices and instrumentalists are welcome to lend their talents; the worship director, Aurora Barozzi, can be reached at aurora@highergroundchurch.net.
On the last Sunday of each month, the All Hands Prayer Session follows worship at 12:15 PM and continues the same posture of gathering in person as a church family, grounded in Matthew 18:20 and Ecclesiastes 4:12.
Service Beyond the Walls
Higher Ground invests in both local and global outreach as a regular expression of its faith. Three ongoing rhythms of service have taken shape around the congregation.
The church partners with Feed My Starving Children for periodic packing events at the organization's facility - most recently at the Libertyville location. Volunteers work side by side to pack nutritious meals for children around the world, turning a few hours into a tangible act of generosity. RSVPs are coordinated through Julie at julie@highergroundchurch.net.
Through Good Stewards, the church spends a half-day doing hands-on land restoration at Somme Woods in Northbrook. Volunteers remove invasive plants, collect native seed, clear woody growth, and pick up trash, caring for the local habitat as an expression of the calling in Genesis 2:15 to work and keep the earth. All tools, supplies, gloves, and training are provided.
Once a year, the church hosts a Trunk-or-Treat afternoon in partnership with Seeds of Grace Childcare Center. Decorated car trunks, costumes, and candy fill the lot for neighborhood families, opening the church's doors to the wider community.
Reaching Out Together
Missions extend well beyond Illinois. The church's blog carries ongoing missions updates, including a recent two-month outreach with YWAM in Taiwan that sent a team member named George to work alongside TKC church branches in Taichung, Toufen, Miaoli, Kiaoshiung, and Tamsui. The team helped lead children's and youth camps, assisted with Sunday school programs, did street evangelism, hosted cultural exchanges, and partnered with local believers on outreach - learning as much about themselves as about the communities they served. Supporting and sending people on this kind of short-term outreach is part of how Higher Ground puts the Gospel into motion.
Pastoral and Operational Leadership
Higher Ground is pastored by Tim Brubaker, who serves as Senior Pastor and can be reached at tim@highergroundchurch.net. His wife, Leigh Brubaker, fills the role of Operations Director, overseeing much of the church's ministry logistics, including the Monday-night prayer meetings and community-service projects. Aurora Barozzi leads the worship ministry as Worship Director. An elder board, reachable at board@highergroundchurch.net, provides spiritual oversight. A general inbox at info@highergroundchurch.net handles other inquiries.
Giving and Staying Connected
Higher Ground depends on the generosity of its members to engage in ministry. The simplest way to give is through Zelle by sending a transfer directly to highergroundnorthbrook@gmail.com. Gifts can also be brought on Sunday or mailed to the registered office in Deerfield.
Weekly email updates are available by signing up through the Contact page, and the church's calendar lists everything from prayer meetings to service projects.
A Small Community Pointed Higher
Higher Ground Church is small by design and unhurried in its pace. It gathers on Sundays in a sanctuary shared with another congregation, prays together on Monday nights over a screen, rehearses music on Thursday evenings, and sends its people out during the week to pray for the world and serve the neighborhoods of Chicago's North Shore. The hope of the community is captured in the verse that anchors its name, taken from David crying out in Psalm 61:2: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.