Although public information on The Lodge Retreat Center has lessened since the public announcement in September 2021, updated photos shared with MinistryWatch show that construction is underway on Alabama’s Church of the Highlands Grants Mill campus.
The Lodge, funded by the church’s Legacy donations, is a $4.5 million retreat center where pastors, leaders, and their families will be, according to an original pamphlet, “mentored, counseled, refreshed, and restored.” The program is the vision of Highlands Senior Pastors Chris Hodges and Dino Rizzo. Both are co-founders of the Association of Related Churches (ARC).
The project sparked concern over how Highlands and ARC reinstate morally-fallen pastors to the pulpit with seemingly minimal consequences. Some questioned whether the goal to extend forgiveness and redemption to fallen leaders would result in The Lodge becoming a “safe place” to harbor and enable unrepentant sin.
A former staff member told MinistryWatch that when congregants voiced doubts, leadership likened approaching Hodges to the Prophet Nathan confronting King David: Only people of equal or higher spiritual authority may question what God impresses leadership to do. Another member shared a similar account in an independent interview and added, “We believe these people literally hear from God.”
The vision for restoration started when Hodges sought to restore Rizzo, who in 2012 admitted to an extramarital affair while serving as senior pastor of Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hodges claimed he could not find a strategy to follow. “I so desperately wanted there to be a model here. It is a message of hope to those who have experienced some sort of moral failure or whatever,” he told Ministry Today in 2014.
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Among those who have undergone the restoration process are several pastors who stepped down after accusations of sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, or rape. Cases include those of Josh Mauney, Caleb Treat, Jason Delgado, and Hodges’s son, Michael, who was removed from his ministerial position at Greystone in 2017.
The most referred-to example is Micahn Carter. Carter relocated to preach at Highlands as part of his restoration process after being accused of rape by a staff member at Together Church in Washington State. After the lawsuit escalated, Carter resigned, and Highlands severed ties and affirmed they were “no longer involved in the restoration process.” However, Carter preached with accolades last July at an ARC church in Orange County, California.
While there is no public, detailed explanation of the restoration course, it may echo Hodges’ original restoration plan for Rizzo’s reinstatement to pastoral ministry. In 2013, Hodges worked with overseers and counselors to create 31 benchmarks for Rizzo to follow, beginning with stepping down from ministry and a year of leading with supervision. In addition, the measure included downtime and counseling by Emerge Counseling Ministries.
When Ministry Today asked him about the benchmarks, Hodges said he could not give specifics but shared some benchmark categories: “One was in personal finance, getting your financial house in order. There were some in physical health, counseling, and marriage. A lot of them were educational. There were seminars he had to attend and books to read.” Furthermore, they were required to receive a health assessment and a complete physical.
A former staffer told us pastors get “well taken care of.” Multiple sources told us that besides providing rest and counseling, the organization cleans up their reputation, occasionally pays for relocation expenses, and gives a salary supplement to assuage their income loss.
At ARC’s Gather 2021, during a message covering depression, comparisons, loneliness, and spiritual warfare, Hodges spoke of a fellow pastor that took his life. Alluding to burnout and depression, he stated, “Dino and I are in the middle of about 20 pastoral moral failures and restorations—right now.”
Not everyone views the Pastoral Retreat Center as alarming. One member said the objective is not so much focused on restoration as ministering to these pastors in a loving way that would prevent any need for restoration. Another commented that they support The Lodge concept if leadership attempts to make restitution with victims, report assault, and cooperate with authorities when applicable. Only then, one stated, would they support “providing counseling and career training to help these ‘fallen’ pastors deal with their guilt and to transition to new careers.”
Since the backlash of concerns, public details of The Lodge construction have been minimal. The Center was briefly mentioned at Dream Team Night last August, but detailed reports are reserved exclusively for Legacy members, a top-tier level of financial contributors. The next private report is due this autumn in time for Legacy Sunday, which is usually the second week of December.
MinistryWatch contacted Highlands via phone and email for comment. Highlands replied to us and issued the following statement: “Church of the Highlands has a mission to help pastors and their families strengthen their marriage, ministry, and integrity. The Lodge at Grants Mill is designed as a retreat environment for these families – providing a place for prayer, rest, fellowship, personal development, and training. The Lodge will also be used as an event space and as accommodation for guest pastors visiting the church.”
This piece originally appeared at MinistryWatch.
Jessica Eturralde is a military wife of 18 years and mother of three who serves as a freelance writer, TV host, and filmmaker. Bylines include Yahoo, Huffington Post, OC16TV.
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20 Responses
“…leadership likened approaching Hodges to the Prophet Nathan confronting King David: Only people of equal or higher spiritual authority may question what God impresses leadership to do…”
So now pastors are in the place of kings?
“But those elders who are sinning you are to REPROVE BEFORE EVERYONE, SO THAT THE OTHERS MAY TAKE WARNING. I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.”
1 Timothy 5:20-21
Additionally we have teaching on HOW to choose elders in the first place, in order to avoid later correction!
David was also responsible for the death of Uriah.
Would church members be okay if their pastor deliberately killed someone, and was then “restored”?
Balaam heard directly from God too and was rebuked by his donkey. 2 Peter 2 references this story and is the one place in the bible that I prefer the KJV.
Imagine what $4.5 million could do for missions in truly unreached parts of the world, especially the so-called 10-40 window.
America already has plenty of Christian camps and conference centers; do we need another facility? Send fallen pastors to rustic settings and/or discipleship meetings in nearby homes, not to luxury lodging.
America’s actions in the Middle East – supported explicitly by evangelical Christians – has pretty much ruined ministry in the 10-40 window for at least a generation.
Supporting a war that killed up to a million Muslims sort of puts a stumbling block before unbelievers I would think.
