Standing tall in the heart of the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, Bridge City Church has breathed new life into a once asleep campus.
The space was originally home to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church — which was founded over 100 years ago — until the Cleveland Diocese sold it to Bay Presbyterian Church in 2010 as a part of a citywide downsizing initiative.
In the following years, Bay Presbyterian used the church and its sprawling campus as a gathering place for nomadic and displaced churches, poverty and social justice ministries and homeless veterans.
Just before the pandemic, the leaders at Bay Presbyterian, a historically white suburban church on Lake Road in Bay Village and of New Life at Calvary, a historically Black presbyterian church on East 79th Street, came together with a plan for a new church at the Clark-Fulton site. The result of the collaboration was Bridge City Church, with a congregation of members from Bay Presbyterian and New Life at Calvary.
“We officially announced that we were planting a church in the the fall of 2020, and it was after all of the craziness relating to race in the country,” says Rev. Pastor Keon Abner. “We were determined to make Bridge City a biblical response to the nonsense.”
Abner, the lead pastor at Bridge City, grew up in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood and attended the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “I have pretty much always been here,” he says. “I didn’t even leave for school, I attended online.”
RELATED: The 24 Stories that Defined Cleveland in 2024
According to the Cleveland City Planning Commission, the Clark-Fulton neighborhood is one of the most diverse zip codes in the Greater Cleveland area; this one square mile is Cleveland’s most densely populated community. Diversity and reconciliation are central to Bridge City’s mission.
“The only prayer that Jesus prays in the Bible that has never been answered is his prayer that humanity would be one,” says Abner. “We divide over everything, not just race.”
For Abner, reconciliation is about humanity being restored to God, and through that people learn to tear down walls of hostility and resolve the things that divide them.
Bridge City partners with a ministry called Threaded. Founded by Markus Lloyd in 2016, Threaded’s mission is to help individuals bring the gospel to racial conflict through education and training. The organization provides tools to build multiethnic relationships and opportunities for change.
“We knew coming into this that we needed a tool that would help us have conversations about racial equality and move us toward collaborative action,” says Abner. “We would not become a shallow, reconciled and diverse church, but that reconciliation would actually run deep enough to turn into beautiful new relationships.”
Threaded functions as small group meetings searching for mutual understanding. Members share stories and work through problems. Abner says that Threaded group members often dig into their hardships and heartbreak, but through sharing, they build relationships with a new community.
RELATED: Cleveland Magazine's Most Read Stories of 2024
“It is both forgiveness and reconciliation that turns into justice, which turns into equity,” he says.
Building deep relationships is a pillar of both Threaded and Bridge City’s missions. Each strives to facilitate multiethnic partnerships within their communities. “It is so rewarding to see peoples’ hearts soften toward those who are different to them,” says Abner.
Bridge City’s biggest goal is to establish itself as a safe harbor for the Clark-Fulton neighborhood and says that the church itself exists for their joy and pleasure. The leadership at Bridge City wants to continue to create a strong ministry presence for the residents of this diverse area.
“Ultimately, the goal for Bridge is to become a formation center that helps people be good neighbors and good disciples,” Abner says.
For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.
Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.
