Todd Harrington 

The bridge ministries

Gulf Breeze, FL

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1.  we ask this of everyone, what is your understanding of a pomo ministry?

My understanding of an effective "pomo" ministry is a ministry that is willing and able to communicate the gospel through a community of lives that are authentic and diverse and model the christian life holistically. In regards to "holistically", I am referring to the idea that a ministry in the postmodern world will help people realize that christianity is not a facet of life that exists for the individual’s good pleasure nor should faith be tucked nicely away until tragedy or a need arises.  Ministry in this context should educate and exemplify a christianity which effects all of life’s decisions--where do I live, how much meat do I eat, how many kids should I have, how do my decisions effect ecological and conservational issues, how does my faith effect my decisions in regards to finances, sexuality, rest, work, and exercise.  Christianity in the new world must be communal-communal in listening to God's spirit through the reading of the story of God's intervention in the lives of humanity as well as communal in understanding that the Christian was not called nor created to journey on the path of faith alone.  I visualize that ministry in the pomo setting will not have a uniform look but will be diverse based on being relevant to the cultural context in which a christian community lives. Ministry in the new frontier will be team based, and will be lead by more people who are not making their financial livelihood from a local church. Lastly, ministry in the pomo setting will be missional-not tacking on missions as a ministry arm of the church or giving a certain percentage of time and money to outreach, but one where people realize that they are all sent as ambassadors for Christ with their entire lives being under the leadership of God's spirit and direction where they are each being the church (those who are called out) continually-a ministry which is not focused on a church as a person, a place, or an event, where a person involved in that ministry becomes a consumer of religious goods and services, but a ministry where the church is a community of people where deep-spirited friendships can take place, where people can wrestle and struggle with theological issues and personal issues honestly, and where people live their lives as a mission coming together weekly to express what God has done in their lives during the previous week. 

2.  what makes the bridge ministries different from other churches in the area?

It is hard to answer what makes us different than other churches in the area because it is hard for me to gauge other local churches. However, I can share who we are: a diverse community of people on a journey of faith in Christ wrestling openly with God about how to be the church in the new world. We long to be authentic with each other and with God so that deep-spirited friendships can bloom and grow.  We long to be a place that can model and teach a fragmented and broken world how to be friends.  We look at Christianity holistically - affecting the mind, the body, the soul, and the earth in which we live.  We value learning from scripture, the early church fathers, the arts, each other, and those who believe completely differently than us so that we can be enriched and strengthened as well as enriching and strengthening the lives of others.  Also, we see worship as a life-style (not merely one hour a week as we gather together (but that we can worship God continually even as we wash dishes, eat, surf, work and yes even as we change diapers.       

3.  with the bridge ministries being connected to the umc, do you feel that being connected to a denomination is a good thing and why?

The Bridge is a "church within a church model" whose long-term plan is to stay connected and supported by our "mother church" - Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church. In our situation there are definitely pros and cons to being a church within a church where we will always be connected to Gulf Breeze Methodist. I will start with a few of the cons.  It is a little difficult to have your own identity and not be seen as either a age-based ministry within the church or being perceived as a ministry outreach of the church.  Also, by being connected it is difficult to be gauged and held accountable by standards and measures that do not fit within a postmodern paradigm. For example, church health is more important for our ministry than is church growth.  As the people within the church become healthy than a direct correlation of this will be growth both spiritually and eventually numerically. Also, there is a con/pro paradox.  It is good to have the recourses that being connected to a large church can offer.  Off course, there are the financial resources, the facility resources.  Yet, the flip side is that we have to be careful not to use them as a crutch to keep us from being diligent and not becoming complacent and “consumeristic.”  However, there are other benefits for being connected.  We have a great number of people who are willing and who support us with prayer.  We also have the opportunity to help influence the church as a whole.  We are located five minutes from the beach, so a typical baptism experience can easily be held in the Gulf of Mexico.  However, it is difficult to have baptisms outside during the winter months and being that we meet in and are connected with the Methodist denomination there is not access for people to be immersed inside where we gather.  Therefore, we were creative and purchased for a little over 100.00 a metal horse trough to be used as a baptismal.  This trough has also been used in other services within our church giving the entire congregation the ability to witness baptisms by immersion, which many had not witnessed before. 

4.  how do you think the umc is doing in reaching a postmodern culture?

Well, there are many people and authors that have impacted my life and helped me in my birthing into a new world, and two names which come to my mind who have been involved with and have a great impact on the Methodist denomination and beyond are Leonard Sweet and Bill Easum. In regards to individual congregations and their effectiveness, then I can only answer for the conference in which I serve.  Overall, I would say that we are not as a whole being effective in reaching the postmodern world.   I am not sure how many of the new church starts and the new creative ministries are not just a more innovative way to reach the modern mindset.  I have hope and knowledge that many people are wrestling with some of these difficult issues especially young leaders within our conference which in time will have a more effective impact in connecting with a communicating to people with a new world mindset. 

5.  how is the bridge ministries connected to the wider "local" christian community?

Poorly.  As I have read this question, I am convicted by how fragmented our church is from the greater church as a whole.  A lot of it of course is that I seem fragmented personally.  However, I am finding and committing to ways in which I am not alone as a 'lead questioner' for a local church.  One in which is through on-line communities as well as recently being asked to meet with a few other local church planters for prayer and support.  Also, I am open to and desire connecting with another church that has journeyed ahead of our path that we can learn form and connect with.

6.  how do small groups fit into the bridge ministries?

Small groups do not fit within our ministry they are a vital artery of our ministry.  Small groups are the best place for our community to deepen in their friendships share their needs and be open to experience transformation. We place a great emphasis on small group leadership development and the importance of small groups impact on our ministry as a whole. we currently have six weekly small groups that meet.  We are a little over a year old and we have an average of 40 people a week involved in our home groups.  We average between 50-60 people a week in our larger group worship gathering. 

7.  how does the bridge ministries view culture and culturally relevant outreach?

As far as culturally relevant outreach goes I will refer back to our ministry trying to be a miss ional community where all of our lives become outreach so that outreach is not a part of our ministry or an arm of our ministry but that outreach is just an extension of who we are.  the outreach will be as relevant as our authenticity to God and to each other. As we grow and wrestle and learn then our lives will be relevant--and outreach being in extension of our lives than through deduction our outreach will be culturally relevant, and meaningful.

In regards to our ministries view of culture, we want to learn how to navigate within culture.  We view that there are many things in culture that we can embrace and learn from--such as the arts-music, paintings, plays, literature etc… and that there are some things within culture that are in need of redemption... racism and pornography to name a few.  We do not want to set our selves a part from culture nor do we want to embrace all aspects of it.  The aim of our ministry is to be a culture--a counter culture if you will where we learn from and dialogue with culture as an entirety where we can critically grow and challenge culture learning when and how to participate within it ...this means that we need continual discernment and wisdom in this ongoing process.  For at the place where we are engaged in and participating with culture that is where the gospel can be planted where it can bloom and where it can grow within the lives of others.