A Pentecostal Family on Red Bug Road in Shallotte
Highest Praise Church sits on Red Bug Road SW in Shallotte, the small Brunswick County town between Wilmington and the South Carolina line. The congregation gathers in a Main Sanctuary at 19 Red Bug Road, with a second Upper Building just up the road at 61 Red Bug Road that houses student programs, Next Step gatherings, and overflow space. Founded in 1999 by Pastors Sherwood and Kim Lancaster with eighteen members, Highest Praise still carries that original purpose: to see lives changed and the kingdom of God advanced.
Today the church runs two Sunday services, a Wednesday mid-week gathering, and a Thursday night Life Group semester, all anchored in a Pentecostal theology that places the Bible, the gifts of the Spirit, water baptism, and Spirit baptism at the center of Christian life. A complete children's wing runs from six-week-old nursery through fifth grade, a middle school and high school program meets on Wednesdays, and a young-adults community gathers the same evening for ages eighteen through twenty-five. Behind all of it sits Southeastern Christian Academy, a weekday school for ages three through twelfth grade operated by the church.
A Sunday Morning at Highest Praise
Drivers pulling onto the campus are met by parking attendants who wave them into a space, and a Welcome Tent near the entrance that the Welcome Team staffs each Sunday. First-time guests who let the team know they are new get help checking in children, a quick tour of the building, and a free T-shirt before service begins. Water, coffee, and pastries are available in the cafe area, also free of charge.
Two identical Sunday services meet at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM. Worship is contemporary, and the messages are preached by Pastor Sherwood Lancaster. Nursery care and HP Kids programming run during both services so that families with young children can attend together. The dress code is intentionally relaxed: the church invites guests to wear whatever they want.
For newcomers who want to go deeper, the church runs a Next Step class on the first Sunday of every month. It meets at 9:00 AM in the Upper Building at 61 Red Bug Road and walks through the history of the church, the vision of the pastors, the different departments, and places to serve. Pastors and ministry leaders are present to answer questions, and a few serve opportunities are offered for sign-up on the spot. The church encourages first-time guests to text WELCOME to 910-725-5050, or to fill out a digital connect card, to be flagged for the Welcome Team.
Wednesday Nights and the Upper Building
The mid-week gathering, called MDWK, begins at 6:30 PM in the Main Sanctuary. Worship opens the night, followed by a teaching from Pastor Lancaster that, recent series have shown, often moves through Old Testament stories with a focus on perseverance, miracles, and the person of Jesus. Nursery and HP Kids programming run at the same time as on Sundays.
After worship, the youth and young adults transition to the Upper Building for their own age-specific programs. HP Middle School (grades 6 through 8) and HP High School (grades 9 through 12) each meet in their own spaces with monthly trips added for connection and outreach. HP Young Adults, for ages 18 to 25, meets the same Wednesday at 6:30 PM with coffee, worship, and teaching geared to people in college, early career, or transitional seasons of life.
Thursday Life Groups
Life Groups meet on Thursday evenings at 6:30 PM at the Main Sanctuary, typically running on a quarterly semester with new topics introduced each season. The purpose stated by the church is discipleship, fellowship, and Christian connection, and the groups are open to anyone in the community, not just church members. Registration opens a few weeks before each semester, some groups charge a fee that covers a workbook, and space tends to fill quickly.
Children, Students, and Young Adults
Generational ministry is one of the defining marks of Highest Praise. HP Kids Jr. serves children from six weeks old through four years during every Sunday and Wednesday service, with classrooms designed to feel safe and age-appropriate. HP Kids covers kindergarten through fifth grade and uses worship, Bible teaching, and hands-on activities to introduce children to Jesus. Both programs are led by Family Pastor Hannah Hamilton and HP Kids Pastors Matt and Emily Peoples, with Amanda Morrison directing HP Kids Jr.
For older students, Ryan and Ashley McCoy lead HP High School, while CJ and Jordan Walker pastor HP Middle School. Both groups meet Wednesdays at 6:30 PM and add monthly trips to build friendships and serve together. Jordan Lancaster, an executive pastor and son of the founders, leads HP Young Adults, the bridge between the student ministries and the adult congregation. Each age band has its own social media presence so parents and students can stay connected during the week.
