Virginia SR 65: Commending Highlands Fellowship Church.

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2020 SESSION

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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 65 

Commending Highlands Fellowship Church. 

Agreed to by the Senate, March 8, 2020 

WHEREAS, for 25 years, Highlands Fellowship Church has provided 
spiritual leadership, conducted generous outreach, and built a strong sense of 
community in Southwest Virginia; and

WHEREAS, in 1994, Jimmie Davidson and his family moved to 
Abingdon to establish Highlands Fellowship Church, which was originally known 
as Virginia Highlands Christian Fellowship; and

WHEREAS, Highlands Fellowship Church held its first service on 
Easter Sunday in 1995, with Jimmie Davidson as its founding pastor; the 
congregation met at a community center and in a local school until 2000, when 
it purchased its own building; and 

WHEREAS, Highlands Fellowship Church opened a campus in 
Bristol in 2006 and has since opened Virginia locations in Marion, Wise, and 
Bluefield, as well as a location in Johnson City, Tennessee; the church also streams 
Sunday services online to congregants around the world; and 

WHEREAS, Allen Jessee became lead pastor of Highlands 
Fellowship Church in 2012, and the church has grown significantly in both faith 
and number under his leadership; and 

WHEREAS, Highlands Fellowship Church engages with young people 
through its Tri-Cities Speed School, Highlands Fellowship Students, and HFKidz 
ministries, and its Celebrate Recovery ministry helps members of the community 
in need to overcome life�s challenges; and

WHEREAS, in 2018, Highlands Fellowship Church partnered with 
Bluefield College to launch HF College, an accredited program that allows 
students to gain practical experience in ministry; and

WHEREAS, in addition to its missionary work in France, 
Tanzania, Kenya, and Thailand, Highlands Fellowship Church has developed 
strategic partnerships with churches around the world and trained nearly 400 
global pastoral leaders; and

WHEREAS, Highlands Fellowship Church operates two thrift 
stores in Abingdon and Bristol that serve approximately 700 people each week; 
the church also has a ministry called Simple Rhythms inside the Birthplace of 
Country Music Museum in Bristol; and

WHEREAS, one of Highlands Fellowship Church�s most popular 
outreach events was Love Week, which spread joy and fellowship to thousands of 
people in Virginia and Tennessee in 2019; and

WHEREAS, over the course of its history, Highlands Fellowship 
Church has served generations of Southwest Virginia residents, baptizing more 
than 4,500 people, and has helped countless others find a spiritual home, where 
they are respected, accepted, and cared for; now, therefore, be it 

RESOLVED by the Senate of Virginia, That Highlands Fellowship 
Church hereby be commended on the occasion of its 25th anniversary; and, be it 

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy 
of this resolution for presentation to Allen Jessee, lead pastor of Highlands 
Fellowship Church, as an expression