
Screenshots from Church of the Highlands broadcast
Chris Hodges, left, is stepping down as lead pastor of Church of the Hodges and shifting into a "founding pastor" role. Mark Pettus, at right, is the new lead pastor.
Chris Hodges, the lead pastor of Church of the Highlands since it began in 2001, announced Sunday he is transitioning into a new role of founding pastor.
Moving into the lead pastor role will be Mark Pettus, a longtime minister at the megachurch who most recently has been president of Highlands College, a postsecondary institution the church started in 2011.
Hodges made the announcement during the church’s Sunday morning service, which is broadcast to all 26 of the church’s campuses spread across Alabama and Georgia.
Hodges, who also serves as chancellor of Highlands College, said he’s not retiring. He will continue speaking and preaching for the church but will shift from spending roughly 80% of his time on church matters and 20% on college matters to spending 80% of his time on college matters and 20% on church matters.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to live here the rest of my life. This will always be my home,” Hodges said. “I deeply love this church, … but every day I wake up with a vision for the school. … I have so many things I want to do that will require that [time commitment] to flip.
“I’m not retiring. I’m not burned out. I’m not tired,” Hodges continued. “In fact, I have more energy and passion than I’ve had in a long time. … This transition of roles is going to let me live out my ultimate calling, and that is, I’ve always felt led to empower other leaders.”
Plus, he’s getting older, he said. “This church does need to be led by a younger generation,” he said. “I see the world through a different lens, no longer as a father but as a grandfather.”
Pettus is the right man to take over the lead pastor role, Hodges said.
Pettus and his wife, Jill, came to Highlands in 2001 shortly after it started and were called into the ministry as 19-year-old students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He became the church’s youth pastor in 2006 and started the Motion youth conference which brings thousands of middle school, high school and college students together in Birmingham each year.
Since 2010, Pettus has served as an elder of the church and member of the executive leadership team. He became president of Highlands College in 2011 and helped get the college up and running and accredited.
Pettus will leave his position as president of Highland College to focus on his new lead pastor role.
“I truly believe this decision sets us up for more people than ever to know God, find freedom, discover purpose and make a difference,” Hodges said.
Pettus said he and his wife have been forever changed by God through the ministry of Hodges and the people of Church of the Highlands.

Screenshot from Church of the Highlands broadcast
Church of the Highlands overseers and Founding Pastor Chris Hodges and his wife, Tammy, pray over the new lead pastor, Mark Pettus, and his wife, Jill, during a Sunday morning service on Feb. 2, 2025.
“Our marriage is forever changed. Who we are as leaders is forever changed — how we pray, how we read our Bible, every part of our life — parenting — has been marked by your leadership,” Pettus told Hodges during the service. “God’s hand is all over this. We just live to see what God did in our lives happen to other people. That’s our mission — to take what God has done in us to the world that needs it desperately. … The best is yet to come.”
Church of the Highlands has 25 campuses in Alabama and one in Columbus, Georgia. Campuses in the Birmingham metro area include locations in Greystone, Riverchase, Grand View along U.S. 280, Irondale, Alabaster, Fultondale, Woodlawn and Bessemer. The church also broadcasts its services in all 28 prison facilities run by the Alabama Department of Corrections.