With the rising waves of churches exposed for decades, as people call out, the problematic and unfair behaviors have been at an ever increasing rate. In this article, we are going to report on the Church of the Highlands exposed 2022 controversy that unveiled a lot of problematic details about the Alabama church that was regarded with prestige since its foundations.
Let’s find out what the head pastor of the Church, Chris Hodges, has reportedly stated against the accusations and details that exposed the Church of the Highlands practices that triggered the news!
The Church Of The Highlands Exposed Controversy Details:
The 2001 Alabama church has been a source of thousands of devout christians attendance and prayer. However, with the rising curve in churches being exposed for problematic stances and statements by pastors in relation to its clergy staff, the Church of the Highlands came in the red line as well!
In 2021, in the early stages of the evolving COVID pandemic, many of the attendees of the church conference who were listening to the head pastor’s sermon took out one of his statements. The statement was from Chris Hodgins, where he mentioned the suffering and burnt out condition of the highland church pastors during the COVID period.
Now, this statement was taken in a different light where it was deemed problematic as pastors in other sermons mentioned the restoration of the pastoral centers where the depressed or overworked pastors can retreat and heal from any mental illnesses like depression and fatigue after constant strict service in faith practice.
However, these statements were taken in a negative light where many attendees felt that the pastor perhaps referred to the clergy pastors who were involved in misconduct of an inappropriate nature like sexual. Many also passed on the rumor that the Highland Church of Alabama is building a separate lodge for such pastors who should be expelled from the Church and not helped for their misconduct.
The Church of the Highlands exposed news spread like fire, and many attendees associated with the Church ended their association with the Church as they believed in the reports coming out.
Chris Hodges: Head Pastor’s Testimony About Inappropriate Pastors & Lodge
Chris Hodges, the founder and head pastor of the Church of the Highlands, has been involved in cases relating to the misconduct of the pastors and other problematic statements. So, it was normal that his statement in the sermon picked up debate and criticism.
Hodge, however, has denied all allegations against the pastors and Church, defending at many points that the statement about depressed pastors or those who need a restoration time away did not hint at those pastors who have been misconducting or are involved in immoral activities.
Hodges stated, “I’m not talking about the ones that are in sin, I’m talking about the ones that are ready to quit. All this came out of the pandemic.” By this, Hodges possibly hinted that the pastors working for the Church round the clock during the pandemic ordeal were exhausted and needed time away to heal from their mental sufferings and exhaustion.
Church Of The Highlands Exposed Reddit
After the news spreading about the Church of the Highlands sermon statements and some other past statements of the Church came to light and taken in double meanings, it was a sure event that a Reddit was created.
This is where many ex attendees and devotees confessed to their observations and issues with the Church, stating their reasons for leaving the highland Church. The thread also consisted of an ex attendee stating that the pastor, Chris Hodge, has passed public statements where he showed open support for the administration of Trump. This was also inappropriate for devotees as they confessed that for a pastor to show open support to Trump, who has openly been racist towards the black community, was highly triggering for those who considered the pastor to be more considerate of who the Church supports.
Immoral Pastors Controversy
The Church of the Highlands exposed the news largely due to the fact that many suspected that the Church had been giving shelter and restoration centers to immoral pastors who should be fired. However, Chris Hodges stated in an interview that the restoration center referred to a sanctuary for pastors who need to restore their health and mind, not those who are morally corrupt.
However, Hodges has also clarified that the Church of the Highlands does not have complete authority over the pastors from ARC. He possibly indicated through this that even if some of the pastors have been involved in moral failure, the Church cannot exercise authority as the local church associations assign the pastors and hence hold authority over them.
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Since then, Chrish Hodge has many a time defended his statement and clearly stated that the restoration center construction is rightfully for only the pastors who need a chance to heal and recover.
