About Southern HeightsThe Early YearsSouthern Heights began in the 1960s as a group of friends meeting together in the gymasium of a local school. It wasn't long until the small group became large and needed to organize. Southern Heights Church was born and shortly thereafter, land was purchased and a building was constructed on Hillandale Avenue (the current location). God was building relationships at that time that have lasted until this day. God sure knew what he was doing!DevelopmentIt was over the next years that Southern Heights developed into a many-faceted ministry. People gave their time and energy to see that the word of God was preached, that the young people were educated and that God was glorified in everything. Programs were started for "Sunday school" so that the children could learn about what a great God they served. Education classes were given for adults to gain knowledge. The pastors of this time served diligently to see that the people were served and given all that they needed to be strong Christians. But there was another step that God wanted this church to take.The TransitionSouthern Heights was doing well taking care of its own needs, but it needed to learn how to reach out to a community of people who needed to know about the love of Jesus Christ. It was one thing to support impacting friends, family and neighbors, but it became another thing to actually learn how to do this. Everything that the church did was looked at and processed as to how this helped spread the good news of Jesus. Many traditions had to be evaluated and all that the church took for granted needed to be reviewed to ensure everything was done so that all who wanted to meet Jesus would find the roadblocks removed. This was a hard process, but God needed the church to go through this time so that more people would eventually come to know Him. After a lot of learning everything was ready, and the church seemed to begin anew.Spiritual GrowthGod began to open the doors of Southern Heights to people who hadn't had much interest in church before and this continues today. People who have had bad church experiences find that church doesn't have to be a bad place. Many, who have come to be part of this church family, have stories of hurts and struggles and pain which the church in their past has inflicted upon them. God has brought many people to be included in His family here and we are all excited to be called His children.TodayWe still have a long way to go. God desires to see more people come to know him and we would like nothing better than to see all who are hurting and struggling to come to know how Jesus can take their hurts and heal them. Southern Heights will continue to show those who are at the end of their rope find that Jesus is there to catch them. We believe that the local church, God's church, is the hope of the world and we are proud to be a part of the Family of God at Southern Heights. |