The Bridge

The Bridge Ministry Augusta GA

We are all familiar with bridges....there's the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. During the 2008 Presidential primaries, we heard about Alaska's "Bridge to nowhere." If you were a music listener in the 1960's, Simon & Garfunkle's song "Bridge over troubled water" was a favorite. Bridges go over rushing rivers and dry creek beds. Bridges span railroad tracks and deep chasms. Bridges cross highways and little babbling streams. There is a bridge in the Florida Keys that is 7 miles long...appropriately named 7 Mile Bridge. The 1831 London Bridge now sits over a canal in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

If you are from Augusta, Georgia you probably remember the building of the John C. Calhoun Expressway. During its construction it temporarily ended at 15th Street at what was to become a bridge spanning that road, the Augusta Canal and eventually merging into Greene Street. Clyde Wells, former editorial cartoonist for the Augusta Chronicle, penned a drawing of the not-yet-completed bridge showing a net where the road ended. The cartoon was titled "The Net Effect." It was one of his most popular cartoons and eventually the title of a book containing a collection of his drawings.

The bridge was eventually completed and all Augustans are familiar with the Calhoun Expressway bridge. What many may not be familiar with is what happens under that bridge every Saturday afternoon. You see Saturday is a special day under "The Bridge." For crowds ranging from 200-600, The Bridge is home to one of the most dynamic congregations of any "church" in Augusta. Many, if not most, of the attendees at The Bridge are homeless. If not homeless, they are some of the least financially fortunate in our city. But they come and worship in a church that has no walls, has dirt for a floor and an overpass for a ceiling. But God is there every Saturday to be worshiped and to minister to all who come. Volunteers from a dozen churches or more come to serve their brothers and sisters by providing a meal, clothing, a listening ear, words of hope and encouragement, prayer and, most of all, the face of Christ.

Roger Gardner along with other faithful members of New Hope Worship Center started this ministry in 2007 holding services every other Saturday. In June of 2011, under the leadership of Byron Brown, First Baptist Church of Augusta joined with New Hope and assumed responsibility for the alternate Saturdays.

God is at work under that bridge. God's people...black and white, young and old, rich and poor coming together making those distinctions totally unimportant. The Body of Christ lifting up praises to our God.

Maybe you need to experience the presence of Christ in a whole new way. Come to The Bridge. Make a difference in someone else's life.

Matthew 25:37-40 says:

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Amen

link to video: June 25, 2011 worship service