By Susan Kane, Church Multiplication
The following is an interview with Cindy Mugford, a member of the pastoral team at The Bridge Church, in Laveen, Arizona. The Bridge was launched on March 30, 2007.
Can you describe the circumstances that led to the launch of The Bridge?
In December 2006, Jeff and I left Portland, Oregon, where we had been for less than two years and came back to the Phoenix area to plant. We love the desert, the Southwest, and Arizona. We had some friends who agreed to help us start the church, and one family even moved out here just to support us. We had our first gathering on December 23, 2006, and cast a vision for the type of church we wanted to plant. We went to work on marketing and finding out what Laveen had to offer. We had planned to meet in the Trailside Point School, a new school that was being built in the area that was due to open in January, 2007. Within a month we found out that the opening had to be postponed until March, so we went looking for a starter place until our school was ready. We ended up meeting in the outdoor courtyard of Bougainvillea Golf Club for four weeks, and then we moved into the school on April 22, 2007. We’ve been riding the church planting wave ever since.
How did Jeff and you come to pastor at The Bridge?
Jeff and I began at Mountain Park Church with Robin Wood. Jeff was the student ministries pastor and led Hot Church for fifteen years. After that, we went to Portland, where we pastored for a year and a half. It was at that point that we decided to think about a move, and we were contacted about a possible new plant. We knew it was a hard job and weren’t sure if we wanted to attempt it. Jeff came to visit Laveen; he fell in love with the community and had a real “God moment” seeing the school and meeting with the principal.
What is the community of Laveen, Arizona, like?
It has been called “the sleepy little farming village of Laveen.” We are a small town that forgets it is sitting next to a major metropolis. When Jeff came here, we had never heard of Laveen. However, it is a growing place with affordable housing, and there are lots of young families here. It’s close enough to downtown Phoenix to go see a Diamondback game! We have a few streets with four-way stops and only two major sit-down restaurants, but new places are being built all the time.
What outreach events has the church undertaken?
We are trying to make a way for ourselves in local community events. There are a few larger churches that host their own activities. We have joined all the Laveen community events, helped with Block Watch events, and participated in the Laveen Community Parade and the city’s Annual Barbeque. We hosted a water table at last year’s Turkey Trot and Dairy Air Dash, and served dinner at the school for the teachers during parent-teacher conferences. Last year, we were able to host our first annual Easter egg hunt and had over five hundred in attendance. We are well on our way to making a difference in our community. We support a local ministry called Cord of Hope, which is a ministry to assist newly-released prisoners to get into half-way houses. We are currently remodeling a home with them. We also connected with Heart to Honduras.
We have had people tell us that we are getting a good reputation in the community, and a lady stopped me in a store when she saw my Bridge shirt and told me that we always look like we’re having fun together. I smiled from ear to ear when I heard that! We are averaging around 120-plus people and are poised for more growth.
We send out mailers and have had good luck with door-hangers. We try to encourage our church members to “Invest and Invite.” We will invest in literature to put in their hands and plan the music, message, and media for the day’s topic. They, in turn, invite their friends, family, and neighbors.
Each week we also have a ten-minute party after the service—a fancy name for refreshments, but we want to provide an opportunity for significant conversation to occur immediately following the Sunday service. People can meet the pastor, talk to persons on the Bridge team, and make new friends. We often tailor the snacks to the message series, if possible. We have a team with huge gifts of hospitality who have risen up to help coordinate this.
Tell a little about your ministry team.
Chuck and Toni Brannan lead our Elementary Bridge Kids along with Amber Cicchillo, who coordinates our nursery and preschool. We just secured Mat Weddle as our worship leader and could not be any happier! Jeff and I know it takes a team to build a church, and we have solid leaders who help each week from setup to tear-down to make sure people find a safe place to hear a dangerous message.
What is the vision the ministry team has for The Bridge Church?
Our vision is to obviously grow and become more active in the community. Our mission statement is to “Love God, Love Each Other, and Love the World.” We want to not just help people love God but to love God more. We are a good place for the community to get to know each other. With the affordable housing, a lot of people have moved here from different parts of the city but don’t know anyone out here. We’re a good place to meet and connect neighbors. We are visionaries. We see what is not there as well as what could be. We are passionate about what we do, and that passion will hopefully will be contagious.
Any other thoughts?
We definitely could not have done this without the assistance of both Church Multiplication Association [CMA] and Church of God Ministries. They believe in us and have financially supported us and our outreach efforts. They have put money where their mouths are and said they would support church plants reaching people for Christ. We also connect each week with other CMA church planters on conference calls. This has been a lifeline to know that we are not in this alone. They coach, connect, and encourage us. We often e-mail other planters and have the ability to ask questions and get direction from pastors who are months or years ahead of us.
We try to take the responsibility of using the church’s money to advance the Kingdom seriously. We are honored to be in this place at this time, and we know God will work through us.