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The Bridge Church in Littleton
The simplicity of the service and life-relevant messages along with great hospitality is what draws families to The Bridge Church in Littleton, according to Pastor Chris Little.
Four weeks before the church plant officially launched on February 12, 2012, the staff was holding “preview” services to perfect the flow of the worship service.
“I was able to visit the Bridge during a 'practice' Sunday,” said Mark Edlund, Executive Director of the Colorado Baptist General Convention.
“From the time I left my car until I was seated in the worship service, I was escorted and generously welcomed,” Edlund recollects. “The worship and message were excellent. After the service, I was welcomed by several people including Chris. Another member walked me to the door and said thanks for worshipping with us. I left knowing that my presence was significant and I was more than welcome to become a part of the Bridge community.”
Two weeks after the launch, attendance was up to 125 people. Currently, attendance is around 160 combined over two identical services. Chris Little attributes much of the growth to his staff and core group’s ability to build relationships with the community. He explained they interact with community members outside of ‘church,’ many of whom have been “inoculated by Christianity and may even think they are Christians”.
“If you have relationships established during good times, then when the bad times come they have us to come to,” said Little.
The Bridge Church is also putting an emphasis on missions from the very start.
“Even though we just launched we are already giving to another local church planter.” The Bridge has also pledged 10% of their Easter Outreach offering to go directly to various missions. Several mission projects they are looking at adopting are: community events for Grant Ranch near the church plant, laptops for Latvia and missions in Guatemala.
“I want our culture to be one of generosity,” Little said. “If we intentionally give away resources well - people, time, talents, and money - at the beginning, it is more likely to become part of the culture.”
Chris Little moved to Colorado over 10 years ago to take a student pastor position with Bear Valley Church. After the Lord’s calling, Little approached Senior Pastor Jim Walters about the possibility of church planting.
“Bear Valley allowed me to share the vision of The Bridge among its population and anyone who sensed God leading them was able to join the venture. The sponsorship of a healthy church is invaluable. It's provided us with a 1,000 cheerleaders and prayer warriors. Hopefully, it will allow us to build partnerships with other churches like Bear Valley. Bear Valley cannot support a church plant - financially - on its own. However, multiple churches investing together can make an eternal impact in a community.”
Growing up in South Texas, Little said he was surrounded by church culture. He received the Lord at 8 years old, but surrendered to God’s call of ministry in high school. Little completed a Bachelor of Arts at Howard Payne University and then graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2009, he finished a Doctorate of Ministry from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Little’s wife, Becky Little, teaches 8th grade at a local middle school. They have two children: Lauren (11) and Landon (7).
Please pray for The Bridge as they weekly host two services. Pray also for their Easter weekend outreach called “The Hunt”.
The Bridge Church
