OUR NAME

We chose our name intentionally because it helps tell our story and explain what kind of community we want to be.  Cedars symbolize nature, creation, strength, protection, and healing. In ancient times, cedars were used to make ships so people could go places, but also as a symbol of grandeur in temples and palaces. While cedar wood was used for foundational pieces in architecture due to its strength, it was also used to wrap doors to show status.

We love the idea of ripping off the former status symbol and using it as scrap (but sturdy) wood to build bridges...to reach and meet with others, especially those who have been distanced as a result of the status symbol church has been, and often still is. We’re ripping off the doors, leaving them wide open, and using them for a much better use — to build bridges. Hence, “Cedarbridge Baptist Church.”

We aren’t interested in being a status symbol or an insiders' club. We want to go, serve, and meet people where they’re at. We want to be a safe place for rest and refuge, especially for the weary. We want to be a bridge that makes a way to bring people together.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar.  Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.
Ezekiel 17:22-23