Why the name “High Mill”?

In 1975, in an attempt to give a group of “kids” an alternative activity during the summer months, some friends got together and started a fellowship Bible study. The group found a place to meet at an old farmhouse on the property of High Mill Swim Park in Massillon, Ohio. Attendance quickly grew to over fifty people and expanded to two nights a week. Soon Monday and Thursday night meetings were overflowing and each night took on a distinct flavor of ministry and fellowship.

As the fellowship grew and grew, it became apparent that there were a growing number of people who did not come out of a church background and did not have ties with another ministry. So shortly thereafter this realization, with the focus of reaching those who did not currently have a home church, the group started holding Sunday morning services in the barn at High Mill Swim Park. As a church, we took on the name “High Mill Christian Center.”

In the winter of 1978 it became apparent that we would have to find more suitable facilities for our meeting, so we rented the campus “barn” at Malone College for Sunday morning services. Though no official membership role existed, attendance doubled in size within four months.

During this time, another area church asked us to move our Thursday night meetings to their facility.

The meetings at Church of the Lakes were a great success in that they gave us a little more stability and saw many more people come to the Lord.

In November of 1979, with no money in the bank and much faith, High Mill purchased the former John Knox Presbyterian Church in Canton. A generous, anonymous donor from the local community stood up to co-sign on the purchase for this ragtag group of kids and, as a result, ministry continued in this facility for a number of years. When this building could no longer contain the growth, High Mill then sold the city property to another congregation and ventured out into the great unknown.

For almost a decade, High Mill took up residence in a local elementary school while waiting on God to provide for the construction of a new facility on nearby acreage. Many lessons were learned through those years in the schoolhouse as the congregation worked together and walked by faith. And, to the glory of God, we now function from a debt free facility valued at over $5 million.

The church name was changed in the 1990s from “High Mill Christian Center” to “High Mill Church of the Resurrection”. And, as a church, we have been witnesses of God breathing new life and fresh vision into His people.