Congregational Letter - Summer 2026
Dear Highland Park Fellowship Family,
I want to cover three important things in this letter: church staff, our Congregational Meeting on June 28th, and a building.
First, the Congregational Meeting will take place on June 28th directly after service. The ECT will be presenting the budget for the ‘26/‘27 fiscal year. It will be a brief meeting but we ask that you make every effort to be present.
Secondly, there are a couple of significant staff developments affecting our church family. Our beloved Kailey and Anthony Buzzeo have moved to pursue a soccer ministry in Kentucky (https://www.lexingtoneagles.com/). That means that Kailey is leaving her crucial staff role. At the same time, our long-time and faithful nursery coordinator, Lauren Goodloe, is stepping down after nearly three years of service (ever since we brought the nursery back as part of rebuilding in 2023). We owe her a deep debt of gratitude. Thankfully, she and David aren’t going anywhere. And now we are hiring two part-time positions, which we have re-worked, to fill the gaps we’ve identified in the life of our church.
Fortunately, the Lord has provided Jordan Stern to step into a new role called the Ministry Coordinator. In Jordan, our congregation is blessed to employ an individual who knows and loves our vision and our people and is also gifted at the job she’ll do of equipping people to find their place in the Kingdom of God.We are also close to completing a hiring process with a new Administrative Assistant. This role will manage all the details and systems behind the scenes in the life of our church.
The third reason I’m writing is to invite you into something that feels like a potentially significant moment for our church: decisions about our gathering space.
We are grateful for our friends at New Life, who have generously hosted us. They are not asking us to leave, and our relationship is strong. At the same time, an opportunity has come to us that seems like it could be a meaningful step forward in the life of our church.
Here’s the short version:
The Chattanooga Football Club Foundation (which oversees Chattanooga Sports Ministry, Highland Park Commons, and Operation Get Active) owns a building adjacent to the Highland Park Commons that has been vacant for some time. This building sits right in the middle of a vibrant ecosystem—soccer fields full of activity, CFC Foundation offices, and La Paz Chattanooga.
They have asked us to consider renting the building after it is renovated to accommodate our needs.
Occupying that space would place us in the middle of one of the most dynamic and diverse gathering points in our entire region. The Commons, especially on nights with pickup soccer, is one of the most naturally diverse environments in Chattanooga. Beyond that, the location would position us for meaningful partnership with the organizations already serving there.In fact, leaders from these organizations have expressed something striking: if a church were present in that space—worshipping, gathering, and living life together—it would create a natural bridge for people they serve to connect into a spiritual family.And that’s where this begins to feel deeply aligned with who we are.
These organizations need the church, just as we need them. If we are going to participate in God’s work of restoring the royal dignity of every image-bearer, we need the wisdom, resources, and development expertise they offer. But lasting restoration requires more than excellent services and programs—it requires a family.In Romans 10:14–17, we are reminded that God’s ordinary way of bringing his saving work into people’s lives is through a proclaiming, embodied community—the church. People don’t just need help; they need to belong and to be saved.
This potential space in Highland Park Commons would allow us to more fully live into our calling: to be a spiritual family for the hurting and a connectional hub in our city—working alongside others for the flourishing of our neighbors.
Right now, we are in the early stages. A small representative team from our church is working with builders and architects to explore what a thoughtful renovation might look like. As those plans develop, we will also begin working through the financial implications with the CFC Foundation. Through all of this, we are trying to listen carefully. We do not want to spend even one dollar on this building until we are certain of why the Lord has called us into this space at this moment. To that end, we are going to spend time researching and learning from our community. We want to know what assets our community already possesses, what needs are most felt, what is lacking in our community. We will let those answers inform our design as well as our personal use of the space.
We have sensed, over time, that the Lord has been asking us to wait—to trust him to lead us into our particular role within the broader Body of Christ in this city. And we are beginning to wonder if this might be part of what we’ve been waiting for.
So we want to invite you in—not just to a decision, but to a process of discernment.
Would you pray with us? If you are able, go spend time near that building. Walk the space. Drive by it. Pray as you are there. Offer the Lord your hopes, your questions, your imagination, and even your hesitations.
Pray as you watch life happening on those fields. Pray as you pass by during your normal rhythms. Pray as you pick up a cotton candy machine from Holder Concession Supplies that’s ‘not for personal use. I promise’ (I’m looking at you, Troy).
As the psalmist reminds us in Psalm 145, “He is near to all who call on him in truth”—that is, without pretense or preconception. Let’s be open-handed and earnest as we ask and trust our Heavenly Father.
We are asking that God’s kingdom would come and his will would be done in Highland Park as it is in heaven. And we are praying that he would use us, in whatever way he sees fit, to “set the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6).
Would you join us?