Help, Hope, and Healing on Old Hixson Pike
Hixson United Methodist Church stands on Old Hixson Pike in the Hixson community of Chattanooga, where its white-columned sanctuary has welcomed generations of families from across the Tennessee Valley. The congregation describes its calling in three words: to offer Help for the hungry by feeding as Jesus fed, Hope for the lost by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, and Healing for the broken by reconciling people through Christian community. Senior Pastor Rev. Adam Love, who joined the church in July 2024 with his wife and two daughters, sums up that vision with a verse from Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Inside the same campus sit three weekday early childhood programs, an Upward basketball league, music rehearsal halls, and classrooms for every age from infants through graduating seniors. What looks at first glance like a single church building is really an entire discipleship village, anchored by two distinct Sunday services and a streaming feed that reaches viewers well beyond the Hixson zip code.
Two Sunday Services, Two Styles of Worship
The Sunday schedule is built around two very different worship environments that share the same pulpit and the same pastoral team.
The Traditional Sanctuary Service runs at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. and includes the reading of Holy Scripture, the preaching of God's Word, classic hymns of faith, and musical presentations from the Chancel Choir and soloists. The congregation is led from the organ and grand piano and gathers in the main sanctuary on the campus.
The River contemporary service meets at 11:00 a.m. and pairs the same Scripture readings and sermon with engaging music led by the River worship team and its coordinator, Andrés Flores. The result is a modern, accessible gathering that many young adults and families gravitate toward without losing the liturgical core of the Methodist tradition.
Both services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, and an archive of past services is available for anyone who wants to catch up on a missed Sunday.
Sunday School and Adult Discipleship
Sunday mornings also include a robust small-group hour from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. The Adult Ministry team encourages both new Christians and longtime members to "be intentional about your faith journey" by joining a Sunday School class or weekday small group. The church publishes a current list of Sunday School small groups, and the pastoral staff is happy to help newcomers find a fit.
Discipleship continues during the week through the church's Amplify Media account - a video library from the United Methodist Publishing House that members can access for free with the congregation code WNPZGY. Described by the church as the "Netflix of Video Bible Studies," Amplify offers thousands of studies for kids, youth, parents, couples, and small groups that can be watched from a phone, tablet, or computer.
Student Ministry: Middle School, High School, and College
Students in sixth through twelfth grade find one of the most structured weekly rhythms on the campus. After worship and Sunday School, the Student Ministry gathers for Youth Choir from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and a Main Event from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. that mixes teaching, fellowship, and small-group time.
Lilly Dreher, the Minister with Students, oversees both Middle School and High School tracks together, and the program offers an every-other-Wednesday rotation that includes a Middle School Girls Small Group and the Youth Band, both meeting from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m.
Older students and young adults graduate into the College and Career ministry, which gathers on Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. for a Young Adult Small Group and adds quarterly special events. The team's stated goal with college-age participants is to host "natural conversations that are open to questions and challenges to living an authentic faith."
Children's Ministry: Preschool through Tween
Sarah Jolley serves as the Minister to Children, Families, and Tweens, leading what the church calls its commitment to partner with parents "to create a Christian community that encourages young children to begin building their relationship with God."
The Children's Ministry is organized into three programs.
- God's Greenhouse Preschool serves children from birth through age five in five classrooms - Infants, Toddlers, Two-year-olds, Three-year-olds, and Four/Five-year-olds - staffed by a year-round Sunday School team and a rotating worship team.
- God's Garden Elementary welcomes children in kindergarten through third grade for warm, scripture-based Sunday morning learning.
- Tween ministry meets the unique needs of fourth and fifth graders through a dedicated Sunday School class plus retreats and special events throughout the year.
Families use an ID badge check-in system at the classroom entrance, and children are typically offered a nut-free snack and water during classroom time unless a parent indicates otherwise.
Music Ministry: Choirs, Handbells, and the River Band
Beth DuRoy directs the music ministry from a wide-ranging program that reaches every age and every Sunday service. Adults sing in the Chancel Choir (rehearsing Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m., August through June) and ring in the Handbell Choir (Wednesdays from 6:00 to 6:50 p.m. during the school year). The choir presents seasonal concerts with orchestra.
