A Little Church Doing Big Things in South Lakeland
Tucked along Lake Miriam Drive at the corner of Cleveland Heights, Presbyterian Church in the Highlands has spent more than five decades shaping a stretch of south Lakeland with a simple conviction: church should be a wide door, not a narrow gate. The congregation belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and sits under the care of the Central Florida Presbytery, drawing on the Reformed tradition while leaning into a blended style of worship that mixes centuries of hymnody with contemporary praise. Sundays begin with Sunday School at 9:00 AM and roll into a single blended worship service at 10:30 AM, with the whole church coming back together on Wednesday nights for Family Worship that has become the heartbeat of the week.
The Widest Welcome in Town
The church's welcome statement has become something of a signature. It begins with a simple greeting and keeps growing to embrace everyone who walks through the doors, including those who don't speak English, those still figuring out what they believe, those who haven't been to church in years, and those who wandered in by mistake. The list is long and deliberately playful: soccer moms, NASCAR dads, biker gangs, starving artists, hipster vegetarians, junk-food eaters, conservatives, liberals, and cat-loving Christians of every kind. The point is not to be trendy; the point is to be honest about the people who already sit in the pews. Wear whatever you want. Sit wherever you like. Greeters meet visitors in the foyer, hand them a bulletin, and direct them to snacks in the kitchen before the service begins.
What Sundays Look Like
The Sunday morning blended service lasts about an hour and pulls from both sides of the worship spectrum. Hymns sit alongside modern worship songs, and the music team sometimes offers modernized arrangements of older tunes. The order of worship moves through responsive readings, prayers, testimonies, tithes and offerings, and a sustained time in the Word. Children are welcomed in the sanctuary with their families for the first part of the service. After a few songs, the Children's Ministry team calls children ages three through sixth grade forward for a brief Children's Moment that often brings the room to a laugh. From there, kids can head to the children's modular in the Great Hall for snacks and a lesson, or stay seated with parents who prefer to keep them close. Pickup happens in the modular after the service. Nursery care is available for children up to two years old; greeters will walk families to the nursery on arrival.
Parking is open anywhere on the lot, with signs posted to point first-time visitors toward the main entrance. A visitor information slip tucked inside the bulletin can be dropped in the offering basket for follow-up. The service is also livestreamed on YouTube at 10:30 AM each Sunday for those who want to worship from home or check out the church before walking through the door.
Wednesday Nights Around the Family Table
If Sunday is the front porch, Wednesday is the living room. Family Worship begins at 5:45 PM and gathers the whole congregation, from preschool to retirees, for a shared meal and a shared lesson. Dinner is served at 6:00 PM, often prepared by eight rotating church families who see this as one of the simplest ways to connect young families with each other. After the meal and a time of worship together, children are released at 6:30 PM for KidzRock activities in the Great Hall and Pre-K classrooms, and youth break off for PCH Students programming at the same time. Adults stay in the main gathering for an engaging sermon, with small-group conversations woven in throughout the night. The pickup window for youth is 7:30 PM. On Wednesdays, the parking lot fills quickly with families who treat the night as the rhythm that holds their week together.
KidzRock: Church That Moves With the Kids
Children's ministry at PCH revolves around KidzRock, a rotation-based program that treats every part of a child's attention as worth designing for. On Sunday mornings, the Great Hall hosts a Praise Party followed by hands-on rotations that walk children through Core Bible, Deeper Bible, a craft, a game, and an object lesson. Check-in happens at the kiosk in the Great Hall. On Wednesday evenings, KidzRock continues after dinner and worship with activities for the same age groups, including playground time and games in the Pre-K classrooms.
The Children's Ministry is led by an Elder for Children's Ministry and a team of volunteers who make sure that even the littlest worshipers feel at home. Children are always welcome to remain in the sanctuary with their families, and many do. The Children's Moment near the start of the service is a small but meaningful bridge: kids get to interact with the teachers, parents get to see what their children are learning, and the rest of the room gets a regular reminder that the next generation is being formed right in front of them.
PCH Students: Middle School Through High School
The youth ministry, run by Youth Pastor Jared Edgar (known around the church as Jay), meets on Wednesdays during the school year as part of the Family Worship rhythm. After the shared meal, students head into their own space at 6:30 PM for group games, team-building, small groups, and a teaching tailored to their age. Pickup is at 7:30 PM. Students in sixth through twelfth grade are welcome, and the church draws the circle wide: gifts, big questions, doubts, and all. Sunday mornings remain part of the rhythm as well, with students encouraged to attend blended worship at 10:30 AM.
Beyond the weekly rhythm, PCH Students hosts monthly special events such as Color War, Rock the Universe outings, and laser tag, and the church sponsors summer trips including a Student Life Camp at Daytona Beach and an annual youth mission trip. NEXT Weekdays, an after-school program, provides structured care for middle school students from Lakeland Highlands Middle School, with drop-off and pick-up at the church each school day from 7:00 to 8:30 AM and 4:00 to 6:00 PM. The program emphasizes FAITH (in Jesus Christ), EXCELLENCE (in school and beyond), ADVENTURE, SERVICE, and TEAMWORK, and helps students earn community-service hours for college applications.
Adult Small Groups and Circles
Adult ministry at the church is built around small groups rather than a single midweek program. Some groups study the Bible, some focus on a topic or season, some gather around a shared interest, and some exist mostly for food and fellowship. Several long-running groups have defined the rhythm of the congregation:
- Moms Group meets weekly at rotating restaurants on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, with free childcare provided.
