Invest into the best 12 months of your life.
We believe God’s vision for our life is found in discipleship, growth and development, and At Highlands, that is our vision for you too.
Highlands Leadership Academy (HLA) has been designed to equip, train, challenge and empower you to step into all that God has called you to. With theological units, pastoral coaching and practical opportunities to outwork your gifts, we believe you will see a great growth with this investment in your own discipleship.
Why don’t you make the courageous decision to accelerate your discipleship by investing a year into HLA? We would love to be a part of your journey even more!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
At the completion of HLA you will have:
Gained an understanding of genuine discipleship and effective church ministry.
Learnt to lead in a team environment.
Developed your ministry and leadership skills through practical experience and coaching.
Received mentoring from Pastors and Leaders from Highlands and across International Network of Churches (INC).
Strengthened your understanding of God and His calling for your life.
Been given opportunities to be challenged and empowered to discover and develop your natural and spiritual giftings.
dates
HLA runs from February to November 2019.
ages
You must be over 18 years old or have finished Year 12.
fees
AU $3000
Fees include an international Mission Experience (with airfares), registration costs for events that you will be serving at, course content and additional resources.
Each application has a $500 non-refundable enrolment fee included in total fee.
schedule
Academic Day – Tuesday 8.30am – 5.00pm
Ministry Day – One day a week (outside of Tuesday) depending on Ministry Area
Services Day – At all Sunday services
Additional Events – Prayer & Praise, Women’s & Men’s Events
faq
Highlands Church started in 1978 with a passionate group of young adults. Known as Christian Outreach Centre Toowoomba, the church quickly grew and saw many people begin to follow Jesus in a life-giving way. The church has continued to influence the Darling Downs, starting a Prep-Y12 College in 1987 and an Early Learning Centre. We are a part of the International Network of Churches (INC), originally known as Christian Outreach Centre, with hundreds of churches worldwide.
We have ample parking areas on site. We recommend that you park closest to church if there are available spots, turning left as you come in from Hume St. Otherwise, please use our bigger carpark (turn right as you come in from Hume St). We have a buggy team that will be ready for you to be dropped close to church for your convenience! For bigger events, we will open up extra parking spots, so please just follow the signage to find it.
Please note we have disabled carparks closest to the church for your convenience.
Yes! We have our Highlands Kids program (for children aged 1 – Year 6) running during every service. At each of these, our Team focus on creating a warm, engaging environment for each child to have fun and connect with God. With worship, games, small connect groups and led by an incredible trained Team, we know it’s going to be your child’s favourite part of the week!
Highlands Kids check-in opens 15 minutes before every service. Follow the signage to get to the check-in stations.
Our heart at Highlands is that you feel welcomed from the moment you arrive, to the moment you get in your car! Our Teams will be there to help you – from welcoming you, helping you find a carpark, leading you through, driving you to the building on a buggy if you’ve parked far away; right through to answering any questions, helping you check in your children, and helping you get connected with other people in our community.
Please let any of our Team know it’s your first time, as we’d love to give you a complimentary drink voucher. Anyone wearing a Highlands lanyard around their neck will be able to help you.
If you have any questions about anything mentioned during the service, please come and see us at the Info Point after the service.
As a part of the HLA experience, you will be serving at weekend services and at all church-wide events such as Prayer & Praise nights, Growth Track, Leadership Nights, Women’s Events and Men’s Events.
There are some assessments, but these are based around reflecting on what you’ve learnt throughout the year rather than proving that you can retain information.
Throughout the year you’ll receive readings and we will provide handpicked leadership and theological books with no additional expense.
Although learning is one of the key components, it is intentional that this course is not externally accredited as we desire to prioritise the discipleship process over just the academic process. We believe the content is accreditation level worthy but we value the flexibility that our own courses provide. By not paying an external body, it has enabled us to reduce cost significantly, yet still include Highlands Church events and the Mission Experience component in the price, including all airfares! As HLA is not externally accredited, there is no HECS-HELP (Aust) available for this program.
We will take your preferred department into consideration during the application process, but due to limited spots, you may be placed in a different one.
let us know you’re interested!
CONTACT US
CONTACT US