Bridegewater Church
Madisonville www.bridgewaterchurch.info

Launched in 2006 with Reid Doster as Pastor, this new Fellowship church was
missional from the get-go. This page chronicles only a few of these activities
and hopefully gives you a feel for this special community of faith.

Bridgewater Church 'Santa'
Delivers Christmas Gifts 'Down the Bayou'

Pastor Bellon of Live Oak Baptist Church, Point-aux-Chenes, and his family were flooded out of their home after Hurricane Gustav. It had already been damaged by Katrina.

CBF volunteers helped to make their home livable, so the family could move out of the church building into higher, dryer and warmer surroundings before Christmas.
Just days before Christmas, Reid returned to Point-aux-Chenes to deliver Christmas gifts to the Bellon family, especially the four daughters, and some supplies to a local children's center.

The three adults (left to right) are Liz Bellon, Lynn LeBlanc (Bridgewater deacon) and Tom Bellon.
The pilot took the photo.

The packages in this photo represent only a portion of what was actually hauled in the plane, including a bicycle! The gifts were from the generous members of Bridgewater Church. Reid proudly notes, "I had the airplane painted white, red and green especially for this Christmas occasion."

Our prayer is that this family will feel God's love all around them as they celebrate being back in their home.

Bridgewater and Beanie Babies

At Bridgewater Church in Madisonville, La., members collect Beanie Babies to send overseas.
The small stuffed animals are part of care packages the church sends to U.S. soldiers from Louisiana who are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“When we began shipping the care packages, we were a bit surprised to receive specific requests for Beanie Babies,” said pastor Reid Doster. “But we learned that the toys could be carried
easily by soldiers and given to Iraqi and Afghani children, who in turn often warned the soldiers of land mines and other explosive devices.”

One local resident heard about Bridgewater’s care package ministry and donated 440 Beanie Babies to the church. The donor said, “I had been asking the Lord what I should do with these Beanie Babies. I just knew someone could use them, but didn’t know where to look.”

Bridgewater Church is one of the most recent recipients of a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missional ministry grant. The grants resource local congregations as they complete the “It’s Time”
study and seek to determine how God is calling them to ministry. Since 2006, the Fellowship has awarded $621,747 in grants to partner churches.

Beginning two years ago with four friends, Bridgewater has grown to 69 members who, along with a host of visitors, worship in The Maritime Museum.

“We put money into ministry, not bricks and mortar,” said Doster, a professional counselor.
Before receiving the grant, members were actively engaged in food distribution, home repair and yard work for senior citizens and financial assistance for utility and medical bills. They have also provided furniture to Katrina survivors, hygiene kits, uniforms and supplies to school children,
grief counseling, transportation and other services.

The missional ministry grant will help the church continue its current ministries and develop additional
means to meet its community’s practical needs. The grant also has helped current church members, only eight of which have a Baptist background, grasp the Fellowship’s broader purpose and ministry.

“This grant did more to solidify the relationship between the church and CBF,” Doster said. “I could have distributed CDs and brochures [about the Fellowship] every Sunday, but it wouldn’t have done as much as [CBF coordinator] Bo Prosser’s coming and preaching and handing the church that check …. It was like saying, ‘God bless you for your vision.’”

By Vicki K. Brown

Bridgewater Church Receives $25,000 Missional Grant

On January 27th, Bridgewater Church, in Madisonville, Louisiana, received a $25,000 missional ministry grant from The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF).

Less than two years ago, Bridgewater Church began with four friends and has grown to sixty-five members, with more in worship, and has study and support groups for grief, cancer recovery, marriage enrichment, bi-polar disorder and therapeutic prayer.

The church was already actively engaged in distribution of food and meals for the sick, care packages to Louisiana soldiers serving in war zones, home repairs and yard work for the elderly, and direct financial assistance to the most needy for utility and medical bills.

Other ministries have included providing furniture for Katrina survivors, hygiene kits, uniforms and school supplies for school children, playground repair, grief counseling, transportation and other resources to help heal hurts of the most neglected and forgotten.

This grant will allow Bridgewater Church to sustain these existing ministries while also developing other programs to meet practical, person-centered needs in the community. None of the funds will go toward salary or facilities.

The eight-week It’s Time missional church study, written by Daniel Vestal and administered by Bo Prosser and Rick Bennett, of CBF’s Department of Congregational Life, prepared Bridgewater’s grant application team (Steve Brooks, Lynn LeBlanc, Ken Black, Penny Doster, Jane Kemp and Lynn Ferina) to submit what CBF described as “the most detailed and comprehensive application CBF has ever received.”

Dr. Reid Doster, a licensed professional counselor and ordained minister, is the pastor. He also serves as CBF Louisiana Disaster Response Coordinator.

For more information about Bridgewater Church, which worships at The Maritime Museum, Madisonville, call (985) 845-1118. Also: at www.bridgewaterchurch.info