In North Florence, Highland Baptist Church is known for a century of ministry, blended congregational worship, and a broad network of small groups. Founded in 1924 at the 7-Points campus on Simpson Street, the church marked 100 years of ministry in 2024. Highland gathers children, students, college students, adults, and senior adults at two Florence campuses while keeping multiplication of disciples, biblical teaching, worship, and service at its center.
A Century on Simpson Street
Highland's history reaches back to 1924 in North Florence. The congregation marked its centennial on October 13, 2024, with a program, a celebration guide, and photographs of ministries through the years featured on a missions wall.
At 219 Simpson Street, Highland's 7-Points campus sits at Simpson and Chisholm Road near the 7-Points intersection. The address anchors Sunday worship, small groups, student gatherings, children and family ministries, and the Christian Life Center, where college students and other groups meet.
Multiplying Disciples and Great Community
Highland's mission is to make multiplying disciples who are committed to faithfully serving Christ through His church. Its vision is to build a community of multiplying disciples of Jesus who serve toward the renewal of its cities, plant churches, and take the gospel to the world.
- Great Commission: Make disciples of all nations.
- Greatest Commandment: Love the Lord with heart, soul, and mind, and love one's neighbor as oneself.
- Great Community: Share fellowship, teaching, prayer, and life together.
- For God's Great Glory: Use spiritual gifts, hospitality, and service.
The Great Commission is not only a value on Highland's list. At the close of each worship service, the congregation recites it as a reminder of the ministry to which Christians are called.
Two Florence Campuses, Two Sunday Rhythms
At 7-Points, small groups meet at 9:00 AM and worship begins at 10:30 AM. Highland worship is offered both in person and online. At Broadway Fellowship, worship begins at 9:00 AM and small groups meet at 10:15 AM, with that worship also available online.
The Broadway Fellowship campus is located at 3215 Huntsville Road, Florence, Alabama 35630. It is a campus of Highland Baptist Church rather than a separate organization. Broadway places Jesus Christ at the center and calls people to love their neighbors as themselves, including those God places in their path who may not love them in return.
Robust Singing and Expository Preaching
Highland describes its worship as a multigenerational fellowship of Christ-followers. A Sunday service centers on congregational singing, prayer, reading and preaching the Bible, a public invitation to follow Christ, and giving tithes and offerings to the church's work. Highland regularly observes baptism as new believers unite with the church and shares in the Lord's Supper quarterly.
The musical content and style are blended. A choir, orchestra, and praise team lead traditional and modern hymns alongside newer praise songs. Pastor John Brock preaches expositionally, explaining what the Bible says and typically working through books of the Bible, with occasional topical messages and series mixed in.
Those worshiping through the livestream are encouraged to engage fully by singing aloud, taking notes, responding with an amen, and sitting, standing, or kneeling as they worship.
Parking and Arrival at 7-Points
Guest parking is near the welcome center entrance at the corner of Simpson Street and Chisholm Road. Highland parking surrounds the buildings and extends across nearby streets. Families with preschool children are directed toward the lot on Eugenia Street beside the nursery entrance, while families with older children and youth are directed to parking on Chisholm Road.
Where Theology Meets Real Life
Adult and family small groups meet at 9:00 AM on Sundays. Highland calls these gatherings places where theology meets real life through fellowship, prayer, Bible study, open discussion, accountability, and fellowship with people at similar stages of life. Groups are offered for different ages and stages, including dedicated groups for children and students.
For those ready to go further, Discipleship Groups are closed, gender-specific groups of three to five believers who meet weekly. Their rhythm includes Bible reading, prayer, accountability conversations, and Scripture memorization. The purpose is spiritual transformation and multiplication, so that disciples become equipped to make more disciples.
Discipleship Groups form through existing relationships or small groups, and Highland provides a starter guide and testimony resources for prospective leaders.
Children Learning, Worshiping, and Training
Children's Ministries Director Stephanie Gilliam leads a ministry that treats children as a gift from the Lord. Sunday School, Children's Worship, preschool worship, and AWANA Discipleship each give children distinct ways to learn about God and one another.
Sunday Morning
Preschool and children's small groups meet at 9:00 AM for children from birth through sixth grade. Through Bible stories, games, drama, and music, the children learn about God's love and forgiveness, the truths of Jesus Christ and His grace, and how to grow in relationship with Him.
During the 10:30 service, students in grades 1 through 4 have their own Children's Worship time during the school year, apart from December and special holidays. The hour includes upbeat music, games, an engaging Bible lesson, and a snack in a safe, welcoming environment.
Preschoolers also have a separate worship time during that service, with simple songs and an age-appropriate Bible story designed for little hearts and minds.
Wednesday AWANA Clubs
AWANA meets from 5:45 to 7:15 PM on Wednesdays during the school year for preschool children through sixth grade. Cubbies uses games, puppets, crafts, awards, and other activities for preschoolers. Sparks continues their biblical foundation with kindergarten through second grade, while Truth and Training for grades 3 through 6 emphasizes learning God's Word and training students to follow Christ in daily life.
The Everyday Sunday School podcast extends the children's teaching theme with lessons intended for kids, parents, and adults of every age.
Students and College: Belonging Before Belief
Student Pastor David Ivester leads Highland Students around the conviction that young people may need a place to belong before they reach a point of belief. H/Students is intended to be safe, grounded in the Word, and attentive to students wrestling with truth, identity, and acceptance. The ministry repeatedly presents the gospel and then walks students toward discipleship and transformation through the Holy Spirit.
