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This story available online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09007<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09007

>Flip-flops and cowboy boots

New church in Santa Barbara Presbytery bridges the old and
the new

>by Erin Dunigan
>The Presbyterian Outlook
>Reprinted with permission

PASO ROBLES, CA ― When the Rev. Graham Baird was approached
about starting a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) new church
development here, his response hardly required a second
thought.

"That's the last thing I wanted to do," recalls Baird. At
the time he was an interim pastor in Red Bluff, CA, after
leaving a new church development in Texas that, in his
words, was a complete failure. But the request was a
persistent one.

"We went to Paso Robles to say no," Baird remembers about
the trip that he and his wife, Star, took to see the
proposed location for the new church. But when they got
there things changed. Baird and his wife were amazed at the
beauty of Paso Robles, a once small town in Central
California that is growing in part due to the many wineries
and the temperate climate.

"God, I don't know if you can do anything here or not, but
it is at least a beautiful place and incredible people,"
Baird remembers praying as he agreed to give it a try.

In a denomination with shrinking numbers and difficulties
attracting what Baird calls "the de-churched," Highlands
Church is something of a "success" story.

The first worship service was on Easter, 2006. It was
raining. But the postcard invitations had been sent out and
the chairs, 200 of them, had been rented. "We rented the
chairs, let's set them up," said Baird, who was to lead the
service along with Star and his brother, Jamie.

"We planned our sunrise service for 9:00 a.m.," Baird
remembers. At 8:55 is was just the three of them. "But at
8:56 a stream of cars was lined up looking like a field of
dreams," he says. That day 198 people came to worship.

"We began to think, 'Wow, this thing could work,'" says
Baird, "but then the next Sunday we were down to 40 and
thought, 'Okay, it might not work.'"

Two and a half years later, something seems to be "working"
at Highlands Church, with average Sunday attendance (though
Baird is a bit uncomfortable talking only in numbers) of
700-800 in the movie theater the church is renting until
their building is completed soon. The movie theater offers
an additional challenge ― "church" must be cleaned up
before the day's Noon matinee.

Editor's note: Highlands Church held its "Grand Opening" of
its new building on Jan. 4. ― Jerry L. Van Marter

"There were a lot of churches already in Paso Robles,"
Baird says. Forty-seven, to be exact. But Highlands Church
is different. Many of the other churches have a more
fundamentalist and dispensationalist theology.

Reformed theology, he suggests, helps people live their
lives in very practical ways and is needed in our world
today. "Our services might look more like Willow Creek, but
our polity is Presbyterian," says Baird, a third generation
Presbyterian minister.

"Our mission is to help the 'de-churched,'" he adds. The
term refers to those who have been in other churches but
were broken for some reason by that experience. "We don't
think are very many unchurched people in America," he
explains, noting that even television can offer a version
of "church" to those in American culture.

The result? Flip-flops and cowboy boots. Paso Robles, as
many towns in the country, is in the midst of a transition
between the old and new. "Old Paso is the Pioneer Day
Parade with cowboy boots and cowboy hats," explains Baird.

New Paso is more symbolized by the growing winery presence,
the designer jeans, and flip-flop crowd. "I think having
both together keeps it honest," says Baird. "It is a
fascinating convergence." At the moment he preaches in
cowboy boots, but admits that as Paso continues to change,
he will likely move to flip-flops.

Though styles of dress might be easy outward descriptors,
they are, of course, not what Highlands Church is all
about. Baird explains their thinking: "We care deeply about
connecting with broken people and we will sacrifice almost
anything to do that, including liturgy," he adds. Jesus
suspended orthodoxy regarding the Sabbath, eating and
healing, and he did it to connect with people.

"The liturgy we have in the church was comforting for how
people lived their lives in the 1500s, but is no longer
appropriate for today," Baird insists.

One of the ways Highlands Church is trying to connect is by
intentionally using secular music in worship. "Reformed
theology has always taken that which is fallen and
re-identified it with Christ," he explains.

"I think connecting is huge. If people in your town are
wearing cowboy boots, you've got to wear them. If they are
wearing flip-flops, wear them." It is not about the shoes,
but about connecting with the people the way they live.

"We have this notion that we have to come in and change the
society we are in, but we also have to be open to the
various needs to be transformed by society and yet maintain
our convictions," Baird says.

A lot of new church developments is just starting new
churches in the old format, he admits. "But there are
plenty of those out there already so why bother?"

His convictions stand for both Highlands Church and the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). "I went into this hoping to
reform our denomination from the congregational level ... If
we continue to decline, we lose something valuable for
Christianity in America ... We are going to lose an entire
generation because they are going to leave or fizzle out,"
he worries. "This just can't happen."

To find out more about Highlands Church, visit the Web site
[www.helphighlands.org].

Erin Dunigan is a freelance writer/photographer living in
Newport Beach, CA.

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