Southeastern Christian Academy
Southeastern Christian Academy is the church's weekday school, serving children from age three through twelfth grade. The academy describes its purpose as intentionally spirit-led education that raises up passionate believers of Jesus Christ, offering elementary and high school programs along with an after-school program. The academy is run as a ministry of the church rather than a separate entity, and job applications for Highest Praise staff include agreement with both the church's bylaws and the academy's policies.
What Highest Praise Believes
The statement of faith lists twenty-two core beliefs. Highest Praise teaches that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that there is one God eternally existent in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and that repentance, justification, the new birth, sanctification, and holiness are central to Christian life. Water baptism is practiced, and the church teaches a distinct baptism with the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of that filling. The statement affirms spiritual gifts, the fruit of the Spirit, divine healing provided in the atonement, the Lord's Supper, tithing and giving, the premillennial second coming of Christ with a thousand-year reign on earth, resurrection, eternal life for the righteous, and eternal punishment for the wicked.
On marriage and sexuality, the statement defines marriage as the permanent, exclusive union of one man and one woman, teaches that sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful, and holds that people should affirm their biological sex.
Missions at Home and Abroad
Highest Praise takes the Great Commission seriously enough to have built a year-round missions program around it. The church supports three primary partners. Heart & Soul exists to meet runaway and homeless men and women in some of the densest cities in the United States, providing meal cards so that no one is without a basic human need; the church commissions Heart & Soul teams annually. Portia, working with Overland Missions, focuses on the Middle East and North Africa region and the broader 10/40 window, where unreached people groups make up the majority of the population; the church helps send her team to communicate Christ in remote places, with an emphasis on disciple-making and leadership development. Turner Missions is the third partner, focused on bringing a divine awakening to the nations.
Each year the church family donates hundreds of Christmas shoeboxes that are delivered to children in Guatemala. Members can pick up a box, give $5, choose an age group, fill the box with recommended items, and return it, or simply give $25 and let the team shop on their behalf.
Next Step, Giving, and Staying Connected
The Next Step pathway is the church's on-ramp from attending to serving. After the first-Sunday class, members are paired with ministry leaders, explore church tools and the app, and are invited to sign up for serve opportunities. The church runs a daily devotional by email, a text list, and a Church Center app for events, registrations, and giving. Online giving and a prayer request form are available.
For visitors who prefer a planned arrival, a Plan My Visit form collects basic information so the team can prepare for a family's first Sunday. The Welcome Tent, the free coffee, the children's check-in, and the MDWK service option are all designed to make a first visit feel low-pressure.
The Pastoral Team
Senior Pastors Sherwood and Kim Lancaster continue to lead the congregation they founded. Their son, Jordan Lancaster, and his wife Chelsea serve as Executive Pastors, with Jordan also pastoring HP Young Adults. Kirby Whitley serves as Care Pastor, while Barry and Kayliegh Oser oversee Connections and Melodie and Mark Bryant lead the Guest Experience team that runs the Welcome Tent and first-time guest follow-up. Hannah Hamilton is Family Pastor and HP Kids Director, joined by Matt and Emily Peoples as HP Kids Pastors and Amanda Morrison as HP Kids Jr. Director. Ryan and Ashley McCoy lead the Student ministries, and CJ and Jordan Walker pastor HP Middle School. Kirsten Anderson serves as Media Director and Sonni Noble as Prayer Director, while Michael, Mark, and Tristen look after the Facilities Team. Recent sermons from Pastor Sherwood are available with both video on YouTube and audio through a podcast feed.
The Heart of the Church
Highest Praise describes itself as a place where families flourish, where the presence of God is encountered in worship, and where life-changing messages from the Bible are taught with both challenge and care. The leadership frames the church around three commitments: salvation and freedom in Jesus Christ, intentional ministry to children and young people, and a heart for the surrounding city and the nations beyond it. Whether a family arrives for the first 9:00 AM service, joins the Wednesday MDWK gathering, drops a child at Southeastern Christian Academy on a weekday, or sends a shoebox to Guatemala at Christmas, the ministry is built to keep pointing people toward the same center: lives changed and God's kingdom advanced.