Highpoint Church leaving Arlington campus as Andy Savage-related investigation continues

Ron Maxey | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Andy Savage admitted to sexual assault allegations Highpoint Church pastor Andy Savage admitted to having a sexual encounter with a high school student while working as a youth pastor in Texas.

Highpoint, the church from which Andy Savage resigned because of a 20-year-old sexual assault, is closing its Arlington campus after failing to find a permanent home.

Lead Pastor Chris Conlee, in a video posted last Friday, said the last service in Arlington will be June 24. Dustin May, pastor of the Arlington campus, will move to Highpoint's Collierville church as teaching and community pastor. Remaining Arlington staff members will blend into the East Memphis campus after determining their "highest and best use," according to Conlee.

More: Andy Savage resigns from Highpoint Church following investigation

More: Andy Savage: Texas legal group to investigate Highpoint Church ministries

The downsizing to two campuses for the megachurch is the latest blow for a congregation that weathered a months-long storm after a 1998 sexual assault incident involving Savage came to light in January. Savage, who resigned in March following an investigation by an outside attorney, was not at the Arlington location.

Conlee did not mention Savage in his remarks about the Arlington shutdown. He said the decision was made after Macon Road Baptist Church, which had housed Highpoint's Arlington congregation for about two years, decided to move forward in another direction.

"As we were discussing our future options with Macon Road, they informed us of their long-term intention to pursue a new lead pastor to succeed Pastor (Wayne) Webb when he retires."

Conlee said Highpoint's agreement with Macon Road gave Highpoint the option to terminate the agreement if Macon Road pursued a successor for Webb.

Highpoint, Conlee said, "unsuccessfully explored many opportunities throughout the Arlington-Lakeland area" but added: "In light of their (Macon Road's) recent decision and our current circumstances, we feel it's best to bring our Highpoint family back to East Memphis and Collierville."

No one from Macon Road Baptist could be reached for comment.

Highpoint Administrator Jim Pritchard said, meanwhile, that an evaluation of the church's practices regarding children by Fort Worth, Texas-based MinistrySafe is still in progress.

"We are working with MinistrySafe but have no dates to say will be concluded," Pritchard said by email.

The evaluation was one of the results of the Savage case. MinistrySafe was retained to assess and enhance child protection protocols at the church.

It follows a separate investigation into Savage's ministry by Fort Worth attorney Scott Fredricks. That investigation results in Savage's March resignation from his role as a teaching pastor at Highpoint.

Savage's fall culminated more than two months of accusations and soul-searching over a case that became symbolic of the #churchtoo offshoot of the #metoo movement.

Jules Woodson accused Savage of sexually assaulting her when she was a 17-year-old high school senior and he was her 22-year-old youth pastor at Woodlands Parkway Baptist Church in suburban Houston, Texas.

For members, the turmoil that started with Savage and continues with the Arlington closing has been trying.

"It saddens me to see it all happening, and my hope is that after it is all said and done, we can move forward and build a church members and Memphis can be proud of," said Steven Russell.

Russell added, on Twitter, that it feels like things are being "hidden" by the church leadership and have to be discovered by monitoring personnel changes on the church website.

"You can gather and play a game of 'who isn't there anymore' by checking back once a week," Russell tweeted. "As a church member it is both depressing and frustrating ... especially that I have to find out that way."

Really pays to pay attention to the @hpmemphis "Meet The Staff" page lately.



You can gather and play a game of "who isn't there anymore" by checking back once a week.



As a church member it is both depressing and frustrating...especially that I have to find out that way. — steven russell (@stevenrussell) June 11, 2018

In another tweet, Russell said the church's leadership is "underestimating the amount of talking that is taking place by congregants. It is eroding faith in leadership because it feels like things are being hidden."