In 1907, construction in Lethbridge, AB began to build the longest and highest trestle bridge in the world. The Canadian Pacific Railway’s Lethbridge Viaduct reaches over 5,327 ft. in length and 314 ft. in height. Nestled high over the Oldman River coulee, this impressive bridge was built to connect and allow safe passage across the coulee and avoid traversing the steep and treacherous terrain. Building a bridge of this magnitude required massive amounts of money and manpower along with an amazing plan to be successful. 

While the building of this iconic bridge was a national and historic event, we have a greater and higher calling to build eternal bridges to Christ in our communities. Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15 challenge us to share the Good News and make followers of Jesus Christ. Building a bridge to your community begins with prayer, planning, and a determination to reach outside the walls of your church. 

We have found Bridge Events to be a great way to build better bridges for the people in our community. A Bridge Event is a community-focused activity designed to attract people who do not typically attend church. A successful Bridge Event has 3 components: First, creating an event that is desirable and safe for the community. Second, facilitating an opportunity for relationships to form between people in your church and the community. Third, intentionally linking one event to the next with the goal of leading people to a Sunday service or small group where they can ultimately begin a relationship with Jesus.

At Westside Community Church in Lethbridge, we began our bridge-building journey 15 years ago and have learned a lot through trial and error. For many years we ran events such as carnivals, Canada Day pancake breakfasts, Children’s Day Camps, and Easter Egg Hunts, but we didn’t understand the principles of bridging those events and activities, or how to follow up and provide the next steps for our guests. 

Since the Discovery Weekend, we have grown in our understanding of how to plan and execute Bridge Events. Here is an example of what we did this past fall, in hopes that our experience might help you. We started with a community Trunk-R-Treat Halloween event where families could bring their children to a safe location to collect candy. We designed a maze in the church parking lot using the decorated trunks of our vehicles, engaged in conversations as people walked through, and handed out (masked and gloved) a large bag of candy at the end of the maze. 

We advertised this event through social media and shared our event in various local online groups such as Moms of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Event groups. We created a link to register and hosted a draw for a movie gift basket to help us in following up with our guests and inviting them to future events. As guests were leaving, we gave them a card inviting them to sign up for a Cookies and Carols event which was going to happen the following month. 

Several teams from the church brought a tray of Christmas goodies and sang carols outside the homes of those who registered. And before leaving, each family was invited to attend our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and given information about an upcoming Alpha group. 

The registrations helped us be able to email invitations for our upcoming Easter and Drive-In-Dine-Out Services. The most encouraging part of our bridge-building journey has been to see our Alpha group attendance triple this past year and engage with those seeking God and coming to faith in Jesus Christ. May the Lord lead and guide you as you consider using Bridge Events to help your church build a better bridge to your community.

Guest Author:

Pastor Bert and Donna Faulkner
Westside Community Church
Lethbridge, AB

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