Meet Junior Ziegler of The Bridge Church in Northwest Suburbs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Junior Ziegler.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Junior. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started out as the janitor at The Bridge – cleaning spilled coffee, taking out the trash, mopping floors. Once I was asked to fill in on stage and speak. Slowly over time I’ve been asked to do it more. I now do it every week. I also lead our food pantries, resource for single moms, after school programs and community relief efforts (we were able to give out 17k in gift cards to the victims of the prospect heights fire) as well as our support groups for people dealing with addictions and abuse and grief. We have amazing leaders who are hands on and lead these programs well.

Has it been a smooth road?
I struggle with inadequacy. Though over time I think that’s become more of a strength/ help. Same thing with personal struggles with anxiety. The church was older white people when I became more involved, and so I had to work around the idea of a “youngster” in leadership. Now the church is diverse in age and race which is beautiful and fun.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Bridge Church – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our church started in 1927 as a little neighborhood church. We just opened a second location and have gone from 200 to 1400 people in 10 years. We’ve started multiple community service projects (food pantries, after school programs, resources for single moms, etc…). We’re proud of many stories of life change. We have ex-gang members (serving on our parking team alongside of the police force they used to run from), ex-drug addicts, ex-dysfunctional families. There has been so many stories of life change, we celebrate that big time!

We’re also proud of our partnerships within the community. We believe the church should be an asset to each community, and we’re set on being one. We want the community to miss us if we closed the doors tomorrow. Unfortunately churches all over are closing their doors and nobody knows…we want a different story.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Best- food. Hands down. Skyline is better than New York. Love the different cultures and how each neighborhood has its own feel.

Least- traffic.

Contact Info:

• Website: thebridge.church
• Phone: 847.297.2525
• Email: junior@thebridge.church
• Instagram: juniorziegler

Image Credit:
Kids Ministry. A team of people in the basement organizing clothing & food for fire relief victims. Worship. Teaching. Spoken Word.

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.