Church of the Highlands

Last fall Church of the Highlands (out of Birmingham) decided to start a Tuscaloosa campus. This is the church I attended while still single and living in Birmingham. We were actively involved in another similar style church here, but when I heard that COTH was coming we really started praying about it and after one visit we knew it was where we were supposed to be. Jeff and I helped with the church plant starting last September and we just love it there. The pastor is the best speaker I have ever heard and gives wonderfully practical sermons that you feel like you always need to hear. We are so grateful to have this campus in Tuscaloosa!

We meet at the Bryant Conference Center at 11:15 on Sunday mornings. We have live praise and worship, but then have our sermon simulcast from the Birmingham main campus and pastor Chris. We do, however, have our own Tuscaloosa pastor (Mike Wilson) that is responsible for our little town for outreach, etc. At first we weren't wild about a video taped message, but Pastor Chris is phenomenal and when do you interact during a sermon anyway? You don't...so it is really no different than sitting down for a live sermon. The crowd is young, which makes it a lot of fun.

We made a commitment to become part of the "dream team" which is basically helping fill leadership positions for the new campus to get it off the ground. Jeff ushers and I keep the nursery a lot. We also co-lead a small group (sort of like Sunday School) at our home on Wednesday nights. Our neighbors Keith and Monica are in the group and have a three year old, so we split a babysitter that comes to their house so that we can enjoy the videos and dinner without distraction from small children...but they are just two doors down so it's nice to know they are close by! We just finished a study called Love and Respect about marriage. We have about 12 members that are consistent and we have had a blast. We love the couples in our group. We have had one couple get married while in the group...Congrats Maddie and Jeremy who are just back from their wedding in Hawaii. We also had one couple get engaged this semester...Congrats Sho and Erin! Another couple is expecting their first baby just 6 or so weeks after Lydia arrives. We are sort of the older couple, but we just love watching these youngins getting the right start to their marriages!

Tonight we had a cookout to close out the last semester and socialize (eat a lot!! ) before the next series starts next week. We had the babysitter stay at our house and blew up the bouncy house for the kiddos. We even had some new visitors to the group come and bring their kids. Jeff grilled some delicious burgers and a good time was had by all! I took some pics and thought I'd post them. Enjoy!