The Colonies
Beaufort | Morehead City | Newport
The Colonies are the backbone of our Connections, Discipleship, and Fellowship Ministries here at Bridgeway Church. We gather on Wednesday evenings @ 6:00PM in 3 key locales along the Crystal Coast: Beaufort, Morehead City, and Newport. You can join anytime...you and your entire family. We have chosen "to do life together" in a family-friendly ministry setting, where all adults, all ages, and all kids are encouraged and welcome to be a part. There is no separation between men and women, between young and older, within our Colony Groups. This is a multi-generational ministry that seeks "to do life together."
We do take a short period for a Summer Recess, each year, starting in late May. This period usually begins with our final gathering in May and goes through mid August. This break gives our Host Families and Leaders time to breathe, pray, relax, and seek materials for the next season. Often times it is easy to overlook those that help guide and lead week in and week out, for 9 months. This is an intended time of rejuvenation and helps us build support for the upcoming season. We do have many summer activities, ministries, and opportunities that stand in the gap for the Colonies during this time.
Questions You May Have:
Why meet in 3 locations and not at the church?
This is a very good question. We decided after a year of planning, praying, and talking to families about having multiple locations instead of 1 for a few key purposes:
- After a hard workday or a long day fishing, some people want to come home, get ready, and not have to travel 20 or 30 minutes both ways. The fact is: having a locale just 5 or 10 minutes from your home is a time and money saver.
- We have great leaders and hospitality servants who need the opportunity to lead, prepare, serve, and teach. This is a wonderful way to have multiple layers of people involved in our discipleship process.
- The Colonies give you the avenue to do some community service and outreach right in your backyard, no matter where you live. You see, part of our vision for The Colonies was to serve others. So each locale takes care of its own all within the framework of Bridgeway. We are able to spread out and cover much more terrain for the Kingdom by doing this.
What does the typical Wednesday Gathering look like?
The Colonies are informal and casual, but also structured and tailored. When you show up, you will be warmly greeted and welcomed. There is generally a few minutes for catching up and fellowship. Prayer and a Meal follow around a table, or two, or more, which gives us intimate time breaking bread together in unity. After a good dessert or cup of coffee, we come back for a devotional, a study we are engaged in, or a dialogue discussion (all based from God's Word). These are intended to be times to open up, to learn, to digest, and to allow the Holy Spirit to move. Then, we take prayer needs and requests, and close in prayer. Our goal is always to wrap by 8 pm as we know many have school and work the next day.
