The main sanctuary building of the Highland Park Baptist Church is located in the 2000 block of Bailey Avenue.Redemption Point, a 1,200-member Church of God congregation with locations in Ooltewah and East Lake, is purchasing the former Highland Park Baptist Church auditorium on Bailey Avenue and three other buildings for $3.1 million.
The sale, which is expected to close at the end of April, also includes the Chauncey-Goode Auditorium, Phillips Chapel and Hancock Education Building.
“Our desire is to provide a spiritual lighthouse for the community,” said lead pastor Kevin Wallace, “We want to offer social opportunities of connection. We want to … meet the needs of those in the community” and continue and expand them “in broader, more extensive ways.”
Highland Park Baptist, once the largest congregation in Chattanooga with about 57,000 members, relocated to property near Harrison Bay in January and changed its name to Church of the Highlands.
Wallace said a family “vicariously related to our church” provided the money for the purchase, allowing the congregation to be debt-free when it takes possession of the buildings.