Why is it that I don’t hear of churches building restoration facilities for the ones who have been victimized? Aren’t they the ones who should be the focus of our ministry?
Didn’t the prophets hold the leaders responsible for favoritism, corruption, and injustice? Didn’t they confront the leaders for not defending the oppressed, poor, widows, and orphans?
If exiled Israel was called to account, how much more the wealthy, powerful, and influential church leaders of The United States?
I fear what we may experience in this country if those calling themselves God’s people do not repent.
Satan (and those church leaders who serve his purposes) invert God’s truth and demand a higher Biblical standard from their congregations, while they are exempt from this standard because they have been “chosen” and have special status (through a perversion/twisting of the Gospel to “prove” this status). As long as the congregations continue to consent to this type of leadership by not using the scriptural challenge tools God has provided against this type of perversion, nothing is going to change, and the leaders will continue to serve/protect themselves/the money/the power, not the people they are supposed to protect.
Andrew, your exactly correct ! Dead on 100% & having once been a member, Usher & Usher Captain there for 7 years, when the church first started in 2006 – 2013, 2013 is when ” issues & rumors ” surfaced about affairs, sexual promiscuity, etc which turned out to be true. Original founding church members, close relatives, lots of kinfolk ( nepotism ) left the church altogether in 2012-13 & a lot of us members & were rebuffed, dismissed, removed our volunteer service & names & told in a quiet discreet manner to find another church, don’t question the churches or the elders authority & go along to get along or get gone !!! So, a great many of us left & went on with our lives in other churches. They will eventually end up like TBN & DAYSTAR ( who had the very same exact kinds of issues) because God always has His way of sorting those things out, one way or the other & loose their lampstands one way or the other just a s the 7 churches in Turkey !!!
Tom, I love that idea.
Imagine a weeklong retreat where women who have been raped or sexually abused by church leaders could go for rest, healing, counseling and pampering alongside other women who have suffered in the same manner.
And yes, make the abuser and the Christian institution foot the bill.
That “humble” staging of the sign being so reverently touched smacks of narcissism. If there were even a glimmer of a remnant of humility in him, that sign would be an embarrassment to him. But no, he poses. Maybe it counts as humility that his face is not shown. While it is distressing to spend time in close proximity with those who are clueless, it is profoundly more distressing when they are clueless that they are clueless. Where does one begin with one so tone deaf?
A better sign would be: “You do not deserve to preach on this stage. It is not your right. But it is your responsibility to God and the congregation to preach the truth and live it out in your life. If you can’t do this, turn back now”
How did that turn out for the Catholic Church…?
And can we assume the victims of these pastors, and their families, are given the same spa-like treatment and all-expenses paid relocation services to restore their lives after the trauma?
I suspect not. As the Bible says, “Look after your own, first and foremost.” Or am I misremembering that?
Balderdash on so many levels!
From the unbiblical adulation of pastors as ‘leaders’, the complete misunderstanding or misappropriation of the Old Testament events, to the very simple HR issue of performance. Forget about ‘sin’ unrepented. Not our affair. What counts is performance. If a church worker (that’s what pastors are) fails to meet their performance requirements, e.g. getting into a situation where an accusation of rape is plausible, they have failed. Go sell used cars.
“The Lodge” name is a dead giveaway.
This is not a Christian retreat, even if it is presented as such.
” Lodge ” is a Freemason term.
And all that goes with that.
Another commented that they support The Lodge concept if leadership attempts to make restitution with victims, report assault, and cooperate with authorities
Yeah, no kidding!
It’s like they believe the only thing Jeffrey Damer needed was some pampering at vacation resort with a little rest, relaxation, a couple good books, a few pushups and a more healthy sourse of protein.
It is important to work through these issues with pastors, but I find the dollar amount and time they’re willing to spend on the perpetrators vs the victims astounding. And the continued presence of the hierarchical “only people of equal or higher spiritual authority” in the recovery process is pretty nervy. When in all probability the reason they’re in the spot they are is because they think they’re superior to their victims. How sad for us as a church.
At the end of the day, folks like this are on the stage on due solely to the people in the pews who write the checks to build the stage. While there will always be a cost for so doing, there is the option to leave by that same door through which they entered. That door swings both ways. But, the cost of doing so will almost always accrue to the one leaving. Its costly to go against the flow when those in the flow don’t want it to be challenged. There’s always a cost for doing something and a cost for doing nothing. The cost for doing something is usually easily seen, perhaps even palpable, which is why it is often avoided. The cost of doing nothing is always more nebulous, more distant, etc. But ultimately, TNSTAAFL. (There’s No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
My husband and I do participate in giving to the legacy offering every year and monthly tithing, I’m unsure of the exact purpose for this lodge, but from where I’m sitting I think we could do a lot more to rehabilitate the persons as the get out of the state prisons and house them and help them get re-introduced back into society , my prayer is if there is anything going on that is not God honoring in anyway with leadership and overseers and money that it will be exposed ASAP and corrected , Satan would love to destroy all the good that has taken place at COTH with a scandal of some sort pertaining to money, sex and deception, surely our pastor and overseers are wiser than that. If indeed they are deceiving us it will be brought into the light. I praise God for the restitution that took place for Michael and his family. He is anointed and has a call on his life. I was blessed to be in his class at Highlands college evening course .
I encourage you to read the stories related to COTH and the Association of Related Churches (ARC) on our investigations page. There have been numerous scandals and leadership has not addressed them publicly: https://julieroys.com/investigations/arc/
This podcast is eye-opening, too, and explains why ARC’s methods are unbiblical: https://julieroys.com/podcast/former-arc-pastor-exposes-unbiblical-movement/
This church’s leaders seem to have entirely repudiated The Sermon On The Mount.