Welcome to Virginia-Highland Church!

No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.

Our congregation has changed significantly since our founding in 1923 as Virginia Avenue Baptist Church. From the 1940s through the 1960s, we became a large neighborhood church. The present sanctuary, with a beautiful but simple interior, was built in 1950. Because we were a neighborhood church, we renamed ourselves after the neighborhood and became Virginia-Highland Baptist Church in 1992 and, later, Virginia-Highland Church.

More recently, we’ve become both a neighborhood church and a “destination” church that attracts people from the greater Atlanta area. In the 1960s and 1970s, like other American cities, Atlanta saw many residents move to the suburbs. This development made us a more intimate worshiping community.

As the Southern Baptists (our parent denomination) became more and more conservative in the 1980’s, our congregation became more progressive. Finally, our differences with the Southern Baptist Convention forced a change. We began ordaining women to the church council in 1990. In 1993, we designated ourselves an “inclusive congregation” that welcomed lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members. [Our congregation now is a happy mix of gay/lesbian and straight, but not narrow, members.] Virginia-Highland withdrew its affiliation from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1992. By 1999, all association with state and city Southern Baptist groups ended.

Virginia-Highland church is committed to preserving accountability and collegiality with other baptist bodies. We did so by being one of the first churches to join the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (1992) and then later joined the Alliance of Baptists (1996). We cherish these Baptist relationships and are proud of our Baptist heritage.