Build a Bridge Lyrics

Chorus:
Build a bridge because you love and really care,
Walk across, stand with your brother there.
Build a bridge because you’re called by God to be
Alive to one another, for Christ has set us free.

A bridge is hard to build, and we’re afraid that it might fall,
Too often it is easier to simply build a wall.
But from the Christian vantage point, we’ll learn to view the need.
To build a bridge of living faith, the structure will succeed.

Sometimes it is even hard to see the gap a bridge must span,
We climb into our shell and then forget our fellow man.
We build our separate neighborhoods, we judge without a trial,
Yet God has placed us in this world to love and reconcile.

But bridges must, like houses, on a firm foundation stand
Because they’ll only wash away if they are built on sand.
Christ is the rock we’ll build upon, our bridge will be a sign
Of meeting, helping, loving; a communication line.

The Holy Spirit leads us so God’s action we may see
If Christians work together as a whole community,
We won’t avoid deep differences, but go the second mile.
We’ll build a bridge with words and deeds of love to reconcile!

– R. Kamm and J. Wanderslavin

For the past several months Leslee and I have had the privilege to join with approximately 15 other members of our church and an equal number of residents from the black community in a weekly study called Be the Bridge. It is a faith based study with the goal of bringing blacks and whites together to be the bridge toward racial unity. We have been going through the process of awareness, acknowledgement, lament, guilt and repentance with the end goal of action. Meeting together with members from the black community has given us a much better understanding of the challenges that blacks have had to face historically and even today to achieve what we have achieved as a white community. It is our hope that through this study and other learning opportunities we can continue work toward racial unity and equality.

 – Randy L Snow

Being a part of the “Be the Bridge” class is helping us acknowledge some of the hurt our friends of color are experiencing this very moment in Canton and across this country.  In the class we are learning small actions that we can take in our personal lives that can begin to heal our broken world.  We are making genuine steps to learn from each other, support each other, work together to make a difference and laugh together as we believe Christ calls each of us to do. We pray that the fellowship we are experiencing will continue to grow and have an impact on others.  Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of the next “Be the Bridge” class!

– Don and Nancy Montgomery

Dede and I participated in the White Fragility book study and were looking for a way to put action with our newfound awareness of how race has impacted outcomes in our community. Be the Bridge was the logical next step and we would highly recommend this curriculum. Meeting with people of color from this community and hearing their experiences has made us more aware of challenges right here in Canton. Looking at others through the eyes of Jesus in community and loving as He loves us regardless of skin color is a way for “the church” to be the bridge to healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. CPC is a church in the city center and we would recommend you prayerfully consider participating in the next class so we can be a bridge in our city. 

– Randy Bailey