Belonging
Welcome
History and VisionofBridge Church
BridgeChurch Newbury began in January 2015when Mark & Beverley Landreth-Smithmoved from leading TheBeacon Church Camberley.
Others soonjoined, somerelocating tobe part of thenew adventure.
Mark felt God saying that he should see what Hewasdoing and… Join In - a bit likewhen Jesussaid inJohn’s gospel: “I only do what I seetheFather doing.” This means weneed a closerelationship withthe Father, likeJesushad - only then canwebeginto seewhat theFather is doing.It startswith our relationship with Him.
Much of thevisionand impetusofBridgeChurch isborn out of that vision – tosee what God is doing and Join In.
“Jesus gave them this answer:“Verytruly I tell you, the Son cando nothing by himself; hecan do only what hesees his Father doing,because whatever the Father does theSon alsodoes.” John5:19
What kind of Church is Bridge Church?
We aim to bea Word and Spirit church.Thismeans we honour theBibleas theinspired Word of God. Weseek to live our livesand build thechurchupontherevelation ofGod as laid out in theScriptures.
We are also a churchthat seeksto liveinthepower of the Holy Spirit.Wewant to enjoy and experiencetheHoly Spirit everyday everywhere.
“But thefruit ofthe Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness andselfcontrol” Galatians 5:22
Bridge Church Statement of Beliefs
The one true God wholives eternally in threepersons –theFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The divineinspiration and supreme authority of theOld and NewTestament Scriptures, whicharethe writtenWord of God– fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.
The incarnationofGod’s eternal Son, theLord Jesus Christ – bornofthevirgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.
The love, grace& sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming & judging theworld.
The dignity ofall people, mademaleand femalein God’simageto love, be holy and carefor creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divinewrathand judgement.
The atoning sacrificeof Christ on thecross: dying inour place, paying the priceofsin defeating evil & reconciling us with God. Communion is the commemorationofthis sacrifice.
The bodily resurrection of Christ, thefirst fruits of our resurrection; his ascensionto theFather, and hisreign and mediation astheonly Saviour of theworld.
Baptismas an outward symbol and powerful confirmationofa person’s inner belief and commitment totheLord JesusChrist.
The church, thebody of Christ bothlocal and universal, the priesthood of all believers — given life by the Spirit and endowed withtheSpirit’s gifts toworship God and proclaim thegospel, promoting justice and love.
The justification of sinners solely by the graceofGod throughfaithinChrist.
The ministry ofGod theHoly Spirit, who leads usto repentance, unites uswith Christ through newbirth, empowers our discipleship and enablesour witness.
The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil thepurposes of God, whowill raise all peopleto judgement, bring eternal lifetothe redeemed & establisha new heavenand newearth.
MinistryLeads at BridgeChurch
Mark Landreth-Smith Lead Pastor
TomNewbold Assistant Pastor & Worship Coordinator
PeteCarter Elder &Production Lead
Emma Owen Jones Administrator & Safeguarding Co-Ordinator
MinistryLeads at BridgeChurch
CarolineOwenJones CommunicationsLead
Aimee Clarke Treasurer
GarethBleasdale BridgeKidsCoordinator
GillianHornzee Welcome Team Lead
Jeremy Clifton-Brown BridgeYouth Lead
Small Groups
Janet & Tony Pullin
The Rivers (Thatcham) Small Group
Paul & Rachael Graham Wash Common Small Group
Our small groupsare thebest way toget to knowa close-knit group ofpeoplewithin Bridgechurch.
We gather for friendship, to pray and todiscuss our faith.
We usually havetermbased plans which may focusdiscussions on thecurrent sermon series, a video based study, or on a bible book.
Andy & CarolineOwen Jones, Jeremy & Emma Clifton-Brown West MillsSmall Group
Tom& Emilia Newbold Manor Park Small Group
Wilson HermitageSmall Group
We also makesure we havetimefor meals together, gamesand chatting about life. Wehaveoptions to suit everyone with online, hybrid and in-person groups, aswell asevening sessions and daytime sessions. Wefind small groups are thebest wayto pastorallycare for everyone in our church– a family cell within the larger churchfamily.
Small GroupLeaders
NatalieStevenson
Hungerford Small Group
GillianHornzee Barn Bible Study
Pete& HannahDabbs DonningtonSmall Group
Emily
Children & Youth at Bridge Church
Our BridgeKidsgroups runon Sunday mornings, during the service, for ages0-11.Youcanrecognise the teamsby their blue, ‘KidsTeam’T-shirts.Their sessionsarea lot offunbut alsogivechildrena chance to deepentheir personal faith.
BridgeYouth meet together on alternateSunday mornings, aswell asthrough midweek discipleship groups.
All our childrenand youth workers are DBSchecked and havea passion to sharethe love ofJesuswitha new generation of believers.
PastoralCare at Bridge
Pastoral careat BridgeChurchisfirst and foremost through theSmall Groups – our primary opportunity to care for one another.
We also havea pastoral team who fill any gapsand offer additional support toSmall Groupsand Mark, our pastoral lead.
Our prayer ministry team come alongsidethosewho ask for additional prayer support.Ifyou would liketo pray with someone pleasespeak to Mark, Emma or your small group leader.
As part ofour commitment to discipleship and caring for one another, werun courses suchasAlpha, Freedom in Christ, The MarriageCourse, TheMarriage Preparation Courseand TheParenting Course. Dates for these are shared on a regular basis in our church calendar.
The elders are passionate about, and have thepastoral responsibility for, loving and caring for theBridgeChurch family.
