FAQs
The Bridge Community Church
an independent, Biblical church
FAQ’s about The Bridge
1. What are your normal service times and how do I find you?
We meet at 9:00 and 10:45 on Sunday mornings at The Bridge Community Church at 301 Lore Ln. in Leadington, MO. Lore Lane is between Better Bodies and Elizabeth Hall on the East Service Road of Hwy. 67 South. Just look for the ‘the big White Chocolate Kiss” (Steve Fee) on the hill — our building is hard to miss.
2. What is your children’s ministry like?
Bridge Kids meet on Sunday mornings. During the 9:00 worship service we offer care for nursery and toddlers and a preschool class for children ages 3-5 years old. The preschool suite is located on the first floor. At 10:45 preschool classes include nursery, toddlers, beginners and preschoolers. Children enjoy praise and worship, Bible story time, and classroom time where the learning is hands-on!
We recently DOUBLED our children’s ministry space with the opening of UPTOWN, which is a totally cool (according to kids) 5,000 square foot facility for kids in grades K-5. Children in grades K-5 meet during the 10:45 worship celebration time. Uptown is located on the second and third floors.
Our BK staff LOVES kids and our goal is to support parents in teaching kids that they too can choose to follow God. This is far more than just Sunday School. We want our children to understand what being Gospel-centered and missional looks like and have a quality understanding of the Bible by the time they move on to middle school. Bridge Kids’ large group sessions are high tech and high energy with great Biblical lessons. Every week is like Vacation Bible School – Awesome! After praise & worship and the Bible story presentation in large group the children split up into their age appropriate cell families, just like the adults and youth, where they learn to apply the Bible teaching to their everyday lives. On the 1st Sunday of each month at 10:15, we have Family Worship Time where parents come and worship with their children and learn all about what they are studying in Bridge Kids. Watch for that schedule on this website.
3. What about youth?
Our youth ministry is called FUSION. Our youth get their discipleship, fellowship, and connections in their own cell families that meet in homes once a week. They will have two adult leaders in each of these cell families. Also, FUSION gets all the youth together on the second Monday of every month at the new building at 6:30. At this FUSION, the kids eat, experience worship and of course some Bible, meet new youth to the church, and just hang out. The youth also experience up to 15 organized social events like concerts, trips to Six Flags, to movies, etc. just to have a good time together. These are called foyer events, but there is always a “disciples making disciples” component to their good time. The Bridge also runs its own youth camp in the summer, and we go on a mission trip each summer. Many of our youth very unselfishly serve the other four ministries of the church with their time by serving on the tech team, doing childcare during classes & cell family meetings, and working in Bridge Kids.
4. What do I wear to a weekend service?
Come as you are! We care about you – not about what you wear, but most people dress casual. There are always a few suit and ties also — and are welcome.
5. Is The Bridge a “Charismatic” church?
The answer is ‘yes and no.’ Yes, if you mean do we believe that all of the spiritual gifts of the Bible still exist today. No, if you mean that we place a major emphasis on the gifts of tongues, healing, and miracles in our celebration services.
6. Why “high commitment” membership and leadership requirements?
First of all, all that we do is to make Jesus famous. This whole thing is just a small chapter in HIS story. As a church, it should be pointed out that our main focus is on people and their relationship with Christ. WE ARE GOSPEL-CENTERED AND MISSIONAL. We believe that our job as a church is help God ‘make disciples who make disciples.’ We do that by being Gospel-centered and missional. Come check out what that means! We want all people to be very comfortable here without a lot of pressure about high levels of commitment as they are working through the most important decision of their life which is what to do with Jesus Christ and His love, grace, and mercy. However, once a person has come into a right relationship with Christ and have “repented and believed the Gospel,” been baptized, and decided to proceed with being a full-time member of this organization called The Bridge, we want that person to understand that we take the training of a member very serious. Therefore membership at The Bridge involves a series of trainings and commitments that ensure that the potential member understands what being a part of this church is all about. Membership at The Bridge is about leadership.
