Particularizing in Highland Park

Those of you who have followed our church planting efforts for a while will likely remember when Corby Shields moved from Rock Creek Fellowship to Mosaic Fellowship, which is now called Highland Park Fellowship. Now, just about two years after the Shields family came to the church, Highland Park celebrated its particularization.

As a refresher: The church plant began meeting in March 2020 and made it through the COVID-19 era. In the winter of 2023, the church experienced significant loss, and the Shields joined in June 2023. During this season of change and recentering, the church adopted the name Highland Park. This year, a particularization service on May 4th marked the end of the church’s time as a plant and the beginning of its time as an “adult” church.

Looking back to his first six months at Highland Park, Corby said, “After a period of rest and prayer, the congregation and folks who joined us in that time were reenergized for a new mission. It’s been really fun. People are ready to see impact happen outside the church in our neighborhood.”

In the fall of 2024, the church took a break from its standard small group gatherings to focus on prayer, worship, and core group development. Corby said, “We found that time to be deeply unifying for our people as they grew in a common theology and understanding of our mission as God’s people.”

Then, the church jumped into nominating and electing officers. “It’s been exactly what we prayed for,” said Corby. “We’d prayed together for unity and God’s vision for these people. Now, we’re really seeing the fruit of that.”

One way the church pursued unity during the nomination process was by checking in with those who weren’t nominated to make sure no resentment was being harbored in anyone’s heart. Corby said, “The nomination and installation process is a very vulnerable time for the church, for egos, and for the Evil One to sow resentment and division. We wanted to take a lot of care throughout that process.”

Highland Park Fellowship trained six men and four women, out of which five men were ordained as elders and three women were commissioned as the female care team (an unordained group that advises the session and assists in spiritual care of the congregation). “We think it’s really crucial that we have recognized and trained women,” explained Corby.

The church established a mercy team about 18 months before particularization due to needs in the community. Through this team, Highland Park Fellowship was able to move out in mercy ministry before a diaconate was established. This team will continue, and deacons will be ordained down the road.

Of the particularization service, Corby said, “It’s fun that about half a dozen churches from our presbytery were represented with various teaching and ruling elders involved in the service. The presbytery came around to celebrate with us.”

Sarah Erickson, a member of another church in our presbytery, was one of the people who attended the service. She reflected, “In the same way that attending a wedding and hearing another couple make marriage vows reminds me and my husband of our own marriage vows, this service reminded me of our church’s particularization in 2018. I’m always blown away by how supportive presbyterian churches are of another church’s birth and growth.”

Highland Park Fellowship is in the process of bringing on a church planting resident. Already, the young church is looking toward planting another church and continuing this supportive system of gospel growth.

The church is very aware of its neighborhood’s demographics and how ministering in that place can look different than ministering in Lookout Mountain, Cleveland, or Jasper. In Corby’s words, “The vision has always been to be a church that reflects the neighborhood and blesses that neighborhood. In Highland Park, that will look multicultural.”

However, he explained that this doesn’t mean the congregation needs to look a certain way on Sunday morning. Rather, “It’s kingdom work first—that’s where diversity will be reflected. The big ‘why’ of the Church is bigger than what we look like on a Sunday morning. We get to play our small part in this neighborhood and partner with existing efforts where Holy Spirit is on the move. Holy Spirit has been on the move for decades in Highland Park.”

Partnership is a key word for Highland Park Fellowship as they partner with different denominations and organizations in the church’s neighborhood. For example, not long after the particularization service, a group from the church attended a Wednesday service at a nearby black Baptist church to further grow the already existing friendship between the two bodies of Christ.

As Corby said, “Partnership leads to friendship, and friendship leads to co-worship.”