OUR STORY
Our history is long, but our story has much to be written.
It Started In 1927
In 1927, God began using a new church in Des Plaines, IL to reach men, women, and children with the gospel. Originally named Bible Faith Church, we started as a small Sunday School class for kids in the neighborhood. Over the years, the church has had multiple names and buildings, yet one focus—to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ and mature followers in their faith.
In 2007, our church called Scott Ziegler to be Lead Pastor. The elders and staff began leading our church to reach out to the community. In 2008, we changed our name to The Bridge Community Church and in 2009, we completed a major renovation to our original building, which included our signature glass windows and beautiful lobby. Our church began to grow and weekend attendance rose to 1000 people.
A desire to bring back the neighborhood church began to grow among our leaders. We wanted people to have a church home within 15-20 min of their house. We set out on a journey to plant campuses around the area to do just that.
We opened our second location, The Bridge Randhurst, in March 2018. Plus our Spanish-speaking ministry was also launched as a campus at the same location. Our third location opened in September 2019, The Bridge Portage Park, after merging with Northside Gospel Center. Our fourth location opened in September 2023, The Bridge North Shore.
We are praying that God uses all four locations and all five campuses to advance the Kingdom in an incredible way; that many people would come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
We believe God has called The Bridge to reach people for many years to come. Our history is long, but our story has much yet to be written. We hope you will join us as we move forward, trusting God with the results.
What is non-denominational?
The Bridge is a non-denominational church and has been for many years. That means we aren't linked with any particular denomination. But that doesn't tell us very much, does it?
It is probably most helpful to focus on the central commitment of The Bridge, which is for it to be a Christian church. This is not to say something contrary to what other churches say, including denominational churches. But what do we mean by "Christian"? Christian means simply to be related to Christ. Central in what we believe are the truths that Jesus Christ came to the human race and that He offered Himself as Savior and Lord. He is our source of forgiveness, our way to a new start, and the only way we can come under the leadership and care of God in our lives.
Secondly, we are a church that is focused on teaching the Bible. We believe that the Bible has the answers for life and the afterlife and that we can understand what it says and apply its principles to our lives, even in the twenty-first century.
So while we don't have a common label attached to our name, we think you will find our approach to following Christ and understanding the Bible to be refreshing.