We understand that being a member of “the body of Christ” does not require being a member of our church; therefore, a person is welcome to hang around and even have some roles in ministry without joining and be in perfectly good standing with God in the Kingdom. However, we feel that Biblically-mandated discipleship requires strong participation in the local church, so a set of classes and commitments are required to join. We feel that this opportunity creates an awareness of what living a committed life of a disciple at The Bridge is all about. All members agree to participate in a weekly cell family, commit to weekly worship, agree to work in a couple of Bridge ministries and commit to moving on through The Leadership Seminar as soon as possible. Any member then qualifies to lead in many roles around the church. Cell family leaders, Board of Elders members, or leaders in the children’s or youth ministry must be members.
Lastly, the vision of the church is one that believes that all members are missionaries and ministry leaders, so all members will begin to progress through what we call “The Leadership Seminar” at their own pace. This seminar requires completion of the Alpha Course (12 weeks), completion of a Bible study, and a 10-week Crown Financial training. We also recommend completing the Peacemakers small group study on how to Biblically handle conflict, and we recommend that our leaders go through GAP’s Conquering Addiction program to learn about “all of life being repentance.” Leadership Seminar graduates agree to attend a conference once a year at their own expense. We believe very strongly in developing an awareness of the Body of Christ away from The Bridge, so one outside ministry training is also required each year at the member’s expense. Some of these are one day adventures and very inexpensive. Each Leadership Seminar graduate will also agree to participate in one local mission trip and one international mission trip once every four years. We have a group building homes in Haiti this summer. It is a main mission of the church to train all members through the entire process, but there will not be pressure to do so – just opportunity. The Bible is clear that there is no such thing as a believer who is not growing; therefore; we simply want to encourage that growth in every way possible by constantly striving to complete these requirements and beyond. To summarize, The Bridge will be a haven to the poor, brokenhearted, and captives (Isaiah 61) – all are welcome to come and patiently find their niche in the Kingdom of God. However, once attenders have committed to Christ, high commitment opportunities will constantly be extended.
7. Is The Bridge a part of a denomination?
No, but we are not anti-denomination. All of the leadership team has denominational backgrounds, and we think that they still have validity. We have six ordained pastors who are members of The Bridge that serve a role in keeping us very grounded in orthodox Christian doctrine. We use a team of outside ordained pastors from five different solid denominations to serve as our “Biblical Overseer.” A list of these pastors is presented in membership training and is available upon request. However, our primary focus is to form a discipled body of believers who will clearly understand the mission of the church which is to develop our intimate relationship with Christ, our cell relationships with each other, and to be sent out missionally into our community and the world. We are making application to ECFA which is the national financial accountable organization started by Billy Graham. We feel that it is very important that everyone be held accountable by a respected church authority. We already have developed many partners in the mission field locally and worldwide. Our goal is to glorify Christ and we feel that the partnerships that we have developed are a positive in attaining that Biblical goal.
8. How does The Bridge view the sacraments?
The Bridge will observe two sacraments. We feel that it is important for every believer to be baptized (commanded by the Great Commission – Matthew 28:19). Since baptism is such a priority, many times a year the church will have special baptism services to baptize new believers. We have a great deal of confidence in the validity of other denominations, so previous baptisms will be accepted. Also, we will observe the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) once a month in corporate worship. Communion at The Bridge is open to anyone who has surrendered their life to Christ as Lord and Savior. This sacrament will also be observed during the week occasionally at our cell groups and other events.
