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