- Senior Ministry gathers for lunch on the third Wednesday of each month at 1:00 PM and for game nights on the second Friday at 7:00 PM.
- Men's Group meets every Wednesday in Meeting Room 1 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM for Bible study, with about thirty minutes of small talk before turning to a good book; during the summer the group plays golf and bocce ball.
- Monday Circle, a women's group, meets on the second Monday at 7:00 PM in the Sanctuary to study the Horizons Bible Study.
- Friday Circle, a women's group, meets on the third Friday at 10:00 AM in host homes, working through the same Horizons study.
Precious Children in the Highlands Preschool
Sharing the same Lake Miriam campus, Precious Children in the Highlands Preschool (often called PCH Preschool) has been part of the church's ministry since Julie Laursen founded it in November 2007. The preschool serves children from six weeks through twelve years of age, offering programs that include preschool, VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten), After School Camp, holiday camp, and summer camp. Hours run from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM to support working families in south Lakeland.
The After School Camp serves students in kindergarten through fifth grade with devotions, homework help, crafts, and activity centers in a small-group setting. Pickup is currently provided from Valleyview Elementary and Scott Lake Elementary, with care available until 6:00 PM. Teachers are required to be background screened and to have completed the 45 hours of state-mandated courses through the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). The preschool partners with ELC of Polk County, uses Marco Polo for family engagement, and follows Frog Street curriculum.
Kelly Dorfman and Arika Marshall serve as co-directors. A parent handbook is available for download, and families can request to be added to the waitlist by emailing the preschool office.
Missions and Outreach: Twelve Months of Showing Up
The church organizes its missions around a Mission of the Month rhythm, so that giving and serving have a clear focus twelve months a year. January and August go to Smile Pack, a weekend food program for children; February goes to the 3-Cent Meal program; March and July support Beth-El Farmworkers Ministry with food and back-to-school supplies; April collects items for Talbot House Ministries; May supports Porchlight Ministries; June gathers time, talent, and items for Vacation Bible School; September lifts up Anchor House; and October through November focuses on Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. December's Christmas Eve offering goes to a ministry selected each year.
Three partnerships anchor the church's outreach. Beth-El Farmworkers Ministry, a Presbyterian ministry, provides food, education, and medical assistance to Hispanic farmworker families in Florida. PCH members donate food for hunger relief, school supplies, financial support for healthcare, and volunteer time. Talbot House Ministries in Lakeland offers men's and women's emergency shelter, hot meals, a food pantry, a free medical clinic, job assistance and vocational rehabilitation, permanent housing assistance, sobriety classes, and homeless-prevention classes; the church supports Talbot House through donations and volunteers. The 3-Cent Meal program, also known as Cents-Ability, asks families to set aside three cents per meal so that, multiplied across the congregation, hundreds of dollars each month can help feed families in the developing world.
Inside the church, a sewing group meets regularly to make clothing for children in third-world countries, a care team visits shut-ins and those who are sick (often bringing communion and bulletins), and a guitar player comes in weekly to play for the preschool children. The Pumpkin Patch each October is another expression of this volunteer culture, with members giving time to welcome hundreds of visitors to the campus.
From a Drive-In to an Orange Grove
The congregation began in 1971 in the drive-in movie theater on South Florida Avenue, in the spot that is now a Staples. The church has since moved to its current location on Lake Miriam Drive, a property that used to be an orange grove before it was transformed into the campus that now includes the sanctuary, the Great Hall, the children's modular, the preschool classrooms, the playground, and the gathering rooms where small groups meet throughout the week. The location keeps the church connected to the neighborhoods of south Lakeland, and the elders continue to invest in the physical plant, from projector upgrades to playground refurbishment.
Beliefs in the Reformed Tradition
Presbyterian Church in the Highlands is a Christian congregation in the PCUSA and therefore stands in the Reformed tradition. The church describes itself as agreeing on four distinguishing marks: an emphasis on God's movement toward us, the practice of infant baptism, the ordination of women, and a government of elders. It is evangelical in conviction and holds that the Bible is the Word of God. The mission of the church is to share, teach, and live Jesus Christ by being His heart, hands, and feet, and the vision is to prepare the body of Christ to use God-given gifts to further the Kingdom of God through worship, missions, discipleship, and fellowship.
Leadership and Governance
The church is shepherded by Pastor Rev. Dr. Shaun Hartsell, who was ordained on June 6, 2010 under the care of the Central Florida Presbytery and began serving PCH on June 7, 2010. He earned his Doctorate of Ministry in December 2021 and is supported by Youth Pastor Jared Edgar, Music Director Tony Mercer, and the Preschool Directors Kelly Dorfman and Arika Marshall. Governance rests with a Session of elders, each carrying a particular area of responsibility: Robert Chilton (Personnel), Annette Chilton (Student Ministry), Kathy Sedberry (Clerk of Session), Mary Karkoska (Missions), Mary Vaughn (Care), Ryan Rosenburg (Worship), Elle Spivey (Mission), Adam Stagg (Property), Scott Garrigan (Property), Zackery Wolfe (Adult Ministries), Christine Stagg (Children's Ministry), and Joanne Estridge (Care).
Joining the Rhythm
Visitors who want to plan a visit can come for Sunday School at 9:00 AM and worship at 10:30 AM, or drop in on a Wednesday for the 5:45 PM Family Worship and the dinner that follows. Dress is whatever feels right, parking is open anywhere on the lot, and the bulletin includes a visitor slip to drop in the offering basket. Children are welcome in worship, and the nursery and KidzRock programs are ready to receive them. The church's livestream, sermon archive, calendar, and online giving are all available for those who want to stay connected between visits.