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As I type this, I am listening to Audrey Assad's version of "It Is Well with My Soul" - such a powerful song. To be able to say that "It is Well with My Soul" at such a time as this is a real gift from God. With so much going on - uncertainty, death, sickness which is now touching our church family, social distancing, pressures, weariness with so many competing voices it is comforting and encouraging to be able to be at rest on the inside, to be at peace in our soul, to know the presence of the Lord in real and tangible ways. It is well with my soul is what God desires for us all even as we go through this time of waiting. 

With the state beginning to open up a bit more this week, we wanted to keep you up to date on where we are with our regathering plan. (Since we never stopped being the church, we will call it a regathering plan, not a reopen plan.) 

Through prayer, input from our church leaders, the survey you took, and the counsel of others, our elders have decided that we are not quite ready to regather for onsite worship services yet. While we do miss everyone and look forward with great anticipation to gather again, it is not yet time for us. 

We will meet again as elders, June 1st to see where we are at that time. We seek your prayers, patience and understanding through this process. It is a difficult time for us all, and it is key that we seek God and to care and love for each other. This is what Bridges Church has always been about. Also, let us know how we can be praying for you and if you know of anyone who is struggling through this time. We will be the church together through this. We will communicate with you after the June 1st meeting to update you on where we are at that time. 

In the meantime, we do have some things to look forward to:

Worship Service on the Murray Road Property: Sunday Evening, June 7. (time TBD) The Murray Road property is under contract and set to close on June 23. Let's get together for a time of worship and praise our Lord outside and for a chance to say "goodbye" to the property and "thank you" to God for providing. It will be good to gather there where social distancing is much easier. Look for more details to come soon.

Online Small Groups: Staying connected to one another is a key to building the church and coming out of this stronger and better. Our Small Groups will be meeting online for a 5-week study of Jonah. We hope you will join others in seeking God together, learn more about online studies, pray for and support one another and grow in our relationships with Christ together. God is connecting us with the world - you can meet anywhere in the world this way. Look for more info to come and let us know if you are interested in being part of this great opportunity. 

D/Groups (Spiritual Mentoring): For those who want a chance to meet with someone else for a custom designed spiritual mentoring process, D/Groups are for you. These are smaller, gender specific groups of 2-4 people who work together on targeted areas of growth developed in conjunction with a spiritual mentor. Look for more info and a chance to sign up to come soon. 

Live Streaming Services Will Continue: One thing we have discovered is that our impact has been greatly increased through our online services and we now plan to continue them from here on. New technology is being installed to make this experience even better and we are looking at ways to get better at connecting with people online. God is opening up some great new avenues for sharing the Gospel with others and introducing them to Christ. We are experiencing our greatest outreach opportunities in the life of Bridges. God is always good! 

Thank you again for being a church that loves and seeks the best for all. We will always seek to love God, love others and serve the world - that does not change. 

Please contact us with any questions or thoughts you may have at info@bridgeschurch.net. 

I remain confident in this  - we will see the goodness of the Lord in due time.