Students in grades 6 through 12 sing in the Youth Choir, which rehearses Sundays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., sings in worship regularly, joins youth choir festivals, and embarks on a summer tour; a recent tour included singing at the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Children in grades K through 5 have two choirs - one for grades K-2 directed by Hannah Perry and one for grades 3-5 directed by Beth DuRoy - that rehearse Sunday evenings as part of the Children's Ministry time and present a fully staged spring musical.
The River Worship Team serves the contemporary service on a rotating schedule and brings together vocalists, instrumentalists, and audio engineer Lee Grisham, who also runs the church's livestream feed.
Three Weekday Early Childhood Programs
On weekday mornings the Hixson campus runs three overlapping early childhood ministries, all under church leadership but with separate directors and philosophies.
- Child Development Center (CDC), led by Director Kristie Blackstone, serves one- to five-year-olds Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The CDC is a Three Star facility with a Gold Sneaker designation for healthy foods and physical activity, and uses the High Reach curriculum aligned with Tennessee kindergarten readiness indicators. Children attend chapel twice a month and host "field trips" on site that have included the Tennessee Aquarium, Creative Discovery Museum, and the Chattanooga Zoo.
- Parent's Day Out (PDO), led by Director Kelly Pollock, is a Christian preschool program with the same five classroom structure - Infants, Toddlers, Twos, Threes, and Pre-K - and small teacher-to-child ratios. Children participate in weekly chapel, music, gym time, outdoor play, and a year of mission projects including Fuel for School and Friends of the Troops.
- Highland Plaza Preschool, a separately listed preschool directed by Lindsey Walker, also operates under the church's umbrella and accepts registrations through its own contact channels.
Upward Basketball and Cheerleading
For elementary-age kids in the wider community, the church hosts Upward Basketball and Cheerleading each year - a league for boys and girls in kindergarten through fifth grade that emphasizes learning, fun, and spiritual lessons. Each family commits to just one practice and one game per week, every athlete receives equal playing time, and devotion time is built into every gathering. Registration for the upcoming season opens each fall, with volunteer and referee sign-ups available through the Upward site and the church office.
Mission and Outreach: Feeding, Packing, Sending
The Mission and Outreach ministry frames its work in three buckets - offering help, hope, and healing - and has set a measurable congregational goal of distributing 350,000 meals, celebrating 120 professions of faith, and connecting 600 individuals into faith groups.
Locally, the church supports Fuel for School, which packs and delivers weekend meals of nutritious, shelf-stable food to K-12 students in the area, reaching hundreds of children across local elementary and middle schools. Other partner ministries include the Community Kitchen, the Bethlehem Center, Mustard Tree Ministries, Rise Against Hunger, the United Way Network of Chattanooga, Volunteers in Medicine, and the Holston Home for Children.
Regionally and globally, HUMC walks alongside the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, Operation Christmas Child, Worldwide Heart to Heart in Honduras, and Red Bird Mission in Kentucky. The congregation also supports missionaries Kevin and Jessica in Southeast Asia and Mark and Helen G. in East Asia, and commissions international service teams. Each holiday season, the church participates in Operation Christmas Child and encourages members to fill a shoebox for a child in need.
Getting Connected
Visitors and newcomers have several on-ramps at Hixson United Methodist Church. A free Amplify Media account unlocks thousands of Bible-study videos with the church's access code. Weekly Ministry Update emails keep members informed of upcoming events, and the ChurchLife Access portal gives members a secure directory plus their own annual pledge and giving history. Prayer requests can be submitted online for the prayer team, and a hospitality sign-up lets members find a Sunday to serve welcome coffee or greet at the door.
Anyone looking to step in for the first time can call the church office at 423-877-1246 or email info@hixsonumc.org. Worship is held Sundays at 8:30 and 11:00 a.m., the River contemporary service meets at 11:00 a.m., and Sunday School for all ages runs from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.