Written by: Raegan Blake and Eva Resz
High Point Chinese Seventh-day Adventist Church, which had been holding worship services in Mabel Wood Hall since May 2023, recently moved to the old SuCasa building. The church now worships in the church building located on Colcord Drive behind the Bietz Center for Student Life, which is the former location of the Collegedale Spanish-American Seventh-day Adventist Church (SuCasa).
On Sept. 7, High Point held its first worship service at the new location. The week before, volunteers gathered to prepare the space for worship services by repainting the interior, according to Dennis Li, pastor of High Point.
The new location will serve as a temporary home for the congregation, as it hopes to raise funds to build a new church building. The new church building will be a multi-purpose church built on S. Lee Highway on a 3.6 acre plot, according to Li. He plans to incorporate a community center, school and church within the future building.
Li said the High Point church has a burden for student involvement and everyone is welcome to come to the new location to use their talents for God’s glory.
“High Point is there on campus for students,” Li said in an interview with the Accent. “If you are anxious about getting involved with different ministries, then High Point is there for you.”
Li said, “God has blessed everyone with their uniqueness, and everybody plays a crucial part in the church family. We want everybody to come together as a family and reach out. We want people to know that we are the group who are here to serve.”
In a past interview with the Accent, Li described High Point as a family atmosphere where students can find belonging and a place to actively participate in various ministries, including church leadership, youth ministries, music and sports.
“We want people to know [that] no matter where you’re from, what language you speak, what culture you have in Jesus Christ, we have one family,” Li said.
According to Li, the change has allowed him to plan more ways for the church to be involved in students’ and community members’ lives.
Previously, High Point held its church service in Ackerman Auditorium in Mabel Wood Hall and held its Sabbath School classes in Advent Health Hall. While the space was appreciated, Li was looking for a location where the congregation could become more involved in leadership, outreach and Bible studies.
“I really appreciate the School of Nursing and the School of Music for opening a door for us, for allowing us to use that for a year,” said Li, “But it’s different because we can use that for a day, which is good, but it’s really not a church setting.”
According to Li, the university had other plans for SuCasa’s previous church.
“But they saw our needs,” he said. “They understand that this is very important for our church family, also for students. So they allow us to use this building for church and for our temporary home.”
Although this is a temporary building, Li said, “It’s such a blessing. We have been praying for a place we can use seven days a week, and everybody’s so excited to be able to have this new location. Now, we have our own kitchen, and we have all our classrooms as well.”
Daniel Zhao, sophomore nursing major, has been attending High Point since he arrived at Southern in 2023. He shared that having the new building has been a positive change in his experience at High Point.
Zhao said, “This is the first time I found an actual Chinese church in America, and we always sing a song at the end of every sermon, called ‘In Jesus Christ We are One Family.’ The church really gives me a feeling of belonging, a family away from my family.