Safeguarding
We are committed to keeping everyonesafe – childrenand adults.Our Safeguarding Policy is regularly reviewed.A copy iskept ondisplay ontheSunday WelcomeDesk. Everyone working with vulnerablepeopleisgiven a copy and anyone elsemay request a copy fromour Safeguarding Coordinator, Emma OwenJones.
BridgeChurch is a member of Thirtyone:eight, towhom we turnfor adviceon safeguarding issues.
Safeguarding is theresponsibility ofall churchmembers.We would ask you to help us keep BridgeChurcha safeplace for all.
Ifyou have a safeguarding concernabout anyone, child or adult, pleasedo not discussit with anyone, but pleasedo speak to Emma (or inher absence, Mark or Val).Do not think your concern is silly or small – it may bea part ofa bigger picture.Ifan adult tells youabout anhistoric abusethat they havesuffered, or you believea child could be at risk now, youhave a duty to passon theinformation.Donot besworn tosecrecy.
You will sometimessee photographs being takenona Sunday or at other churchevents.Ifyou wish totake photos, please let Emma know first.Pleasedo not put any photographsofidentifiable peopleontosocial media without first gaining permission.
Emma Owen Jones Safeguarding Coordinator
Servingat Bridge
We believeeachand every member ofthechurch hasa uniquegift tocontribute to thelifeof Bridge Church (Romans12).Weencourage theoutworking of this through serving and contributing together.
There are lots of opportunitiesto Join Inand get involved in theteamsacross thechurch:welcome, practical set-up, technical production, music, administration, children and youth, event planning, hospitality, communications, pastoral and prayer ministry.
Pleasespeak to any of theteamleaders if youareinterested infinding out moreabout oneoftheseareas.We would love youto JoinIn.
Bridge Church Partnerships
BridgeChurch is part ofthe Newfrontiers world-wide family of churches.Within Newfrontiers, BridgeChurch ispart ofthe Commission ‘sphere’ofchurches, overseenby Guy and Heather Miller.Commission hasa vision to seethousandsof lives transformed, throughhundreds of churchesintens of nations.Being part of Commission enables usto JoinInwith a bigger vision and mission, and givesus accesstotraining, prayer, teaching opportunitiesand conferences, bothinthe UK and overseas.
The Commission Festival in August bringstogether the Commission churchesat theBath &West Showground.We camp together, worship together, have fun together, eat together and enjoy excellent teaching.
We are also members of the Evangelical Alliance, a movement of Christians, churchesand organisations around the country whoarepassionateabout changing our communities withthe good news of Christ.
ChristiansTogether acrossWestBerkshire
As BridgeChurch, it isimportant for usto JoinInwithwhat God isdoing inthe area.Wearecommitted to CTNA –Christians Together in Newbury Area.
Many ofthosewho belong toBridgeChurch Join In with CTNAministrieswhichinclude:
CAP (Christians Against Poverty)
In2019welaunched, alongsideSt.Nic’sChurch Newbury, the Newbury CAPDebt Centre.
CAPprovides freedebt help tothose facing poverty with practical and emotional support reminding all their clients that there is alwayshope.
ColinCunningham is the manager and ispart of the BridgeChurch family.Heis supported by David Clarke, the Debt Coach and other volunteers.Pleasespeak to Mark ifyou would liketo be involved.
Giving atBridgeChurch
All theministries and activitiesin the church aresupported by thegenerous giving of individuals.
As a church, we want to play our part insupporting ministries and causesinthe wider world.We titheto Commission to support work nationally and internationally. We also look for opportunities to bless and support other ministries or crisis situations locallyand worldwide.This rangesfrom local initiativestobring theGospel into schools, and preparing Christmas Hampers for thosestruggling with debt, to sending emergency crises funds to countriesand areas affected by war/pandemics/natural disasters, etc.
Many ofthosewho belong toBridgeChurch give regularly to thechurchas part oftheir worship, called a tithe.
There is no expectationabout howmuch togive.No-one checks up onyour giving. Giving a proportion of our income issimply anexpression of thankfulness, worship and faith. You can give via our website, by bank transfer or through the MyChurchsuite app.
Ifyou are a UK tax payer, the government allowsthe church to claim back 25p taxfor every £1 that yougive.Pleaseconsider filling ina Gift Aid form to allow Bridge Church tobenefit from thisscheme.Forms areavailablefromAimeeon Sundays.
Aimee Clarke Treasurer
Sponsoring a performanceof A ChristmasCarol to Trinity School students
West Berkshire Foodbank
COINS – taking Jesus to Schools inWest Berkshire
Commission Global, supporting outreachinKenya, India & Middle East RecentBridge
Trusteesat Bridge Church
Bridge Church
Newburyis a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registeredwiththe Charity Commission.
We havea great team ofTrustees who are responsible for the finance,governance and resources of Bridge Church.
Theyarealways happy to answer any questions youmay haveabout thecharity.
CarolineOwen Jones
Mark Landreth-Smith
Russell Hornzee
Jeremy CliftonBrown
HannahDabbs
TomNewbold
Want to Join In?
Ifyou feel that you belong at Bridge Church and would like tomakethisyour home for the next seasonof your journey withGodthat’s great! We look forward togetting to knowyou and exploring how wecan flourishtogether. The mainway we communicatethe life of thechurchis throughChurchSuite. Pleaselet Emma know ifyou do not have access.
Ifyou have any other questions, pleaselet one of the leaders know, we would loveto chat somemore.