9. What is The Bridge’s stance on “controversial” subjects?
When it comes to doctrine, culture, preferences, traditions, lifestyles, politics, behavior, etc., The Bridge looks to scripture for the answers. When scripture is clear, then we land where it guides us in any of these areas. However, when scripture is not clear or is silent pertaining to a specific subject, then we allow room for differences when it comes to secondary matters. We encourage unity among the diversity of expressions found at The Bridge. The bottom line is we’re remaining true to our original vision which means we must always have love and concern for our friends so that we don’t enjoy our freedom at the expense of their faith. We seek to simultaneously heed the Bible’s commands to have sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16; Titus 1:9, 2:1), to love our Christian brothers and sisters (1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 4:7-21), and to avoid unnecessary divisions (Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 1:10, 12:25; Titus 3:10).
10. What are the four steps to the initial membership at The Bridge?
Each class is approximately a one-hour block of time. We actually do all four classes in one Sunday afternoon now, so that we can free up more time for the members to actually be a “disciple who makes disciples.” Folks who attend classes are welcome to sign their covenants at the class or take them for period of praying and fasting to make sure that The Bridge is the place for them to develop their discipleship, leadership, and parenting (mentoring). Here is a basic summary of each step:
Step One – What is The Bridge all about?
As we discuss the vision of The Bridge, this session becomes very spiritual. The importance of a committed relationship with Jesus Christ is the focal point of the session. WE ARE GOSPEL-CENTERED and MISSIONAL. “The Bridge” is focused on the “The Great Commandment” of Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40 which is all about a surrendered, intimate relationship with Christ. “Love the Lord your God with all of your mind, all of your heart, and all of your strength.” (NIV) The Bible is discussed as being a centerpiece for this relationship since it shows us that since we were separated from God at the Fall, and then completes the restoration story by revealing God’s redemptive plan to restore obedient men and women into the Garden (heaven). Once a person has BELIEVED IT (the true Gospel of Christ and placed his full faith and trust in Him), This class will begin to discuss the distinctive vision of The Bridge that every Christian needs 6-12 people that form their “missional cell family” where they will most efficiently GROW IT and SEND IT missionally. The IT is always the Gospel. Questions are welcome as the leadership wants all potential members to really understand this magnificent vision of a first-century church right here in the 21st century. Therefore, The Bridge exists
to Believe IT
Grow IT
Send IT!
Step Two – Believe IT, Grow IT and Sent IT thru Missional Cell Family
The distinctive vision and mission of The Bridge is to connect every believer into a small group of like-minded individuals who will focus on the needs of the members (ministers), mentor others in discipleship (disciples who make disciples) and go on mission together. Our goal is really to have 100 of these small churches or cell families of 6-24 people functioning in unity and on mission at The Bridge. God desires that every Christian have a set of people who pray for him or her every day, study the Bible with once a week or more, and fellowship with as often as possible. Then, this group will become missional and send out what they know. This is the group of people who should be the first ones to visit a member in the hospital or to sit with him or her after losing a loved one. The Bridge will be very intentional in helping to form that group for each member. Each member is required to meet with this cell family once a week, commit to daily Bible experiences, and to prayer. Step 2 focuses on the Biblical commitment, “Love one another as yourself.” Matthew 22:39 (NIV), and “Go make disciples.” Matthew 28:19.
Step Three – Believe IT, Grow IT & Send IT thru Contribute
The Bridge asks for three weekly commitments: Celebration, Cell, and Contribute and Contribute is split up into three areas and that is what we focus on this class. The first area is our service or our Call. In Step 3, each Bridge member is asked to consistently serve one of the five ministries of The Bridge. Bridge members are asked to serve in a ministry that may not be in their spiritual gifts just so the church can function (i.e. mowing, counting, setting up and tearing down facilities, nursery, etc. They are might serve either Bridge Kids, our Youth, or GAP, or First Impressions by finding their gifts and making a significant impact in people’s lives. In this class, we learn about the five ministries of The Bridge and how members can start serving how God created them to serve. The other two areas of Contribute are covered in Step 4.
