What is the Bridge?

The Bridge is our 5-year vision to see people connected to the love of Jesus. The key verse is from 2 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Two years ago, in the summer of 2023, we stepped into a new opportunity that we never thought would happen - a 4,000 square foot ministry center - but we stepped out in faith and God provided! We seized the opportunity to grow our footprint in Bridgeport by entering into a five year lease with Zhou B Art Center. This gave us access to the second floor gallery space for Sunday morning worship as well as The Bridge on the third floor. The Bridge has equipped us in a season of amazing ministry growth.

Over the last two years, God has done more than we could have imagined. We’ve seen so many people connect to the love of Jesus. In the Bridge ministry center, we regularly host our Loop Kids ministry, classes, social activities, men’s breakfasts, welcome lunches, and youth group. We've also been able to host the gospel of John mailer outreach, ALPHA, regional worship nights, global sharing, Park South Loop members’ meetings and classes, a 3rd Friday Art Show with the Navigators, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and Relationships classes, Athletes In Action and Chicagoland United In Prayer meetings, and a time to pray and grieve as a family.

God has done way more than we can imagine, and God is continuing to do more.

Our current space offers four classrooms and one large multipurpose room. However, with the growth of our children's ministry, small groups, and other church meetings and events, we are often using all of our available space.

What is the opportunity before us?

We believe God has placed an incredible opportunity before us to build toward our church's future by adding two additional third-floor studio spaces to the Bridge Ministry Center: the Rec Room and the Living Room. Both offer large, multipurpose areas. Together, these spaces provide an additional approximately 2,000 sq ft of ministry space. Like our current Bridge space, these rooms will be available to us 24/7 for church activities.

Will you partner with us to expand the Bridge?

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Why are we expanding the Bridge?

Growth

Our attendance for adults and children has grown significantly: 30% growth in the last 2 years. For our children's ministry, we have a roster of over 60 children and an average attendance of nearly 40 children every Sunday. More people mean more opportunities and responsibilities in ministering to people. And with more people, we need more space to serve our congregation well.

Discipleship

More space allows for better discipleship opportunities. Our Loop Kids ministry can more effectively and creatively minister to our kids with more classroom and activity space. Additionally, we have more space and opportunity for adult classes, small groups, and other ministry events.

Mission

Additional ministry space allows us to stay on mission in the city. We can equip families to stay in the city by providing high quality children's programming. As we expand our ministry spaces and offerings, we will be able to invite more neighbors into the church.

New Opportunities

More space means more ease in scheduling a wide variety of programs and events. We can be open-handed with our rooms to partner and bless different works and ministries across our city and world. when there isn't a concern about competing priorities in one space.

Neighborhood Commitment

Expanding our physical footprint shows our commitment to Bridgeport, investment in this neighborhood community, and highlights our favor with the Art Center. As a church, we are here to stay.

Building for the Future

These two rooms represent a step of faith, acknowledging that the best days are yet to come as we reach people "who are not yet here" with the love of Jesus. We look forward to seeing how God will open doors for us to expand our own ministry and bless others in these new spaces.
Our generosity as a church grows as we build up new spaces and new ministries. We look forward to seeing how God will open doors for us to expand our own ministry and potentially bless others in these new spaces.

How will our new space be used?

The Rec Room, located immediately next door to our current space, will provide us with a large multipurpose activity space. This room will provide our children with space to move, be the home of Sunday morning large group worship & lessons for our elementary students, and offer room for mid-sized meetings, classes, or lunches after service.

The Living Room will provide us with a multifunctional space similar to the living room of your home. We will have couches, a small library, and room for tables and chairs. On Sunday mornings, our elementary students will use this space for small group discussion. Throughout the week, Small Groups will be welcomed to use this comfortable space for their weekly gatherings, family meals, and bible study.

What about our current space?

With the expansion of the Bridge, we will now have immense flexibility in scheduling events.

The Meeting Hall, our largest room, will still be available for classes and meetings. This will also be where our children continue to be dropped off for Loop Kids on Sunday mornings. It will be the gathering place the youngest members of our church family to worship on Sundays.

The Bridge Classrooms will be repurposed to function specifically for our children's ministry. Adult-sized furniture will be moved into our new space so that our kids can comfortably worship and learn together in their classrooms.

Pray

We need you to pray. God is growing and moving within our church. Pray that God would do more than we can ask or imagine.

Serve

Prayerfully, consider serving in the Loop. To fully utilize all the additional rooms, we need at least 10 more volunteers.

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Give

Prayerfully, consider giving to this growing work and help us reach our $95,000 goal, which will contribute to the Bridge’s renovation and operational costs at the Art Center until June 2028. This coincides with our current lease and 5-year vision for the Bridge.

We have a Bridgeport Legacy Gift that will match every dollar given up to $45,000. This legacy gift is from those who once called Park Bridgeport home, but have moved and live on mission somewhere else. But their faithful giving in the past will continue to leave an impact today in our ministry.