How One Church is Thriving in a Crisis
The Bridges
Jeff “JT” Timblin is the pastor of Bridges church in Long Beach, California. Before the virus hit, the church of over 200 had already started five new churches meeting in homes.
In the first week of restrictions meetings of 25 people were allowed. So JT broke his church into groups of 25 meeting in homes for Discovery Bible Study.
A week later only ten people could meet in each home. JT had trained leaders ready to go and they increased the number of groups.
The next week face to face meetings were banned. The churches meeting in homes became churches meeting online. Each of the twenty churches had a leader and an apprentice.
Church online can be a passive experience. Viewers sit at home passively watching a production of worship and teaching. There is little required of them them except to support the ministry financially.
Instead, JT’s online churches have identified and applied the characteristics of healthy churches using Acts 2:36-47.
Each leader assigns roles for participants to lead:
Mutual Care and Worship
Discover in the Word
Goal Setting and Prayer
For the first time in their life members are facilitating pastoral care, not just receiving it. For the first time in their life they are leading others in a Discovery Bible Study. For the first time in their life they are leading others in prayer.
JT meets weekly with the 20-25 leaders of the churches for encouragement, training and problem solving. For years JT has been casting this vision but now the lights are going on. People are experiencing church as a community of multiplying disciples.
Bridges has become a church of churches. They can meet together as one church online as they become a network of reproducing churches.
Now JT is helping other churches transition in Southern California. He is part of a wider coalition of churches committed to plant a reproducing church in every zip code of Long Beach and Orange County. He’s also building hubs of reproducing churches in southern Ethiopia and Mexico City.
What to learn more? 215-Doing Church in an Age of Crisis
