April 12, 2023
Dear Church,
We have an exciting and significant development regarding our congregation at Highrock Lexington. Over the next few weeks, they will become part of the Highrock Arlington congregation. After much prayer and conversation, our church leadership and the leadership at Highrock Lexington discerned that this was the most healthy and missional way forward after a challenging season.
In July of 2020, Highrock formally adopted Trinity Covenant Church into our church family as Highrock Lexington. Trinity Covenant Church traces its roots back to the late 1800s when a group of faithful Swedish immigrant Christians in Cambridge and Somerville came together for fellowship and a shared mission. By joining the Highrock family, TCC sought to continue building a legacy of faithfulness by discipling the next generation of Christians in the Boston area and beyond.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic also began in the spring of 2020, which disrupted our plans for launching Highrock Lexington. As the pandemic persisted and gradually dissipated, all of our Highrock congregations faced challenges in reopening. Highrock Lexington felt those challenges particularly acutely, as many of its members left the area permanently or became otherwise unable to participate in Sunday worship. Throughout this time, Highrock staff and members worked tirelessly to reach out to their Lexington neighbors, but without seeing the growth in attendance that we hoped for.
After many months of prayer and discernment, the leadership of Highrock Lexington, in collaboration with many staff, the Highrock Arlington Leadership Team, and the Highrock Board of Councilors, have decided to merge the Highrock Lexington community into the Highrock Arlington community.
We’re confident that this change will be mutually beneficial for both congregations! The Lexington community has developed robust ministries like Kisoboka and Community Partners, which will continue on at Highrock Arlington. Pastor Robert Bloodworth and Sandy Gannon, Lexington’s administrator, will join the Highrock Arlington staff team. Finally, we plan to continue using the Highrock Lexington property as a ministry hub for staff, video recording, events, retreats, and more.
The Lexington congregation will join the Grand Opening of Arlington’s new building later this spring, so the two groups can enter into the new space together as one.
Please join us in welcoming the Highrock Lexington congregation and staff into Arlington! We have no doubt that they will be a great blessing to us, and as we intentionally embrace our value of hospitality, we will be a blessing to them in turn.
Walt Quick, on behalf of the pastors and staff