Megachurches are a spiritual paradox: both wildly popular among their massive congregation and yet mysterious to most Christians who are used to smaller congregations in more intimate settings. Most Christians marvel at these massive churches and their unruly parking lots.
The Church of the Highlands is an example of one of these mysterious megachurches with locations in more than 13 cities across the South, including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Opelika with upward of 32,000 members.
Such a massive church has an intricate hierarchy of leadership that begins with pastors supervised by overseers, or pastors from nationally recognized congregations. These massive congregations largely rely on donations. The church handles over $8 million in donations.
The Church of the Highlands even has a board of trustees, something not typically found in smaller congregations. Visiting Church of the Highlands in Opelika is easy enough if one is prepared to wait in traffic.
From 9-9:30 a.m., hundreds of congregants flood the parking lot before services.
The halls of the church are crowded with people dressed in shades of pastel. Coffee is complimentary, and church members stand ready at the door to shake your hand and welcome you inside.
Just after 9:30 a.m., Brandon Isbell steps on stage, and the crowd applauds like the audience of Wrestlemania, only more sober and better dressed. Isbell introduces the full band, which plays worship songs accompanied by a light show. The band then steps aside before Isbell delivers a sermon.
Pastor Chris Hodges, pastor from the Grants Mill campus and the founder of Church of the Highlands, flashes on the three massive projector screens, and his live sermon is broadcasted to his Opelika congregants and church members throughout the South.
Instead of feeling lost in the crowd, church members said the gravity of huge church memberships actually makes them feel more affirmed in their faith.
“It’s really wonderful,” said Matt Friduss, senior in geology. “I come here to worship the same God with a community that spans across the United States.”
Friduss said he has noticed a stigma attached to these giant churches.
“There’s this idea members of smaller churches have that megachurches are corrupt,” Friduss said. “One of my friends even called it a cult. That’s not what we are about at all. The Church of the Highlands is about God, family and community, in that order.”
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