Students in grades 7 through 12 have their own worship area and small groups. During the school year, Wednesday student worship runs from 5:15 to 7:00 PM. Food and Hangs occupies the first hour, followed by Worship and Word during the second hour. The student gathering is on the third floor of the Simpson Street building; visitors enter through the covered double-glass doors near Chisholm Street and take the stairs upstairs.
Director of Young Adult Ministries and Missions Jake Dennison leads a separate college Bible study on Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM during the school year. College students and young adults meet in the Christian Life Center and also have a Sunday small group at 9:00 AM.
Men, Women, and Senior Adults
360Men
Highland's 360Men ministry seeks to help men grow like Jesus in wisdom, character, strength, and purpose, including their mental, physical, spiritual, and social lives. A breakfast and Bible study with Pastor John Brock takes place Tuesday mornings at 6:15 AM during summer. Men can also join a Discipleship Group for accountability and spiritual growth or gather for basketball, fellowship, and conversation at 6:30 PM on the last Monday of each month.
The Gathering
The Gathering provides women of every generation with Bible study, discipleship, and service opportunities. Its four defined areas of service include Shoals Sav-a-Life, Legacy Ministry, Baptist Campus Ministry, and Local School Teacher Ministry.
Women's Discipleship Groups consist of one leader and two or three participants. They meet weekly for about an hour for private, accountable, and confidential conversations. Wisdom for Life gatherings are informal panel discussions in the home of a Highland member, while Gather at the Table brings together eight women for two hours and four questions in daytime and evening groups, including one specifically for single mothers. A monthly Women's Prayer Group meets at 2:00 PM in the Fireside room on the first Thursday.
Senior Adults
KeenAge Club brings senior adults together for a luncheon and fellowship at noon on the third Thursday of each month in the Christian Life Center. Birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated, and senior adults also participate in Sunday small groups at 9:00 AM for fellowship and discipleship.
Ministry of Praise: Worship Through Creative Arts
The Ministry of Praise exists to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ by equipping the church for authentic expressions of worship through the creative arts. Its emphasis is not on putting on a show, but on offering lives to God personally and corporately through the declaration of the gospel in word and deed.
The choir rehearses Wednesday evenings from 7:15 to 8:15 PM in Choir Room 215, while the orchestra rehearses at the same time in the Worship Center. Childcare is available for babies through sixth grade. Members also use Planning Center Services, the Music Stand app, and a closed Facebook group to prepare and stay connected.
A weekly playlist includes songs from the previous Sunday, the current Sunday, and songs being learned for the future. Highland's centennial also preserved remastered recordings of its worship ministry from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Mission Mondays at Broadway
Mission Mondays is a welcoming weekly gathering where community and compassion come together around a shared meal at Broadway Fellowship. Doors open at 5:30 PM, and free dinner is served at 6:00 PM for everyone who attends.
Once each month, the gathering includes a free clothing night. Guests may choose clothing at no cost in a dignified, supportive setting. Whether they come for the meal, resources, or simply a place to belong, the evening is designed as a space where everyone is valued, cared for, and connected.
From Florence to the Ends of the Earth
Highland understands Christian mission as personal and congregational, calling people to pray, give, and go in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Its mission life includes local, national, and international partners:
- Local: Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, Alabama Baptist Children's Home, Community Action of Northwest Alabama, Help Center Florence, Shoals Sav-a-Life, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and Disaster Relief.
- National: North American Mission Board, The Well Church Network, King's Church in Anthem, Arizona, Mission Lab in New Orleans, Send Relief in Atlanta, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
- International: International Mission Board, Operation Christmas Child, Children's HopeChest in Uganda, and Friends of Nazareth in Israel.
Church planting is part of Highland's stated vision for the renewal of cities and the spread of the gospel. Its connection with The Well Church Network reinforces that emphasis on multiplying congregations as well as multiplying disciples.
Highland also organizes service through teams for bereavement, social media and photography, care ministries, prayer, transportation, and AWANA. The spiritual gifts inventory helps members identify ways to use their abilities in the church and community.
Baptist Faith and Message at Highland
Highland's core beliefs follow the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. The Bible is affirmed as divinely inspired, truthful, trustworthy, and centered on Christ. The church affirms one living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and holds that every person has dignity as an image of God, even though humanity is fallen and accountable to God.
Jesus Christ is affirmed as the eternal Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, without sin, crucified, resurrected, and exalted as the mediator whose return will bring judgment and reward. Salvation is God's grace, received through personal faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. True believers are kept by God's power and endure to the end.
The church is presented as an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers under the lordship of Christ, with pastors and deacons as its scriptural officers. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water as an act of obedience and testimony to faith, and it is a prerequisite for church membership and the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper memorializes the Redeemer's death and anticipates his return, and Highland observes it quarterly.
Highland also affirms the calling of Christians to pursue Christian education, use possessions as faithful stewards, work for peace, uphold religious liberty, defend human life, care for vulnerable people, and apply biblical principles to family and social order.
A Multigenerational Church with Room to Belong
Highland's rhythm moves from Sunday small groups and worship to Wednesday student activities, AWANA, choir and orchestra rehearsals, college Bible study, and a shared meal. The ChurchCenter app also gives members access to events, small groups, online giving, and registrations for activities at either campus.
The Everyday Sunday School podcast offers Bible-centered lessons for families, while Highland Talks carries weekly messages from John Brock and Highland's teaching ministry. Worship archives are available through YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. Giving is available through online giving or by mail to the Simpson Street address.
At its heart, Highland Baptist Church is a multigenerational congregation united by biblical conviction, congregational song, discipleship, mission, and care for people in Florence and beyond.