Beginning this month I am going to be writing a monthly article highlighting some things that I’m calling “Pastor Randy’s Top 10 Things You May Not Know.” This list is going to include things such as, church related news, events, projects, ministries, staff, volunteers, members, needs, and statistics – or anything else I decide to highlight.
Hopefully, this monthly top ten list will help you to know more about what is happening with our church, how you can get more involved, and how you can pray.
If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to email them to me at randy@bridgebible.church.
So without further ado, here’s the first “Pastor Randy’s Top 10 Things You May Not Know:”
#1 – 7141 Amigo Ave
Way back, on September 27, 2018, the church made an offer to purchase the house for sale on 7141 Amigo Ave. This home is one that sits next to our duplex home, and can be seen from and is closest to the K-Bldg. As of Wednesday, after a three and a half year escrow (must be a Guinness World Record), escrow finally closed and The Bridge now owns this property. Please pray for the process of the former owner moving out and The Bridge renovating the property for our future use.
You might be wondering…
- What are we going to do with the property?
- What kind of condition is the home in?
- Who will be living there?
These are all questions that we will be in a better position to answer once we take possession of the property. We will let you know!
For now, we praise the Lord for giving us the opportunity to purchase this residential property. Now, The Bridge owns all of the residences on the block of our campus.
#2 – 7060 Amigo Ave
This is the property across from our main campus, which is often referred to as “the Amigo Building.” Due to the fact that the building on this property is very old and very costly to maintain, the elders have decided and have been attempting to sell the property for about a year.
Currently, we are in communication with a very interested buyer. As we receive more information about the sale of this property, we will let you know. Please pray that the Lord would allow us to sell this property. We desire to use the proceeds from this sale to improve our main campus and fund other ministry priorities.
#3 – Finances
This is a quick update of our tithes & offerings giving for the current fiscal year (2021-22)
- Giving: $ 1,450,547
- Budget: $ 1,521,423
- Shortfall: $ -70,875
In spite of our offering shortfall of $70K, we have reduced our spending such that there is a current surplus of $32,489 in our General Fund for this fiscal year.
Part of the reason we have been able to keep the expenses at a minimum is because we are still not functioning with all our pre-covid church ministries and activities. However, we are beginning to ramp up again, so we hope to see an increase in giving and ensure that all the ministries will be able to be fully functional this next fiscal year. We would be so grateful if you would prayerfully consider helping out with the giving shortfall.
#4 – Property Work
While we currently have a small facilities team, Darren Reeves, Rick Noll and Jake Pircey (part-time), they have been working very hard at maintaining and keeping our very large church campus looking nice. Here is a list of just some of the things they have accomplished in the last few months:
- Worship Center: new heater
- D Bldg (Bridge Cafe) repipe with new stainless counters and sink and A/C unit
- E Bldg: new hot water tank
- E Bldg: new electrical panel
- Lower E Bldg: restroom remodel
- Lower E kitchen: new swamp cooler
- G Bldg: repairs from fire last year
- I Bldg: new paint in some classrooms
- K Bldg restrooms: new paint
- Offices: new wiring and safety fire exit signs in the offices
- Offices: new A/C units
- Tammy Werth’s house: new A/C unit
- Borchardt’s home: converted the garage into a 3rd/master bedroom
Our maintenance crew works very hard to make these very old facilities usable for all of us. Please thank them for all their hard work when you see them and do whatever you can do to help keep our campus tidy.
This leads to #5…
#5 – Staff Highlight (Darren Reeves)
Darren had the unenviable task of replacing Dean Peters (and then Gary Meier) as our Director of Facilities. There was so much for Darren to learn concerning our very old and large campus. He came to us from Faith Baptist in Canoga Park, where he was the main Facilities Manager of their Hispanic campus at 22222 Saticoy.
If that address seems familiar to you it is because we used to own that property as our West Campus, before we sold it to Faith Baptist. Previous to selling the West Campus, Darren worked part-time for The Bridge, managing that facility.
Darren and his wife, Kristen (who often sings, so beautifully, on the worship team and helps with our Social Media recently became members of The Bridge again. You will often see Darren walking and working all over the campus, as he is a skilled, dedicated and faithful worker, with an amazing servant’s heart.
We are truly blessed to have Darren and Kristen back with our church family!
Which leads to #6…
#6 – Help Wanted
We are still looking to hire someone to help Darren and his facility team as a Maintenance Technician. If you know of anyone who might be interested in working in such a position, please have them contact Darren at darren@bridgebible.church.
#7 – Annual Meeting
The past two years we have been unable to have our Annual Member Meeting due to COVID. We plan to have the meeting this summer, during a Sunday service in late July or early August. It will be a great time to worship the Lord for what He has done and will continue to do in our local congregation. We will let you know when we have the exact date determined.
#8 – Missions Prayer Meeting
Pastor Paul has mentioned this before, but I thought I would remind all of you of the blessing we have to gather together and pray for our missionaries (36 of them!) every Thursday morning at 7:00am. You don’t even have to leave your home! This is because we have the prayer meeting over Zoom. Each week Gary Meier sends out prayer requests and a Zoom link. Then we (usually 7 or 8 of us) join together over this technology which has become a great tool for us. We would love to have you and others join us as we lift up these precious partners in ministry, from all over the world, before the throne of God each week.
If you are interested please email Gary at meierg@live.com.
#9 – Random But Important Stats
We have 87 people who checked into our 9:00am service at least once in the past 6 months, BUT have not checked into the service during the past 4 weeks. While there are a number of possible reasons for this, as one of the shepherds of our flock, this is an important number I want to consider. It’s very possible that one or more of these 87 people just forgot to check-in. It’s also possible that one of these dear brothers or sisters really needs someone to call and let them know that we love them, we miss them, and we want to see if they need any help or prayer. One of our faithful elders, Don Rohde, is creating a team of people to follow up and do exactly that.
What can you do to help? Two things:
- Please let us know that you are in the service by either checking-in on the Church Center app, or by filling out the connection card (just your name) in the seat pocket of the chair. This will help us to make sure we have accurate records of who needs a follow-up call.
- Consider helping Don by calling someone who has been missing to encourage and pray for them. If you’re interested in helping, please email Don at sbuxdon@msn.com.
Jesus said that the world will know that we are His disciples by the way that we love one another. This is ONE of the ways that we can do that. Thanks for being willing to help us with this task.
#10 – Volunteer Highlight (Josiah Lee)
I’m certain that many of you have not had the privilege of meeting Josiah Lee. He came to us almost a year ago and quickly decided that The Bridge was his church! Josiah became a member and has been a beloved part of our Life Group that meets on Sunday evenings at my house.
Just recently Josiah graduated from The Master’s University with a Masters Degree in Biblical Counseling. He has been a great help to our Biblical Counseling ministry the last few months as he has been working with Mike Vos in that ministry – providing free counseling to a number of individuals.
In addition to all of this, Josiah has been volunteering in the Bridge Kids ministry with our preschool kids. My grandson, Jaxson, LOVES Mr. Josiah!
We need to pray for him as next month he will be going on a short-term mission trip to serve in Southern Europe. So if you get a chance to meet Josiah around the campus please say hello to him and thank him for the way he is serving the Lord at our church.
NOTE: If you play “Pickleball,” Josiah would love to see you on the court! If you don’t know what Pickleball is, check out this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqLRRNOpe8U
That’s all until next month!
Blessings,
Pastor Randy