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About LifeBridge Church


LifeBridge Church is rooted in the belief that the Church is a body of people taking the journey of life and of learning about Jesus.  It is not a building or a small group.  It is not just about doing things in the community or in the world in places such as Haiti or South Africa.  It is about the people grappling with tough questions such as:
While we are grappling with these issues we also feel it is important to be doing the work of the Gospel by acting in love.  This is where we feed the hungry, clothe the poor, give school supplies to children who have none, love the unloved, spend time with the ignored, and generally make an impact on the world as best as we can.  This is ministry.  We believe everyone can make a difference.  We don't do these things to recruit people to LifeBridge, we do these things because it is the right thing to do.  Running a food pantry to feed the poor one more month is far more important than attendance figures on a Sunday morning.  Raising money to keep a single mother in her home is far more important than a new "campus" to worship in.  

We can best accomplish these two tasks by building a real community.  Community is an overused word in general, including within the church.  Unfortunately, real community sometimes gets lost in programs and identity.  When the core of community is lost, the foundation becomes cracked and people get hurt.  When community becomes an image (something projected, but not real) as opposed to an identity (something organic and genuine), Christianity can sometime cause more hurt and suspicion.  Some of you may have been hurt by past church experiences or for whatever reason been made to feel like a second class citizen in the back pew.  If that is you, please allow me to say this.  As Christians, we apologize for being self righteous judgmental jerks.  You deserved better than what you got and we would like to offer you an opportunity for refuge and safe harbor.  

How does one create this community?  We do it without judgment or reservations because of their lifestyle or religious background.  We determine and commit to be a part of people’s lives because we truly care for them rather than to fulfill a religious duty, but to walk with them through all their struggles as a part of their life, not as a religious outsider.  We don't do this with clever programs or insulated cliques.  We do this by simply enjoying each other's company and helping each other at your individual comfort level.  We do not by creating a community, but by fostering an environment where community can thrive.  

Theological Stuff


One of the first questions many people have about LifeBridge Church is that of doctrine and I'm always a little unsure of how to answer it.
Most of us at LifeBridge, that call themselves followers of Christ, can agree on a few things:
- We believe in the message Jesus taught, as Christ, of loving God wholeheartedly and loving one's fellow man.
- We believe the Bible to be an inspired work, both recognizing the Divine and human elements of its composition.
- We believe in the idea of grace, both in a religious mindset and our personal relationships, ever mindful of God's unconditional love without respect to our "worth" or actions. This grace is not our license to do whatever we wish, but our motivation to return that love.
-We believe that each one of us is called to discipleship and the fruits of what we do are an organic expression of what is important to our hearts.  
These ideas cover our basic relationship between ourselves and God as well as others and where we receive our guidance on these relationships. These are the things that we should be concerned with on the "church" level.
Ultimately, Jesus Is The Saviour Not Christianity. Enforcing the ideals of a pre-packaged Christian lifestyle does not help people feel the love of Christ. If we are we trying to drive people to Christianity as opposed to Christ, then we are missing the point as a church.
Christianity sometimes focuses on law and misses the true message of Christ.  Jesus had much to say about the religious who put the law before his true message.
“…How terrible it will be for you experts of religious law! For you crush people beneath impossible religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.” Luke 11:46
“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law- justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the most important things. Blind Guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel.” Matthew 23:23-24
Jesus came and declared that the most important law was “You must love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37.39) Religion sometimes ignores the reasons behind this being the most important commandment and only focuses on the exterior and works as a way to get close to God. It is this path that makes is difficult for people to understand the true meaning of Christianity.

People Stuff  

At the end of the day, people is at the very core of what we are doing.  We believe that not only did Jesus love us, but He also likes us.  Jesus gave us a great commission. That was to share the Gospel.  We have not always done a good job explaining what that word means and we sometimes forget the greatest commandment when we share our faith.  Some people would never want to go near a church because of the behavior of Christians. Others yearn to find a home in a church, but for various reasons never feel quite welcome, sometimes they have felt scorned and judged and betrayed.    

We need to be advocates for the hurt, lonely, poor,  destitute and the desperate before we can begin to talk to them about how they lead their lives.  We are not an advocate as a bait and switch and we should never put conditions to unconditional love. When Jesus knelt before the woman about to be stoned, He did not advocate for her on the condition she went and sinned no more.  He stood by her side and stopped stones from being thrown against her skull and dispersed the crowd.  

In our neighborhood we have people who are suffering.  Single moms, abused spouses and children, people in financial ruin, forgotten elderly sitting in homes with no one to visit,  young people who are scared for their futures and ashamed of their pasts when they should be embracing a future full of dreams.  The list goes on.  People who come to us looking for the sunrise will not only find it, but have someone to hold their hand in the darkness and the twilight of their lives.  The church of LifeBridge may not grow when we reach out to these people and stand by their sides, but people's lives will be enriched in a real and meaningful way.  Those people may never think to come to us, that is why we intend to come out to them.  We will do this with individual behavior and  "villages".  A village is a group of people within the church that will be led by volunteers within the church.  Each village will have a mission or a purpose.  One village may visit the elderly, another may aid single mothers, and yet another village may provide resources for underprivileged children.    There may even be a village that will be dedicated to karaoke...the possibilities are limitless, but our resources are.  As our community grows, so will our villages.  

About the Pastor: Patrick Green

Patrick first attended Christian Life College in Mount Prospect, Illinois in the early 1990's.  He left before graduating and started working in youth ministry.  By the mid 90's Patrick was working with Pastor Fran Leeman to help him start Cornerstone Community Church in Plainfield, Illinois.  He eventually left in 1996 and swore never to return to the ministry.  He went on to work in the technical field as a Linux consultant and technical writer/trainer.  As he raised his daughter he felt the familiar tickle of his youth to minister.  It all came to a head following a heart attack in 2006.  He knew it was time to come full circle carrying with him the wisdom of age combined with a renewed compassion for people.  He returned to Christian Life College to complete his degree in pastoral studies.  Along that path he renewed his relationship with Pastor Fran and his church, now called Lifespring Community Church.  Patrick is currently an intern at Lifespring as they help him make LifeBridge a reality in Bolingbrook, Illinois.   You can learn more about his journey to ministry and starting LifeBridge at his Blog.