Our Story
Our Dream Begins
On November 6, 2006, approximately thirty people led by founding elders Bo Weaver and Gary Dawson met at the Town & Country Sports Complex in Wilder, Kentucky with the beginnings of an exciting idea — that we could do so much more to touch lives, to serve, and to grow the community around us by sharing our love for God and each other. We believed the way was clear; to follow the simple yet not always easy teachings of Scripture. After several weeks of discussion and prayer, the idea became The Bridge Community Church. Our name was chosen to embody the metaphor that Jesus is our bridge to God. By placing faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord, we can bridge the gulf that separates us from God, and be reconciled with and connected to Him.
We captured a vision for our future in a document called The Dream, and we were officially open.
Our first service was held on December 24, 2006, at The Marquise Banquet and Event Center. For the next year, the set-up team arrived early each Sunday morning and got ready for church. Everything from a sound system to cribs for our nursery fit in the back of a step-van we named “Junie.”By the end of that first year, the church had grown to regular attendance of more than 200. Out of room, we signed a lease to rent space in a warehouse across the parking lot from the Marquise. In a campaign we dubbed “From Warehouse to Worship,” we raised funds needed to create our first real home. On December 30, 2007, we held our first service in our new church.
And The Dream Builds
The warehouse on Town Drive would be our home for the next 8 1/2 years, growing our weekly attendance to about 600. We realized every day how blessed we were to live and grow in our love for God as our ministry blossomed.
In early 2014, the owner of the building informed us that he was expanding his business, and we began the search for our next location. We found a vacant Thriftway grocery store in Alexandria and were able to purchase the 45,000 square foot building at a very economical price. Fortunately, funds that we had already raised allowed us to begin the buildout of the area.
Our Story Continues
On July 17, 2016, we held our first service and dedication at our beautiful new church. From that first Sunday, we have been blessed to have a significant increase in attendance. Today The Bridge continues to welcome people throughout the Tri-State, and we are excited about serving and growing in our Alexandria community.
As our meeting places change and our journey continues, one constant remains: We still believe in our dream to love God and to love people.
Lead Pastor
Our Lead Pastor, Vince Pierri, has served in ministries throughout the Midwest for almost 10 years. He has been a worship leader, kids pastor, ministry director, and brings the love of Jesus wherever he goes. Vince onboarded as the lead Pastor for the Bridge Church in August of 2020.
Our VALUES
We are a church for people who feel forgotten. Overlooked. Left behind. Hurting. Ashamed. Broken. We believe that Jesus came not for the healthy, but for the sick (Luke 5:31-32). So, we fight to proclaim the hope, meaning, and purpose that can only be found in Him to the people furthest from God. People often feel unworthy and uncomfortable when they walk into church. We do whatever it takes to turn that around. The person who is least likely to feel loved in a church building is our first priority. If you feel forgotten, we are here for you. If you are feeling Spiritually strong and healthy, but want to be a part of a church that fights for the forgotten... welcome to the team (Matthew 25:40).
We believe that the Holy Spirit still does supernatural things today. We believe that as Christians we are called to cultivate a deep desire to see God do the miraculous in and through us (1 Corinthians 14:1). However, we also believe that the gifts of the Spirit can be misused, faked and manipulated, therefore we also exercise great discernment in how to approach them in healthy ways (1 Corinthians 14:20).
You may not even see it, but there is a spark in you, a flicker of giftedness, talent, ability, passion, purpose, and calling. God wants to use every person to make a real impact on their little corner of the world. We are a church where we aim to help you find that purpose that you were designed for. We want to see the flicker in you turn into a full-blown bonfire (1 Timothy 1:5-7).
We Are Intense About Integrity
God loves you exactly where you are, but he loves you too much to leave you where you are (James 5:19-20). None of us are perfect, but we believe God wants every Christian to learn to walk in integrity. So we fight to become people where our private life and our public life match. We do whatever it takes to be leaders of integrity and help the people of the Bridge walk in integrity.
We Believe This Is Just The Beginning
Jesus describes the work of God in the world through the metaphor of the growth of a mustard plant. Though it starts as the tiniest of all seeds, it grows to become the largest of all garden plants (Luke 13:31-32). Therefore we choose to believe that God is just getting started. No matter what God is currently doing in our lives and in our church we believe that it is just the beginning. We hope that our greatest triumphs of today will someday only be a small footnote in the incredible history of all that God does in Northern Kentucky and beyond.
Our Statement of Faith
The Bridge Church holds to a historic, orthodox understanding of biblical Christianity that is expressed as our beliefs:
The Bible is God’s unique revelation to people. It is the inspired, infallible Word of God, and the supreme and final authority on all matters upon which it teaches. No other writings are vested with such divine authority.
There is only one God, creator of heaven and earth, who exists eternally as three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God yet each personally distinct from the other.
All people are created in God’s image and matter deeply to Him. Central to the message of the Bible is that God loves people, and invites them to live in communion with Himself and in community with each other.
Apart from Jesus Christ, all people are spiritually lost and, because of sin, deserve the judgment of God. However, God gives salvation and eternal life to all who trust in Jesus Christ and in His sacrifice on his or her behalf. Salvation cannot be earned through personal goodness or human effort. It is a gift that must be received by humble repentance and faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross.
Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless human life, willingly took upon Himself all of our sins, died and rose again bodily, and is at the right hand of the Father as our advocate and mediator. Someday, He will return to consummate history and fulfill the eternal plan of God.
The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, convicts the world of sin and draws people to Christ. He also indwells believers and is available to empower them to lead Christ-like lives, and provides believers with spiritual gifts with which to serve the church and reach out to a lost and needy world.
Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. At the final judgment, unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation. Believers will be received into God’s loving presence and rewarded for their faithfulness to Him in this life.
All believers are members of the body of Christ, the one true church universal. Spiritual unity is to be expressed among Christians by love and acceptance of one another.
The local church is a congregation of believers who gather for worship, prayer, instruction, encouragement, mutual accountability, and community with each other. Through it, believers invest time, energy, and resources to fulfill the Great Commission — reaching lost people and growing them into fully devoted followers of Christ