Step Four – Celebration: The Commitments of a Bridge Member
The second area of Contribute is Biblical giving. Jesus taught on how to handle our resources more than any other subject, so The Bridge will never dodge this subject. As a matter of fact, two major trainings (The Treasure Principle, Crown Financial, and we use a little Dave Ramsey) are used to help us discover that God owns everything — all of creation is His — and find ways to take care of two primary Biblical commands about money: 1) to get out of debt (Romans 13:8), and 2) become a committed, cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). The third area of Contribute is in the area of mentorship. We believe that every believer should have a mentor and at the same time be mentoring someone. We provide a lot of info in Step 3 on this and then much more training later as we get started with this exciting part of The Bridge.
Every Bridge Member will commit…
- …to weekly Celebration worship attendance. If a member is in town, he or she needs to have every intention of being in church. If out of town, “The Bridge” will be happy to help every member find a healthy, well-balanced church to attend.
- …to weekly fellowship, discipleship, and mission with a Cell family. After a member responds to God’s grace, the #1 goal of the church is to move that member toward the location of their missional cell family. The Bridge will provide a lot of direction in forming the member’s group, provide a lot of resources for the group, and monitor the group for needs. The cell family really functions as a small church with its own missional calling.
- …to all three areas of Contribute. We can quickly find an area for the member to serve one of the five ministries: 1. Cell, 2. Sunday Morning Celebration, 3. GAP, 4. Bridge Kids, or 5. Youth. The second involves a commitment to Biblical giving of finances, and the third involves committing to the mentorship program.
- …to the Leadership Seminar which involves participating in our Alpha course, in our Story of God Bible Study, in Crown Financial, and to a yearly outside training and a mission trip every four years.
- …to a daily quiet time with God. At least fifteen minutes of Bible and prayer each morning to ensure a maturing relationship with God are necessary. We recommend three Bible experiences daily. The Great Commission commands the church to make disciples who make disciples – not church members or pew sitters. All members of God’s church are Biblically required to Grow IT, so The Bridge emphasizes the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible.
11. Why should I put so much emphasis on children or youth; my kids are grown and gone?
It is part of our vision that every member take responsibility for the development of our children and youth, so we feel that it is important for every member to check in and see what is going on with these ministries occasionally. The church will be responsible for clear communication about these ministries as well, so that checking is easy. Members will know who to contact, and where events are taking place easily, so that taking this responsibility seriously is simple. All members need to experience how fulfilling it is to serve as a drama participant in a BRIDGE KIDS children’s class or on a youth counseling team once in a while even if they do not serve full-time in those ministries. Our children and youth will also be required to serve the main congregation in many ways so that they develop a sense of the vision of “The Bridge” as well. As an example, some older youth will be asked work in the Bridge Kids ministry once in a while. The main emphasis of Bridge Kids is to resource parents to be able to Gospel-center their children in discipleship.
12. How much does it cost to go to The Bridge?
Nothing. We do have an offering every week, but it is for our regular worshipers; we do not expect our guests to contribute. The service is our gift to you.
13. How can I trust The Bridge with my financial contributions?
The Bridge takes its role of Biblical financial integrity very serious. We have contracted a CPA to provide monthly reports of the financial activity of the church. Also, our counters and depositors are highly trained and full of integrity with multiple checks and balances to insure that every dollar given gets to God’s ministry. All ministry teams are required to supply receipts or an invoice before funds can be released. Most of all, our relationship with ECFA requires a yearly outside audit of the entire ministry each year. Our books, including these CPA reports and ECFA audits, are available upon request anytime at the church office.
14. Do you offer counseling at The Bridge?
We are strong believers in nouthetic, Biblical counseling. We do not currently employ staff counselors, but we have access to a tremendous counseling system.
15. How do I submit a prayer request?
Our connect cards during our worship celebrations on Sunday morning contain a place for requesting prayer. There is also a prayer request book on our altar during worship. We also have a large prayer network that includes members of other churches that pray for these needs all the time. To access that network, call Mary at 573-756-4301 or MurphyandMary@wmconnect.com or Tracy at 573-756-1535 or tupchurch@centralr3.org. Please be specific with how confidential you want the request to be.
