Changing life as we know it through the love, loyalty, and friendship of Jesus Christ.

A Church Where You Can Belong Before You Believe

So what’s the motive behind our mission?

• Our Desire

  We desire to be “a church not for ourselves.” This means we believe one of the reasons we exist is for those who are not yet a part of the Church. It means we are creating space for people to wrestle with belief; a place where you can belong before you believe. Highland Christian Church is a biblical community of Christ-followers who understand that belief doesn’t always happen instantaneously. Authenticity is essential to us, so we don’t demand belief— we trust God to work that in people’s hearts. Our loyalty is to Jesus, and we simply offer what Jesus freely gave to us—our hands in friendship, our hearts in love. We are also a community who desires to engage the culture, and move beyond selfish living to living beyond ourselves; asking how we can bless (help) those around us in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and school campuses. We desire to see transformation in our own lives and the lives of others, the kind of change that only comes when Jesus Christ is in the center and not the periphery of our lives.

  Where does following a mission to ‘change life as we know it through the love, loyalty, and friendship of Jesus’ lead us? What does that end up looking like?

• The Picture

  To see the Gospel and presence of Jesus Christ at the center of life, intersecting every aspect of life, re-creating the whole person for a whole city—here, WNC, and around the world.

A Church Raised Up Out of the Culture

• The Beginning

  In 2005 Highland began as a small group meeting in a home, and then quickly to a large group meeting at the Orange Peel with several small groups. All sorts of people from all sorts of walks of life, some native, some metropolitan transplants, but all definitely eclectic—like Asheville, came together with Christ in the center. Kind of crunchy-granola-like. Appreciators of the arts, the music scene, theater. Entrepreneurs, business starters, cottage industry folks, and professionals. Lovers of the outdoors and creation. No one strain above the other, just the ultimate mash-up, the most interesting mix-tape—a little on the loud side.

• 9 Years Later

  So, what do you get when you put all that together over 9 years with the Gospel in the center? A unique, indigenous church for Jesus Christ. The practices and values of this church fit the rhythm of this city, and can help people in sustaining for the marathon, not the sprint. This is a place where renewal, creativity, celebration, and starting over can come together for people who invite Jesus in on the recreating of their lives.