Our History

From the dawn of time, history has been a valuable commodity. Ask the archeologist, kneeling under the scorching sun in the dirt and grime, searching for articles of a lost civilization, why history is so valuable - and he’ll tell you, “Without history, we wouldn’t know where we came from -- much less where we are going.” Here, at Highland Park, we recognize the importance of our own history--and what a rich history it is!

In 1948, the Midwest District bought three lots on the west edge of Columbus for the whopping fee of $75, and our church was born. A few good men, including the interim pastor, Don Olson, built a new building, naming it the Free Church Chapel. On July 25, 1948, 18 people gathered in the building for our very first Sunday School. But, it was not until June 1951, when the chapel united with the Evangelical Free Church of America, that we were christened the name we have today-- the Highland Park Evangelical Free Church. We only had thirty members, but that was soon to change.

By March 1961, Highland Park needed more space, so we began constructing a building, just west of the old one. In April of the following year, 125 members dedicated the $75,000 building to the Lord. Pastor Harold Vander Ploeg was the current pastor. God continued to bless, helping us complete payment on the new building on our 25th year anniversary. In 1975, Highland Park began a bimonthly newsletter, mailing it to 250 homes. Two years later, we also dedicated a new Outreach Center to God for His service.

In 1987, church leaders began to recognize a need for a larger church facility. The “Building Together For God’s Glory” building fund was started. God brought to us Mike Neely, our Senior Pastor, in 1993. One year later, Brant Taylor became the full-time Youth Pastor. In 1997, we dedicated the land and began to break the ground to lay strong foundations for our church building. The building was completed the following year.

Today, here at Highland Park we are averaging nearly 700 people who attend Sunday Morning Worship and 300 people who attend Sunday Bible School. We hold two Sunday morning services and have multiple ministries occurring during the week. Why is our history important? The answer is easy--looking back through the corridors of time, we can see the faithful hand of God. None of us can boast how our own hard work made this church body fit together to meet people’s needs and to grow. Our history teaches us to praise God for all He has done these past fifty years and to eagerly await the future He has planned.

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).