the bridge Presbyterian Church History
During the 5 years from 1999 to 2014 the town of Leland experienced an explosive growth rate of nearly 87%. At the initiative of the Coastal Carolina Presbytery, in 2013 a group of interested Presbyterians who lived in Leland along with Pastors and Presbytery leaders, organized a task force with the goal of launching a new Presbyterian Church in the rapidly growing north Brunswick County area.
The ambitious goal of this task force was to organize a new worship community to connect the flood of new residents to Christ and to the Presbyterian Church USA. After a few initial meetings, the core group met and interviewed Dr. Doug Cushing, who was called to be the Organizing Pastor of the new worshiping community. Dr. Cushing’s first goal was to establish a core group of interested folks. Meeting monthly in people’s homes, a growing group of dedicated women and men, heard God’s call to launch a new church and committed themselves to this task.
The original core group had a simple call from God; Help others connects with God’s passion, people and purpose. Additionally, the core group felt led to name the new church ‘the bridge Presbyterian Church,’ in no small part because of the need to have a vibrant expression of Presbyterianism on the Leland side of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. Lower case letters were used in the bridge to distinguish it from a church by a similar name in Wilmington.
An experienced church planter, Dr. Doug brought with him some fresh and faithful ways of doing and being church. The group assembled teams to build this new church. “Meet and Greet” gatherings brought people together and introduced them to the bridge and its vision.
The new church received its charter in January 2016. Dr. Doug Cushing was officially “called” and installed as pastor in January 2017. The bridge became part of the Presbytery of Coastal Carolina, which serves 180+ PCUSA churches in South-eastern North Carolina. God led many people to the new church. Services were a mix of traditional old hymns and contemporary Christian music. Instead of a choir, a band was started to bring energy to the music. Sermons were scripture based with an application to life in today's world.
A store front location was found in the new Waterford shopping center. The group rented a small space on the first floor in which to hold services. The official ribbon cutting was held on August 15, 2014. Service was held every Sunday. Instead of using the traditional term "church member", "Covenant Partner" was used to emphasize that everyone at the bridge is a partner in building God's kingdom here on earth.
Sermon-Based Small Groups and Mission Projects were developed. As more and more people found the mix of old and new an inspiring way to worship, services were expanded to two each Sunday. In just two years the church had outgrown its small space and moved to a larger space on the second floor of 497 Waterford. A "Raising the bridge" celebration was held in early 2019.
Though COVID closed the doors to in-person services in the middle of Lent 2020, the congregation remained active, faithful, and busy. Services were held virtually and outdoors in the parking lot. Meetings were held via Zoom. The first bridge cookbook was created.
The first Easter sunrise service on the Brunswick River took place. The church logo was updated to reflect its current and future vision. Fall of 2021 brought a return to in-person services, but live-streaming on Facebook and YouTube was continued.
As the Waterford rent kept going up and the bridge continued to grow, a team was created to find an affordable space for a own new home. A defunct Pentecostal church with a small fellowship hall was found sitting on 3 acres at 1444 Lanvale Road.
In the fall of 2022, the congregation voted to purchase the property and took possession in May of 2022. Utilizing a very generous bequest from deceased bridge Elder Dwight Warnock, renovation was undertaken.
From May until late August, 2022, local contractor Fulford Construction worked closely with a team of covenant partners to transform the buildings into the present church home. The first service was held there September 28, 2022. A second service was added in mid-April 2023.
Although far from perfect, Lanvale Road has been a place of continued growth in fellowship, mission, ministry, and new experiences such as an outdoor celebration, picnics on the property, a wedding, christenings, and, sadly, funerals.
For 2024 the population of Leland is reported to be 33,321 and, once again, the bridge is pressed for space. A new Task Force is now at work on plans for expansion at the present site.
With God— ALL Things Are Possible!