values

UP-IN-OUT-INSIDE (Intimacy, Community, Mission, Character)

UP, IN, OUT and INSIDE shape our lifestyle and unite us because they are the values that Jesus lived by. They are the glue that holds our diverse community together. It is these values that become our “grid” for our relationship with God, with each other, and with the world around us.

Values are demonstrated through lifestyle. When we live the values of Jesus we recognize we are warring against the values of our culture and calling people around us to a different kind of life.

While our methods will change with time and circumstances, our commitment to become people shaped and known for these values is unwavering. We want to see these values reproduced throughout the earth.

Intimacy - Up
Intimacy is loving God by knowing Him and begins by experiencing and responding to His love. This is our first priority personally and corporately.

• time in His word
• prayer
• welcome the ministry of the Holy Spirit
• invite His presence through worship
• obey Him in life and ministry

Community - In
We pursue all four of our core values in community.

• We believe there is no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” follower of Jesus.
• We need each other, especially those who are different than us.
• We have been called to radical unity that embraces diversity.
• We desire to be a community that is multi-racial and intergenerational.
• We want to be devoted to life together in close relationship.

Mission - Out
Mission is the outward dimension of our lives. We are committed to “making disciples” by sharing God’s message of love, forgiveness, and eternal life to as many people as possible, especially those we meet daily in “our world.”

We want to see our communities, cities, states, and nations reflect God’s Kingdom. So to us “mission” includes:

• racial reconciliation
• fighting injustice
• service to the poor
• widows
• orphans
• the neglected and marginalized

Character - Inside
God promises to transform our hearts so that we look and act more like Him. Character is loving God by living our daily lives in a way that honors Him.

• We want to become like Jesus in all we are and do.

• We pursue Godly character and holiness by understanding His word and living it out in our every area of life including relationships, finances, marriages, classes, and jobs.

guiding principles

These guiding principles are biblical but are also based on the specific call on Bridgeway. They help us, especially leaders, know what we’ll say “yes” and “no” to.

We measure success by stories of transformation
The measure of success for Bridgeway, in all its expressions, must be stories of transformation and a sense that “surely God is with us.” We long for God’s presence.

Based on relationships
We live in a culture rich in experiences and poor in relationships. Unfortunately, rather than demonstrating a different way of life, most Western churches have sought to cater to a culture that craves more experiences. In John 17 Jesus says that the quality of relationships among his people will be the most tangible expression of God’s love. So whatever we do, we have to do church in a way that is based not on programs, but on relationships.

It’s better to give than to receive
We live in a culture, even a church culture, that subtly tells us that it is really better to receive than to give although the Scripture tells us the opposite (Acts 20:35). We will never realize our dream if this principle isn’t worked into the soil of our community. We must become a people who want to serve, more than we want our needs to be met.

Lightweight—Low-maintenance
Church looks exhausting to most non-Christians because it is. There is constant need for volunteers to maintain the programs of the church. Our culture is spending billions of dollars on yoga, spas, and relaxation therapy—the church can’t become just another place to increase stress. We have to find a way to do church that makes it a normal part of the flow of our lives.

Give it all away—equipping and releasing
The new testament church, like us, had a tendency to want to gather. Jesus said go to all nations, but it took persecution to get them to leave Jerusalem! (Acts 6). Jesus modeled and taught that we must constantly look to equip leaders and release them. We understand that our dream will require us to constantly send out our best friends and leaders. We are constantly looking to give away what we have for the sake of the Kingdom.

High Accountability—low Control
As leaders we want to take our hands off the steering wheel of church—to release people. Our mission requires it and it’s biblical, however, we must do that with the protection that true accountability brings.

Church as lifestyle
Where is your church?”—the typical American question. Or, “What church do you GO to?” But church in the New Testament is not a place but a people, never a what but a who. Our dream is a lifestyle—a way of relating to God, to each other, and to the world that changes everything.

Unity in diversity
Ephesians is a book of guiding principles for doing church. Paul says in chapter four that the only way the church can live the dream is to embrace unity in diversity. We are united in Jesus and his values, but that unity is expressed through a very diverse group of people.

• We embrace age, gender, and racial diversity.

• We embrace and even crave diversity in our gifts, experiences, backgrounds, and personalities.

This means that conflict and confusion will be a normal part of our church life. Inherent in this principle is the truth that everyone is not only valuable but a necessary part of this body. We expect that each person has something to bring. “Everybody plays.”

Multiplication
In the natural world and in the Kingdom of God everything that is alive reproduces. We should expect to see multiplication at every level, our lives, D-group, House Church and Celebration (Mark 4:20, 2 Timothy 2:2).

