01 Nov Bridge Fellowship Off the Ground

Mike Soltis (left) praying for graduates in May on Graduation Sunday.

Josh Soltis leading worship.

A service at Bridge Fellowship.

At the first Bridge baptism in August.

The Bridge Fellowship, in North Baltimore, Ohio, officially launched Sunday morning services on October 20, 2013. About 80 people attended. The church’s pastor is Mike Soltis, who began working with the church plant in November 2012.

A core group of persons from about 21 households has been meeting informally for over a year. Several more families joined during the weeks leading up to the public launch. A mailer about the new church was sent to the surrounding area to make people aware of the opening service.

“We had about a 30% increase for the launch,” said Mike Soltis. “We’ve seen three weeks now of people who have come from the mailer. We now have 26 households that are part of the group. I am happy with the way visitors have responded, and that some have returned.”

Pastor Mike Soltis doing a baby dedication.

He was hoping they would start off with an even higher number of people. “But a 30% uptick in worship attendance—I’ll take that any day of the week.”

Bridge Fellowship rents meeting space at the local middle school/high school, a brand new facility. They sit around tables, rather than in rows of chairs. The music, led by Mike’s son, Josh, is a blend of songs. Dress is casual.

Several small groups meet at 9:15, prior to the worship service, including Bridge Kids for elementary students and Elevation Student Life, the youth group.

They had quite a bit going on even before the official launch. On Sunday nights a local lady lets them use a building on Main Street, which runs through the middle of North Baltimore. A men’s group meets monthly. They started small groups in June. They’ve run a clothing closet and tutoring for kids. In August, they baptized 12 persons in their first baptismal service.

Three prayer groups meet during the week. “I appreciate their prayer emphasis. It’s hard enough to have one prayer group, let alone three.”

This summer they sent a group of teens to Peru. Last week, the youth group had an attendance of 25, which is very commendable for a congregation of this size.

A pastoral advisory team works with Pastor Soltis in making decisions, and they also have a finance team. They’re looking at a piece of property in the middle of town, to see if they can swing it; the cost is still too high.

“A lot of fellowship happens at the Bridge,” says Soltis. “The people really like each other. It’s refreshing to be with people who like to hang out.”

The core group consists mostly of people who previously attended Mt. Zion UB church in Wayne, Ohio. They contacted Mike Soltis about being their pastor; he had previously pastored Mt. Zion for a short time.

“They asked me to consider it, and I said they would have to talk to the bishop.”

The situation was brought before the Executive Leadership Team during its spring 2012 meeting, and the ELT gave the go-ahead for a church plant. Mike and his wife, Brenda, came aboard in November 2012.

Mike is bi-vocational. He had been working as a detention officer at the Wood County Juvenile Detention Center in Bowling Green, a maximum security facility for kids who really get out of line. He concluded that job on October 26, and will now begin substitute teaching.

Brenda Soltis works in a dental office in Bowling Green, Monday through Thursday. She runs the children’s programs at Bridge Fellowship. They’re looking forward to this Saturday, November 2. It will be the first time they’ve had Saturday off together in over 13 months.

Keep Bridge Fellowship in your prayers, as they continue building a ministry in the community and among the people of North Baltimore, Ohio.