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Each year, at the end of September, we celebrate our birthday as a church. 19 years ago we launched out with a preview service and then our very first service. Over 180 people joined us as we started our journey together at the Carmike Theater on Reynolda Road, just 1 mile from our current facility.  

Bridges started as a dream to reach people who wouldn’t attend a traditional church, a place where people could come as they are and find others focused on loving God, loving people and serving the world. Over the years, we have met at several different locations, connected with a lot of people, and seen God provide, sustain, lead and guide us on this journey.  

As I look back over these 19 years, I am reminded of His faithfulness. At every point, He has been there for us. There have been some tough times when we weren’t sure what was going to happen, and He got us through. We are still here. There have been some amazing times as well, when He has overwhelmed us with His kindness and presence. It has been a journey with Jesus. 

My favorite times have been when we have just been together. I love worshipping together, hearing our voices lifted up to Him with sincerity and love. I love our times of serving together from the set up and tear down of the first 13 years, the house we framed in the parking lot of the movie theater, the many days of distributing food and clothes through Bridging the Gap, our non-profit, the days tutoring the students at the Inspiring Hope Learning Center, packing backpack food with other churches and synagogues, sitting around in living rooms sharing life and being in God’s Word in Small Groups, seeing our Ministry Teams in action – greeting, preparing communion, making coffee, practicing music, mowing the grass, cleaning the building, teaching children, leading the youth group, doing whatever needed to be done - meeting with leaders and seeking God in sensing how to best serve the church and figure out how to navigate different issues we face, standing in parking lots after meetings talking through tough times and remembering God’s goodness, long hours in prayer being encouraged by hearing the voices of my brothers and sisters in Christ and experiencing God’s presence, and experiencing life change along the way as people took steps of faith in being baptized – many at the YMCA pool where the people swimming laps stopped to witness what God was doing, some at community pools, others in hot tubs, and still others over the past 6 years in the facility God has given us.  

One of the greatest privileges I have ever experienced was being able to baptize our sons. Thank you Jesus for that.  

This is our last year as a teenage church. 19 years. Now, we face our “20’s - our adult years.” I am excited as we take our next steps in moving toward our 2030 Vision of becoming a church of disciples who make disciples, on mission to reach our community, developing leaders as we go, fully resourced to accomplish all that God has in store for us. There are good years ahead, I know because God is good.  

I wake up every day looking forward to what God wants to do in us and through us. None of us in that group of 50 people, 35 adults and 15 children, had any idea of what was in store for us as we set up those Sundays in September 2007. We only knew that God was calling us, and we were there to serve Him. That is what we have done for 19 years, and that won’t change. He is calling us into the future, a future filled with His grace and favor. We are grateful for the past we have had, and expectant of what lies ahead.  

Happy 19th Birthday, Bridges Church! God is good.