Dear BridgePointe Family, 

Last week, new COVID guidelines were released for the state of Rhode Island that go into effect today. Many have asked how these guidelines affect BridgePointe and we thank you for your patience while we’ve taken time to develop a plan for our worship gatherings. It seems important to first acknowledge the grief, frustration, and discouragement we all feel facing this again, especially right before the holidays. 

To provide context, the following priorities influenced our approach to making this decision:

• We want to protect the health of our BridgePointe family.

• We do not want to create a divide between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, as both groups can still spread the virus.

• We want to create an accessible worship environment for anyone who wants to participate.

In light of this, here are the guidelines for our Sunday services going forward as well as our upcoming Christmas Celebration service.

Sunday Services

Starting January 2nd, we will have different sets of guidelines for each service. 

• For the 9:00 am service, masks will be required for everyone in attendance—staff, volunteers, participants, and kids in the classrooms.

• For the 10:45 am service, masks are strongly recommended but will not be required. There is no change to our current BP Kids policy, masks are still required in the classrooms.

Our hope is that this approach, along with our online service, will continue to provide a way for the whole family of BridgePointe to worship God together each week.

Christmas Celebration 12/23

Here are the updated guidelines for our Celebration on December 23rd:

• For the 4:00 pm service, masks will be required for all in attendance.

• For the services at 5:30 and 7:00 pm, masks are strongly recommended but not required.

We will also provide a livestream of the 5:30 and 7:00 pm services available from bpri.online.church.

As people who belong to Jesus, we should approach this difficult situation with a different attitude than the unbelieving world around us. Our priority is to approach this with selflessness in consideration of what is best for all involved. We consider others above ourselves, we are quick to listen and slow to speak and become angry, we show compassion and give grace. Also, we are mindful that the enemy, the Devil, would love to use this as an opportunity to bring division within the church. We pray against that and resolve to protect our unity. We want to be a church that gives grace and shows kindness to one another when there are differing opinions about things that are less important than the Gospel.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:9-10)

Praying for ONE,

Jared Cowgur

Leadership & Teaching