A new world requires a new expression of church
We find ourselves in the greatest culture shift since the industrial revolution. The magnitude of change being experienced in this generation is perhaps unparalleled in human history. We believe that the church in this generation has an amazing opportunity to give the world a fresh vision of Jesus and His church; but, that opportunity requires us to understand the realities of our times.

• Globalization: We live in an era when one group of people in Oklahoma can and must impact the whole world. It is mandatory that we be global Christians in a global world.

• Technological change: The ways we travel, communicate, learn, and connect have been changed forever through technology.

• Worldview shift: The fundamental way that human beings see the world has changed in this generation in a way that has not happened since the Industrial

• Revolution: All of the assumptions of the modern world have been questioned and the emerging values are in direct opposition to the values of the previous age. Our concepts of time, family, and work are undergoing fundamental shifts. Just to name a couple of examples, our world is moving from Tower to Itunes, from Saks to boutique, from time card to flexible time.

• Global church change: The church in the west is now a minority. We have moved from “the West to the rest” to “from everywhere to everywhere.” We are now partnering with a global church to learn from one another and to reach the world. And it no longer is about sending “missionaries” but about every business person, artist, educator, doctor, student, and parent engaged in the task of world evangelization.

what we believe

We love and value the church of Jesus in all its expressions. We aren’t a new group. We’re a part of a 2000 year tradition of men and women who have lived, loved, and died, to be the church. We are united to them in our doctrinal belief. This is our Statement of Faith.

The Word of God
We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of all men, and the final authority for all Christian faith and life.

The Trinity
We believe in one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Father
We believe in God the Father, an infinite personal Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He actively and mercifully intervenes in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

The Son
We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life and died on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins. He rose bodily from the dead. He ascended into heaven. He is now our High Priest and Advocate at the right hand of the Father.

The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son. The primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically, the Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their need for Christ and is the source and author of the new birth; He indwells, sanctifies, leads, teaches, and empowers believers for godly living and service. We believe that the ministry of the Spirit continues to be as broad, tangible, and powerful among believers today as it was in the early church. We also believe that all the biblical gifts of the Spirit continue to be distributed by the Spirit today; that these gifts are divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry; and that these gifts are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.

Man
We believe God created man in the image of God. We further believe man is a sinner by nature and action and is therefore spiritually dead. We also believe that those who repent of sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior receive new life and the forgiveness of sins.

Christ’s Return
We believe that the personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ is our future hope and has vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.

The Church
We believe that the Church is composed of all people who through saving faith in Jesus Christ are united together in the Body of Christ of which He is the head.

Salvation
We believe that salvation is a free gift of God and is received by man through faith in Jesus Christ apart from any human merit, works or ritual. We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only grounds for forgiveness of sins for all who believe and that only those who receive Jesus Christ are born of the Spirit, become children of God, and are given eternal life.

Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection from the dead: of the believer to everlasting joy with the Lord; of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment.

Kingdom of God
We believe that the Kingdom of God came in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it continues to come in the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Church, and that it will be consummated in the glorious, visible, and triumphant appearing of Christ when He returns to the earth as King. We believe that after Christ returns, He will bring about the ultimate defeat of Satan, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, and the eternal blessing of the righteous. At that time, the Kingdom of God will be completely fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness dwells and in which He will be worshipped forever.

Christian Responsibility
We believe that the highest priorities for every believer are the Great Commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…Love your neighbor as yourself.” These commands are fulfilled by glorifying God, enjoying Him, and fulfilling His Great Commission—“Go and make disciples of all nations.” These pursuits require personal commitments to live by the truth of God’s Word and to depend on the power of His Spirit. Practically, both the Word and the Spirit call us to a life of Christ—character, whole-hearted worship, generous giving, unselfish service, and compassionate outreach to the lost.

history

In 1994, a house church of students from diverse backgrounds were united in hunger to experience more of God. They connected with a house church of adults who were united by the same desire. Together they began to worship, pray, and experience the power and presence of God.

Although they never intended to become a “church” they realized that God was creating a new community. They began calling themselves “Edmond Fellowship.” They met weekly together at Edmond Community Center in Downtown Edmond, Oklahoma, but the life of the community flourished around dinner tables, in homes, parks, and coffee shops.

In 1998, the community purchased a building at 228 W. Hefner Road and changed the name to Bridgeway Church. The location reflected a desire to be a “bridge” between young and old, rich and poor, and between the races. But the building was never central to the identity of the community.

House churches began to form throughout central Oklahoma in various neighborhoods and on college campuses.

While continuing a firm commitment to the authority of the Scriptures, we wanted greater freedom in worship and experience with the Holy Spirit. In short, we wanted to combine the truth of the Bible and the power of the Spirit.

We are still in the baby steps of our journey…