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Highland Park Baptist Church was a prominent Southern Baptist church in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee. During the four-decade pastorship of Dr. Lee Roberson, it was a center of the Independent Baptist movement and became an early megachurch.

In 2013, the church changed its name to "Church of the Highlands," sold its Chattanooga property, and moved to a smaller facility near Chattanooga. Several of its former church buildings in Chattanooga were destroyed by a massive fire in June 2022.

History

The church was founded in 1890 as Orchard Knob Baptist Church, was soon renamed to Beech Street Baptist Church, and became Highland Park Baptist Church in 1903 when it moved to a new location at the corner of Orchard Knob and Union Avenue. The church's wood-frame building was replaced by a brick church (later known as Phillips Memorial Chapel) in about 1922.

Lee Roberson became the church's pastor in 1942. In 1946, during his leadership, Tennessee Temple University was established as an adjunct to the church, and the church and university were considered centers of the Independent Baptist movement. The church membership grew dramatically, reportedly reaching a peak of about 57,000 in the early 1980s. A 3000-seat auditorium building, later known as the Chauncey-Goode Auditorium, was completed in 1947, followed in 1981 by a 6000-seat auditorium building on Bailey Avenue.

In 1983, Dr. Roberson resigned as pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church, becoming its pastor emeritus. In later years, membership and attendance declined. As of 2012, weekly attendance averaged around 370 people. In January 2013, the church changed its name to "Church of the Highlands," sold its Chattanooga property, and moved to a smaller facility on land in Harrison, Tennessee that the church had owned since 1946.

In 2014, the church sold Phillips Memorial Chapel, Chauncey-Goode Auditorium, Asbury Chapel, the main auditorium, and three other buildings to Redemption to the Nations, the parent organization of Redemption Point Church, a Church of God congregation based in Ooltewah.

Fire

On the evening of June 10, 2022, Phillips Memorial Chapel and Chauncey-Goode Auditorium caught fire. Over 100 firefighters, from 21 of the city's 26 fire companies, were engaged in fighting the major fire, which continued for more than ten hours overnight before it was extinguished. Residents living within five blocks were asked to shelter in place during the fire to avoid exposure to smoke hazards. Large portions of the buildings were demolished in responding to the fire. The clock tower of Phillips Chapel and one wall with stained glass windows were still standing in the aftermath of the blaze, but it was not immediately known whether they could be preserved. In September, a bishop of the Redemption to the Nations Church, the current owner of the former Highland Park Church property, announced that "the bell tower we intended to keep has been deemed unsafe and unusable for future purposes" and would not be preserved. The auditorium built in 1981 did not burn.

A few days after the fire, investigators reported that they had determined that the fire had been intentionally set. They circulated surveillance photos of a man riding a bicycle in the area at the time of the fire who was being sought as a person of interest in their arson investigation.

References

1. ^ Shearer, John (June 11, 2022). "Burned Highland Park Baptist Buildings Date To 1920s And 1940s". Chattanoogan.com.
2. ^ "About Us: History". Highland Park Baptist Church (archive of defunct website, date approximately January 2010).
3. ^ Cooper, Clint (September 10, 2012). "Chattanooga's iconic Highland Park Baptist Church will move". Times Free Press. Chattanooga, Tennessee.
4. "Highland Park Baptist Church relocating and renaming". Local 3 News. Chattanooga, Tennessee. September 9, 2012.
5. "About Church of the Highlands". Church of the Highlands website. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
6. Carroll, David (February 17, 2014) . "Tennessee Temple University will move by 2015". Chattanooga: WRCB-TV.
7. Robinson, Ruth (June 12, 2013). "Former Highland Park Baptist Church Sells 2 More Of Its Properties". The Chattanoogan.
8. "Church of God Congregation to Purchase Tennessee Temple Campus". FaithNews.cc. February 17, 2014.
9. ^ Young, Savannah; Greene, Melissa (June 13, 2022). "Old Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga burns". WJHL TV. Johnson City, Tennessee.
10. ^ "Highland Park Baptist Church Fire Intentional – Person of Interest Sought". WDEF News. Chattanooga, Tennessee. June 17, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
11. Benninghoff, Eric (June 13, 2022). "Reduced to rubble: Pastor recollects history after church fire in Chattanooga". Fox Chattanooga. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
12. "Bishop Says Bell Tower At Old Highland Park Baptist Church Too Unsafe To Remain Standing". Chattanoogan.com. September 6, 2022.

• Churches in Chattanooga, Tennessee
• 1890 establishments in Tennessee
• 2022 fires in the United States
• Baptist churches in Tennessee
• Fires in Tennessee
• Religious buildings and structures in the United States destroyed by arson
• Church fires in the United States