The Bridge

What is The Bridge?

The Bridge is a collaborative effort between the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, St. John's Lutheran Church, St. Ambrose Catholic Church and First United Methodist designed to:

• Create a vibrant lived demonstration of the Called to Common Mission initiative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church USA.
• Maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of the member faith communities.
• Recognize in a tangible way the value of bringing resources together.
• Cultivate a vital vision for the future.
• Develop new avenues of ministry to the downtown community.

Ministries of the Bridge

Member Churches

Bridge History

• Connection Cafe
  (the DOME)
• SHIPP

• St. Paul's
  Episcopal Cathedral

• St. John's
  Lutheran Church

• St. Ambrose
  Catholic Church

• First United Methodist

• Beginnings -  2000

Our Mission Statement

As members of the ecumenical faith community, we work together to enrich the lives of those working, living, or visiting downtown Des Moines by offering programs of spiritual formation and development, professional counseling, holistic health and family support.

Organization, Structure, and Governance

The Bridge is structured as a 501.c3 designed to maximize the opportunity for collaborative initiatives. The structure provides for the addition of future partners in shared ministry, e.g., other faith communities, organizations, agencies, foundations and others who share the vision of The Bridge.

The Bridge initiative is designed to empower shared ministry, not facilitate merger or create some other more closed entity.