The Very Beginning
On April 19, 1997, two couples met for coffee at Starbucks. They were disheartened by the increasingly hierarchical and political aspects of their own church, their denomination and how those factors seemed to be actively undermining the intentional ministry and outreach of their local church. They were disappointed because their church seemed to have such potential for making a significant impact in Portland, and yet due to a vocal and influential group this potential was just not being realized. More and more, the church they loved seemed like a country club that wanted to keep people out rather than an inclusive, caring community that wanted to draw people in. They began to dream about a church that didn't just talk about God's love, grace and forgiveness, but that actually put those principles into action.
Less than 24 hours later, that group of four had become a group of twelve. On April 20, they met to see whether there was enough spiritual, emotional and financial support to launch a new church. At the end of that first meeting, those present pledged to give whatever they could afford each month for one year and wrote that number anonymously on a slip of paper. The numbers were tallied. The group had committed to contribute more than $12,000 a month for the first 12 months--more than $140,000 for the first year.
That was enough to convince the group to seriously investigate the idea of starting a new church fellowship. The group began meeting weekly on Saturday mornings to pray and plan. They wanted to seek God's guidance as to whether they should move forward. They prayed. They spoke with pastors and believers who had participated in church plants. They also studied Henry Blackaby's book Experiencing God which left an indelible mark on their process. Through Mr. Blackaby's teaching, God honed the group's focus and gave them a guiding perspective. They determined that they would do what God wanted rather than just ask God to bless what they wanted to do. At one point during this process, the group put everything on hold, prayed diligently for God's guidance and then met again the next week to discuss whether the initiative for a new church was from the group or from God. They wanted to move forward because God was calling them, not because of their own frustrations or personal agendas. When the group reconvened, they analyzed the evidence of God's leading over the previous several months. They came away even more convinced that God was calling them to begin a new church.
As they continued to plan, the group made several key decisions. They agreed that if the new church were to succeed, its focus must be on spreading the good news of the Gospel, it must "major in majors" and let the "minor" issues take a back seat. They agreed that the new church's core values would emphasize inclusivity, integrity, service and worship. They decided that this would not be the founders' church, the pastors' church or the members' church, but that it would be God's church. That meant that instead of making decisions based on sound business organizational principles, they would make decisions based on where they believed God was leading. Finally, they locked in their financial support, pledging enough money to support two pastors and basic expenses for a full year.
On June 1, a group of about 40 selected the name, "Bridge City Community Church." This name "rang true" for several reasons. While it was clear that this new church would be a community-based church, there was no clear sense of which local community the church would serve. There was also a sense that with interested families coming from all over the Portland and Vancouver metro areas and as far away as Salem to the south, the mission of the church might be to the whole city. Since Portland is known for its seven downtown bridges and since the bridge is a good metaphor for the work of Christ in reconciling us to God, the name just seemed to fit. It also seemed to point toward a relational church, "bridging" between people, between groups of people and between communities.
On June 3, Bridge City was incorporated as a legal non-profit organization in the state of Oregon. The bylaws were drawn up and an initial Board of Trustees was selected. Vicki Ballou, Ted Caviness, Peggy Huddart, Larry Kiesz, John Mack, Lee Montgomery, Brad Royer and Vern Usher were asked to serve. They would serve as the Trustees of the church until there were enough members to elect trustees. The next day, arrangements were made to rent a little brick church in northeast Portland--the Montavilla United Methodist Church--for the first official worship services.
Something Happening in Montavilla.
On June 7, 1997, Bridge City Community Church held its first worship service. Since the group hadn't yet hired a pastor, Lloyd Summers, one of the founders and a former pastor, spoke (without the benefit of a microphone) to the gathered group of about 75 people about loss, grief and how an internalized faith can carry us through the disappointments we face in life (including the disappointments brought about by institutional church). Jaime Para and his four-year old daughter Madison led the group in the a capella singing of several hymns and children's songs. In late June, the Board of Trustees invited Duff Gorle and Bob Bretch to serve as Bridge City's pastors. Duff and Bob were hired to serve as co-senior pastors. This unconventional leadership model seemed to fit well with the non-hierarchical philosophy of the founders. It also was the first incarnation of the team leadership model that would become the standard at Bridge City. With the hiring of staff, the sense of adventure and "newness" was growing. This excitement was evident on Saturday mornings as the little Methodist church grew increasingly packed. By October, over 300 people were attending weekly.
This surge in growth brought with it new issues. There was an increasingly large group of young families with children. It was clear that specific ministry for children beyond child care was needed. While several volunteers provided classes for children, the pastors and trustees soon decided that the church needed a point leader for its ministry to children. There was also a growing group of teenagers and college students. Late in the summer a group of high school students, including Tregg Rustad and Eric Wilson, approached the trustees and asked their permission to start a ministry for high school students. The board was excited to see how God was moving and was thrilled to support the high school students. The students decided to name the ministry "AXIS," focusing on the idea of Christ being the center around which our lives revolve and they kicked off this new ministry with a youth rally held in the little fellowship hall of the Methodist church. By fall, as a result of the clearly increasing need, a sense of God's direction and the congregation's supportive giving the board invited Cheryl Null to serve as Children's Pastor and Marc Schelske to serve as an Associate Pastor, focused on Student Ministry. During this period three events took place that would shape the future of Bridge City and point towards the kind of community God was building.
First, the founders as well as other leaders and staff continued in the process of prayer and discovery, talking about the future of the church and what shape this community might take. This process culminated in a retreat held at the Bretsch's home. Looking at the hopes and dreams of the founders and leaders, the direction found in scripture, and the sense of God's leading over the previous months, the mission statement, purpose statement, and core values were formulated. These important reminders were crafted with much prayer and discussion.
It was clear that God’s purpose for the church was relational—reconciling our broken relationship with God and bringing reconciliation into our relationships with the people around us. The book of Acts demonstrated in no uncertain terms that churches grow through Godly relationships. This was crystallized in the first mission statement: "Connecting people to God and Each Other Through Jesus Christ." The founders knew that so many churches had lost track of their primary purpose. They had become distracted by secondary issues. They sensed that without strong reminders and continual submission to God’s agenda, this would threaten even this new church. The group looked to scripture for a clear statement about the purpose of the local church. Christ’s words in the “Great Commission” and the “Great Commandment” seemed to point the way. Pastor Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Church, was a profound help in this part of the process. Jesus' own words pointed out five tasks that a healthy church would always be committed to: Evangelism, Discipleship, Inclusion into the Body, Worship and Service. This was formulated into Bridge City's first purpose statement: "In response to God's call, Bridge CIty Community Church exists to LOVE GOD fully through worship and our lives and to LOVE the PEOPLE around us, providing a place to BELONG, where together we can GROW and learn to REACH OTHERS with Jesus' love."
The six core values came next. This represented the group’s sense of the kind of church fellowship God was calling into being. These expanded upon and developed the original founders’ list of values and not only stated the hopes and dreams of the group, but also explained what God seemed already to be doing in the community. And so the group committed themselves to Prayer, Life Change, Integrity and Authenticity, Community, Diversity, and Excellence and Relevance as Bridge City grew and developed.
While these statements represented the best hopes of the group as well as their sense of God’s direction for the new church, there was no way to know at that time how prophetic these words would be.