“We went to Paso Robles to say no,” Baird remembers about the trip that he and his wife, Star, took to see the proposed location for the new church. But when they got there, things changed. Baird and his wife were amazed at the beauty of Paso Robles, a once small town in Central California that is growing in part due to the many wineries and the temperate climate. “God, I don’t know if you can do anything here or not, but it is at least a beautiful place and incredible people,” Baird remembers praying as he agreed to give it a try.
In a denomination with shrinking numbers and difficulties attracting what Baird calls “the de-churched,” Highlands Church is something of a “success” story.
The first worship service was on Easter, 2006. It was raining. But the postcard invitations had been sent out and the chairs, 200 of them, had been rented. “We rented the chairs, let’s set them up,” said Baird, who was to lead the service along with his brother Jamie and his wife Star. “We planned our sunrise service for 9 a.m.,” Baird remembers. At 8:55 a.m. it was just the three of them. “But at 8:56 a stream of cars was lined up looking like field of dreams,” he shares. That day 198 people came to worship.
“We began to think, Wow, this thing could work,” says Baird, “but then the next Sunday we were down to 40 and thought, okay, it might not work.” Two and a half years later something seems to be “working” at Highlands Church, with average Sunday attendance (though Baird is a bit uncomfortable talking only in numbers) of 700-800 in the movie theatre the church is renting until their building is completed later this fall. The movie theatre offers an additional challenge — “church” must be cleaned up before the day’s 12 noon matinee.
“There were a lot of churches already in Paso Robles,” Baird explains. Forty-seven, to be exact. But Highlands Church is different. Many of the other churches have a more fundamentalist and dispensationalist theology. Reformed theology, he suggests, helps people live their lives in very practical ways and is needed in our world today. “Our services might look more like Willow Creek, but our polity is Presbyterian,” says Baird, who is himself a third generation Presbyterian minister.
“Our mission is to help the de-churched,” he adds. The term refers to those who have been in other churches but were broken for some reason by that experience. “We don’t think there are very many unchurched people in America,” he explains, noting that even television can offer a version of “church” to those in our culture.
The result? Flip flops and cowboy boots. Paso Robles, as many towns in America, is in the midst of a transition between the old and new. “Old Paso is the Pioneer Day Parade with cowboy boots and cowboy hats,” explains Baird. New Paso is more symbolized by the growing winery presence, the designer jeans, and flip-flop crowd. “I think having both together keeps it honest,” shares Baird. “It is a fascinating convergence.” At the moment he preaches in cowboy boots, but admits that as Paso continues to change, he will likely move to flip-flops.
Though styles of dress might be easy outward descriptors, they are, of course, not what Highlands Church is all about. Baird explains their thinking: “We care deeply about connecting with broken people and we will sacrifice almost anything to do that, including liturgy,” he adds. Jesus suspended orthodoxy regarding the Sabbath, eating and healing, and he did it to connect with people. “The liturgy we have in the church was comforting for how people lived their lives in the 1500s, but is no longer appropriate for today.” One of the ways Highlands Church is trying to connect is by intentionally using secular music in worship. “Reformed theology has always taken that which is fallen and re-identified it with Christ.”
“I think connecting is huge. If people in your town are wearing cowboy boots, you’ve got to wear them, if they are wearing flip flops, wear them.” It is not about the shoes, but about connecting with people the way they live. “We have this notion that we have to come in and change the society that we are in, but we also have to be open to the various needs to be transformed by society and yet maintain our convictions,” he explains. A lot of new church development is just starting new churches in the old format, he admits. “There are plenty of those out there already so why bother?”
His convictions stand for both Highland Church and the Presbyterian Church.
“I went into this hoping to reform our denomination from the congregational level. … If we continue to decline, we lose something valuable for Christianity in America. … We are going to lose an entire generation because they are going to leave or fizzle out,” he worries. “This just can’t happen.”
To find out more about Highlands Church see www.helphighlands.org.
Erin Dunigan is a freelance writer/photographer living in Newport Beach, Calif.
