Vision for Renewal
Tell us who you are and where you serve.
My name is James Brown, and I serve as pastor of Bridgeway Church in Stillwater, Minnesota, in partnership with InFaith. Our congregation was known as Bethany Church for nearly 145 years. The name Bridgeway has become a picture of our calling: connecting people to Jesus, to one another, and to a way forward marked by grace.
I have a deep burden for small churches navigating difficult seasons—congregations often treated as though their best years are behind them. My calling is to help churches move from surviving to thriving. What drew me to the Covenant was a movement that takes Scripture seriously and understands that following Jesus must eventually move us toward our neighbors.
How are you experiencing God’s renewing work in your life?
I arrived at Bridgeway believing God had called me to help renew a church. What I did not fully understand was that God intended to renew me at the same time. These two years have included the most hopeful developments of my ministry and the most painful changes in my personal life. That tension exposed something important: spiritual renewal cannot be managed into existence. It must be received.
“I arrived at Bridgeway believing God had called me to help renew a church. What I did not fully understand was that God intended to renew me at the same time.”
How goes my walk? More dependent, more honest, and perhaps more childlike than it has been in a long time. God is teaching me that renewal is not becoming impressive again. It is becoming alive to his presence again.
Where do you see the Holy Spirit breathing new life into your ministry?
Instead of asking, “How do we keep the doors open?” we began asking, “Who is God asking us to open these doors for?” A mission team from Ohio traveled to Stillwater to address a decades-old problem in our sanctuary. They did far more than remove carpet. They helped remove barriers and reminded us we were not forgotten.
At Night to Unite, over 30 volunteers welcomed more than 100 neighbors. One told us, “This neighborhood needs a church like this.” A congregation that once feared being forgotten is beginning to believe God can make it unforgettable—not through branding or programming, but through the way it loves its neighbors. The miracle at Bridgeway is that God gathered ordinary people willing to trust him, trust one another, and try again.
Be Part of What God is Doing
Join a growing movement of churches and leaders committed to renewal across the Covenant.
