BridgesUS

Empowering Leaders

Who We Are

Bridges is a Christian non-profit that empowers people to use internationally proven cross-cultural missionary skills to:
1. Help us get along with each other and with God
2. Improve the lives of people in our local communities.

Bridges Provides:

1. Training in cross-cultural skills and methods is usually reserved for overseas missionaries.
2. Training in founding, leading, and sustaining a micro nonprofit.
3. Services such as sponsored tax-exempt status, bookkeeping, tax filing, and donor communication.
4. An online community platform that makes all of the above easily accessible.

Our Mission:

ClEmpower leaders to adopt a new pattern of leadership and create new models of church that spread across America.

Our Vision:

CETo transforms America through an ever–increasing number of local Christ–following communities working for the common good.

Our Purpose: To Empower Bridge Leaders to:

– CliBefriend and serve people outside the existing church culture
– Discover innovative ways to make disciples
– Create new communities that work for the common good.

Our Key Performance Indicators (kpi):

1. Number of Bridge Leaders supported
2. Number of People impacted outside existing churches
3. The number of New Disciples
4. Increase in Number of Disciples Over Time
5. Number of new Community Groups formed

Fewer people are attending church than ever before. This means there is a growing number of people outside the church walls who need to experience Jesus’ love. Bridges help to make disciples of Jesus and form new Christian communities. Bridges assists and mentors these leaders by providing Assessment, Coaching, Training, and Support (ACTS Services).

With the help of strategic partners from churches and businesses, Bridges empowers these leaders to help others holistically, including spiritually, and empowers them to start new Christ-following community groups that work for the common good.

Donna Landon
Body and Brain

Body and Brain class for parents at Nobel Middle School. Donna remains encouraged by the potential for sharing healing opportunities with others as she continues to reach out to those she shares the love of Jesus within her community.

Florence Annang
Thrive Learning Lab

Florence empowers families and youth to overcome the challenges they face from the economic and racial inequalities in our cultures.

Norm Gordon and Wife

Norm Gordon
Germantown Global Connection

Norm leads a movement of ethnically diverse families in the suburbs of Wash. DC gathers together, serves together, and grows along spiritual lines.

Listen to these Bridge Leaders about their experiences with BridgesUS.
BridgesUS provided services to these Leaders to amplify and multiply their impact as they served others. 
Here is what they have to say. 

Mike Veerman image

“I wanted to take what I do professionally and help those in need. Bridges made it possible for me to do that without having to start my own nonprofit from scratch.” –Mike Veerman from Hope IT.”

The Professional – Mike

“I started by helping just one girl who was pregnant and in high school. I was soon overwhelmed with the need and the opportunity to help more young women. Bridges made it possible for me to grow a whole new nonprofit that champions the needs of these young women.”—Susan Fudge, previous Bridge Leader

The Home Maker – Sue

Clark Cowden

I had pastored a church and led our presbytery. My wife wanted to relocate to her hometown in Indiana, and the positions available to me were part-time roles with two small churches. Bridges allowed me to raise additional funds to support my work in the community. After several years of connecting the churches with the community leaders whom I had started to engage and pastor, some innovative collaboration began. Eventually, the churches grew to the point that I no longer needed the funds I was utilizing through Bridges.” – Pastor Clark Cowden
Executive Church Leader – Clark

Jim Milley, founder

My life is focused on befriending people from outside the church and helping them to connect with God. Bridges put me in touch with other people who are doing the same thing so that we can learn from each other and encourage each other. –Jim Milley, Founder of Bridges
The Founder – James

“I had worked several years at starting a new church but found that the grant money ran out before people were ready to give enough to keep the ministry going. Bridges showed me how to back up, create a sustainable financial base, and serve the people whom God had put on my heart.”
The Church Planter – Anonymous

Norm Gordan Image

“I had already been an immigrant pastor, a church planter, and an associate pastor at a large church. I realized that I wanted to spend more time with people who were disillusioned with church on a Sunday morning. Bridges made it possible for me to focus 100% on people who don’t attend church. It has been an amazing journey.”
 
The Pastor – Norm

James Milley

Executive Director

As the Executive Director of BridgesUS, James acknowledges the increasing loneliness, fear, and division among Americans. At the same time, he also believes God is doing something new. “Together, we really can transform America,” says James.
His passion is to build tools that empower multi-vocational leaders who make disciples and start Christ-following communities in the many post-Christian subcultures of America. In this way, he hopes to see these communities multiply positive social impact through relational networks and local neighborhoods.

Become a Sponsor. Get Involved.

Bridges values our partnership together. We believe there is a powerful
synergy when people of like vision, passion, values, and commitment come
together to improve our local communities. This is especially true when
both for-profit and non-profit leaders like us bring together our local
networks and local knowledge to engage the problems of our local
communities.
Together we really can make a difference!