Chris Hodges
Chris W. Hodges (born June 21, 1964) is the founder and senior pastor of the Church of the Highlands.
Hodges entered the ministry in 1984 as a youth pastor at Bethany World Prayer Center outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hodges married the former Tammy Hornsby in 1986. A year later the couple moved to Colorado Springs where Chris served as youth pastor and senior associate pastor for the New Life Church. He returned to the Bethany World Prayer Center in 1994 as associate pastor. While there he hosted a daily televison program called "Lifeline".
Hodges relocated to Birmingham in 2000 with the express purpose of founding a new church. He organized the Association of Related Churches, a non-profit involved in church development and began recruiting leaders for the new Church of the Highlands. The first service was held in February 2001 at Mountain Brook High School's auditorium. The church became one of the fastest-growing congregations in the country and constructed its own campus in 2007. By 2020 the church operated more than 20 satellite campuses and claimed more than 60,000 members.
In 2019 Hodges and Paul de Jong, founder of LIFE church in Auckland, New Zealand, were appointed by the global board of Hillsong Worship of Sydney, Australia to review allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct lodged against its founding pastor, Brian Houston. In March of that same year, the ministry sent payments of $10,000 to Hodges and De Jong under the heading of "Senior Pastor Donation Expenses." Hodges was a speaker at the Hillsong Conference in Sydney in July. Houston resigned from Hillsong in 2022. The payments were mentioned in a session of the Australian Parliament.
Hodges' participation with the Evangelicals for Trump Coalition and his social media interactions with right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk led to increasing questioning of his cultural insensitivity with regard to African Americans, which was brought into sharper focus during the 2020 George Floyd protests. On June 2 Hodges apologized for his hurtful actions.
The Hodgeses have five children; Sarah, Michael, David, Jonathan and Joseph.
Books
- Hodges, Chris (2013) Fresh Air. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 1414371268
- Hodges, Chris (2014) Four Cups. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 1414371276
- Hodges, Chris (2017) The Daniel Dilemma. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0718091531
References
- Keener, Ronald E. (June 9, 2009) "Pastor of fastest-growing U.S. church empowers volunteers, keeps mission simple." Church Central
- Garrison, Greg (June 12, 2020) "Cancel Pastor Chris Hodges? Church of the Highlands faces social media firestorm." The Birmingham News
- Garrison, Greg (February 4, 2021) "Pastor Chris Hodges talks 20 years of amazing growth at the Church of the Highlands." The Birmingham News
- Vollers, Anna Claire (March 23, 2023) "Hillsong payment to Church of the Highlands pastor Chris Hodges ‘curious,’ Australian lawmaker says." AL.com
External links
- Hodges profile at churchofthehighlands.com