Students attend church under a bridge in OKC

Many Oklahoma Christian University students volunteer with various off-campus ministries to get involved with the community. Church Under the Bridge in downtown Oklahoma City, OK has attracted several students due its nontraditional church services.

Freshman Brittany DuBose said she has been involved with Church Under the Bridge since the beginning of 2018. According to DuBose, she wanted to participate in something life changing, and found out about the program from some of its sponsors, Life Church and a friend.

“Church Under the Bridge exists to reach a lost and broken world through the demonstration of love and the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” DuBose said. “Ultimately, we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

DuBose said Church Under the Bridge is a church service held under a bridge in Oklahoma City, OK for all homeless people who need food, water and clothing. According to NewsOK, Skye Ransom from Edmond, OK founded the ministry in 2010 after she felt God calling her to minister every week in this way.

“They come because we’re filling their needs,” Ransom said. “God knows what they need. I am truly overwhelmed by the amazing things God had done through this ministry.”

Church Under the Bridge’s mission is to restore hope to the homeless and hurting, according to their website. Volunteers provide a free meal and let people pick out free clothing, which is available on tables set up under the bridge. The group offers prayer and friendship to those who attend the service.

“It is our vision to maintain status as a Church without walls,” the website said. “We are here to minister to and serve those who do not feel comfortable within the confines of traditional church.”

According to DuBose, Church Under the Bridge does not have any limits. She said God is moving in this ministry, and she has made friends and seen them receive jobs, get off the streets and start a new life.

“It says in Matthew 28 to go out to all and spread the goodness of the Lord,” DuBose said. “I’ve met people just like people Jesus met—prostitutes, drug addicts, those with disabilities and just everyday people who are all just broken and homeless.”

“Church Under the Bridge is important because we are reaching people that nobody’s reaching, by doing things nobody’s doing,” DuBose said.

DuBose said her favorite experience at Church Under the Bridge was when she met Artie, her first friend she made at the services. She said they met while searching through clothes to find something to fit Artie and keep her warm.

“I found her two sweaters—one red, one blue—and she went on her way,” DuBose said. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lady in a wheel chair that couldn’t maneuver her way to the clothing line.”

According to DuBose, she saw Artie, without hesitation, give the woman the two sweaters they had just found.

“Even though Artie has a small apartment and just recently lost her job, her eyes are so fixed on serving the people around her so they feel the utmost amounts of joy in her presence, just as Jesus did,” DuBose said. “People like Artie are who my heart strives to be like.”

Church Under the Bridge meets every Sunday at 3 p.m. at 1801 West Reno in Oklahoma City, OK.