Atlanta couple sees their Brooklyn church plant grow

Atlanta couple sees their Brooklyn church plant grow

Two years before Rich Bowman met Bridge Church Pastor James Roberson, he had been an atheist. Shortly after he had professed faith in Christ, Bowman and his wife, Emmy, still had not joined a church. After finding one of Roberson’s blog posts online, he contacted Roberson.

The Bowmans appeared to be very introverted. Both were “super quiet,” never interjecting during the Brooklyn church’s City Group Bible studies. Today, Emmy Bowman is the primary person Bridge Church women seek for discipleship. And her husband will be the pastor of the Bridge Church’s first church plant in Flatbush, New York, in September.

When Roberson sees the couple in action, he can only explain it one way — “It’s a Holy Spirit thing.”

Getting to Brooklyn, a New York City borough, from Atlanta was a challenge for Roberson and his wife, Natarsha. James Roberson recalls sitting in an Atlanta parking lot with his wife as they discussed their feeling about a new ministry pursuit.

James Roberson recalls her saying, “I’m not going to lie to you, if you had told me that God was calling us to Uganda I’d be happier with that. New York City is the last place I want to go.”

Natarsha Roberson did agree to visit Brooklyn with her husband as they wrestled with discerning God’s will. On that trip they randomly met a young woman who had recently picked up a Bible and wanted to learn it but needed a teacher. Eventually that young woman professed faith in Christ and joined a Bridge Church Bible study.

After that initial random encounter, Natarsha Roberson had a new understanding.

“I can’t believe that God has given us the opportunity to serve Him here,” she said.

They arrived in Brooklyn on Feb. 6, 2013, with no team, no relationships and no home. A 600-square-foot apartment became their first meeting place for City Group Bible studies and home. Next they needed participants.

So the 6-foot-2-inch former collegiate defensive football tackle took his gregarious personality to the streets of Brooklyn.

“When I came up here I just found myself walking around, praying and dreaming,” James Roberson said, asking God to open doors.

And he kept walking until Bridge Church launched April 20, 2014, with 180 people in attendance. The former football player wept as he considered what had transpired in 14 months. After arriving with only their obedience, God blessed them with a church in Brooklyn that mostly reaches Millennials whose parents and grandparents came from Caribbean nations.

“It was one of those days when you go, what happened?” James Roberson said.

Part of what happened was that James Roberson received a startup grant from the North American Mission Board made possible by Annie Armstrong Easter Offering funds to start Bridge Church.

“You can’t start a church without resources,” James Roberson said. (BP)