Bridge App Allows Churches to Cope With Pandemic Challenges

As local churches move rapidly to respond to the challenges brought on by the COVID pandemic, The Bridge App has also been responding quickly to support and assist participating churches.

Developed by Ontario-based Extreme Technology, in conjunction with CRCNA Ministry in Canada, The Bridge App is a smartphone app that runs on Apple and Android devices, and provides a full suite of features aimed at the local church and its members.

This past spring, when churches faced the initial challenge of in-person worship services being suspended and were eager to find ways to accept offerings and to stream video of worship services, The Bridge App team helped an additional 50 churches to utilize the app.

Next, the GIVE function in The Bridge App was enhanced to accept donations not just from credit cards but also directly from a donor’s bank account.  This too was in response to requests from local churches. By providing an alternative to donations made by credit card or through third parties, The Bridge App enabled churches to reduce processing fees. In addition, the GIVE function of The Bridge App allows the local church to accept donations toward the church budget as well as multiple special or ‘second offering’ causes.

Most recently, as churches are returning to in-person worship but with limits on the number of attendees, The Bridge App has added a ‘registration’ feature. When a local church adds a worship service to their Events calendar, they now have the option of setting a maximum attendance. Members of the congregation can ‘register’ to attend, and the church office can easily track how many are planning to attend, and have a list of attendees should contact tracing be required.

Canadian churches wanting to know more about The Bridge App, or how to more fully utilize the app, can contact [email protected], while churches in the US can contact Deb Hunter at [email protected].