Did you get a haircut?
Lose some weight?
New glasses?
Something is different but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Well as we move into November something has indeed changed in Winnipeg (and not just the fortunes of the Blue Bombers), and the change is at The Bridge Church.
A few years back, we launched something that we internally called Bridge 2.0 where we established our five core values, revamped our worship service, refreshed our bylaws and started looking at the future of our congregation in a different way. And over the last three years God has been so good to us as we have faithfully walked the path that he set before us. The important changes, those that lie at the core of who we are as a church have taken place over time, methodically, carefully, and intentionally. And because God has been in them, they have taken root and have been lasting. But the look on the outside has not always matched the progress that is happening on the inside.
It's like when someone puts in the work and the effort over a long season to get healthy and lose weight. The results are staggering, but if they don't eventually update their wardrobe to match their new reality they look out of place and somehow less than they actually are.
The church has put in the work over the past three years, and this week we're showing off our new threads!
Welcome to The NEW Bridge Church (click on the logo for a deeper look at styles and colours)
You may have noticed this new logo and colour scheme popping up on our various social media accounts over the past few days. This is the new visual representation of who we are. The old logo that you have known and loved for the past 14 years was great for it's time, but as we have moved into the digital age and both the style and technical requirements of contemporary iconography and communication have been changing, we needed something fresh and new that not only met our technical requirements, but that better spoke to our Bridge 2.0 identity and ethos. This new logo does that. Here are a few ways in which this new look speaks to the reality of who we are:
The word mark that accompanies the crest better represents who we are because it balances the size and importance of the 3 words. The previous logo emphasized "Bridge" at the expense of "Church," we wanted to emphasize and communicate that we ARE a church, and we are excited about that part of our identity.
The crest/shield itself is five-sided to represent our five core values as a church.
The bridge in the crest is made out of people linking arms, signifying both the importance of community and the notion that we are not a church that is situated by a bridge, but that we are the bridge that God is using to reach the world.
The people also resemble 3 crosses on a hill which reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world.
The bridge is spanning a river which has the double meaning of representing both our immediate geography (proximity to the Assiniboine) and the river of God’s Spirit that undergirds and brings life to all of our work and service.
The initials TBC fill the upper-third of the crest and are ever-so-slightly connected which speak not only of the full-integration of our identity and which also connects the crest to our name more intentionally.
The red wine colour connects us to the sacrifice of Christ’s blood and the new covenant made in it for our salvation and freedom.
Beginning this week, all of our digital communication will be updated with the new style, colours, and logo. So you will see a lot of it. And as we move into 2019 we will begin looking at updating our physical signage when the timing and the expense makes sense. For now you can take a look at it on our church website and see how well this new look suits the church we have become.
And WHEN you head to the website you will notice something else that is new, and that has in many ways been the catalyst for this change. If you click on the menu bar at the top (or the menu box if you're looking on mobile) you'll notice an option to download our new mobile app! Which is available for people with iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android devices. You'll be hearing more about this new app on Sunday, but I'd encourage you to download it in advance and spend some time getting to know how it works because it is going to become very useful to you going forward.
On Sunday you'll also hear about some more exciting changes to some of our church structures that will help us better communicate the reality of who we have become as a church - so make sure you bring that freshly updated mobile device with you to worship and be ready to find out more!* Welcome to the next era of The Bridge Church! *Don't worry if you don't have a smartphone or tablet, we aren't leaving you behind. Physical resources will continue to be made available for those who need them. Although if you're reading this blog, that's probably not you.