Chris Hodges, founding and senior pastor of Church of the Highlands, is known for his relevant teaching style and his passion for raising up global leaders to fulfill the Great Commission. Chris and his wife, Tammy, have five children and live in Birmingham, Alabama, where Church of the Highlands began in 2001.
Providing life-giving community focused on the simplicity of the gospel along with the power of an intimate relationship with a loving God, Chris continues changing the way church is done worldwide. Under his leadership, Church of the Highlands has launched campuses all across the state of Alabama and has grown to more than forty-five thousand people attending weekly.
Outreach magazine recently ranked Highlands as the second-largest evangelical church in America, and the sixth-fastest in growth. Highlands remains completely debt-free and operates on a budget less than 70 percent of the income of the church. With this margin, Highlands builds all new facilities with cash and gives more than $10 million per year to missions and church planting.
Chris cofounded the Association of Related Churches (ARC at arcchurches.com) in 2001, which trains more than one thousand church planters every year and gives more than $4 million annually to church planters. To date, ARC has planted more than 630 churches across the USA (now averaging more than one hundred new churches every year).
Chris also founded a coaching network called GROW (growleader.com) to help churches reach their full growth potential. Each year more than four thousand pastors attend sold-out conferences and roundtables in America and Europe led by Chris, his team, and special guests. These events train pastors and leaders in a simple yet systematic model based on his bestselling books Four Cups and Fresh Air. Thousands of churches now use his model and continue breaking growth barriers.
As chancellor of Highlands College (thehighlandscollege.com), a two-year ministry training college that gives students a chance to receive hands-on ministry training in a healthy college environment, Chris emphasizes relationships and spiritual growth as top priorities. Students are currently being developed in areas such as Ministry Leadership, Worship, and Creative Arts.
Chris regularly speaks at strategic conferences and ground-breaking churches, including:
• Hillsong Conference and Hillsong Church (Pastor Brian Houston)
• EQUIP, a global leadership training organization founded by John Maxwell for which Chris serves on the board of directors
• Gateway Church and Gateway Conference (Pastor Robert Morris)
Chris’s educational background includes a BA in management from Colorado Christian University and a Masters of Ministry from Southwestern Christian University.