BridgePoint Church was planted in 2006 by three pastors and their families in obedience to a call from God. They had a vision to be a different church in Pinellas County, one that would reach a community that was uninterested in or detached from traditional church environments and styles.
 
Briefly in 2006 BridgePoint met in the auditorium at a local private school before securing more reliable space to meet each Sunday morning at St. Petersburg High School.  When two of the pastors stepped away, Pastor Tim Whipple took on the role of Lead Pastor and continued the hard work of pastoring and leading a startup, portable church. Between 2006 and 2010, Pastor Tim and a dedicated team did the grueling work required of a portable church: pre-dawn Sunday morning load-in before setting up stage, hospitality, and children’s environments; welcoming church attenders; leading worship service; conducting special classes to connect, teach, and grow the church. The day ended by packing up all the gear and supplies back onto trailers to be towed away.  

That was just Sundays. Throughout the week, Pastor Tim and his team connected with and pastored the church from a small nearby rented office space, while serving the broader community through local and international outreach projects.

As only God can do, he blessed the efforts of this group by turning the page to the next chapter of BridgePoint’s story.

By 2010, BridgePoint had grown to a church of 250 people and declared our commitment to the mission and our desire to be "all in" when we walked 3 miles from St. Pete High to a new rented home at the corner of Tyrone Boulevard and 9th Avenue in St. Petersburg. For the first time since its inception, BridgePoint would have a permanent presence in the community.

Between 2010 and 2014, BridgePoint’s weekly services and programs for children, students, and adults made a profound impact in the community and experienced exponential growth each year.

It was in this season that God gave Pastor Tim the vision to plant more churches in communities throughout Pinellas County.

In 2014, God provided an opportunity to purchase a permanent location in the Tyrone area. The church responded in faith and this acquisition provided the anchor location for the strategic vision of planting campuses in neighborhoods and cities throughout Pinellas County, as well as a broadcast hub for our online ministry.

In 2016 we reentered the portable church realm by launching our Downtown St. Pete Campus at USF's St. Petersburg Campus. By the grace of God and His provision we purchased a permanent building by the end of 2016. The iconic Mirror Lake Lyceum building,  constructed in 1926 as a community church would return to its original purpose as a place for the community to gather in worship. 

At Easter of 2017 we launched our Seminole campus, again starting as a portable campus meeting at the Seminole Recreation Center, then to St. Petersburg College's Seminole Campus. Once again, as only God can, we were blessed to be able to purchase the former Chapel on the Hill Church on Park Boulevard in December of 2020. After completing renovations, the campus officially opened and began hosting weekly services in June of 2021.

Although we'd been broadcasting services for several years, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 ushered in a new emphasis on online church. Thanks to the infrastructure already in place at the Tyrone campus, we were able to pivot quickly to online ministry.  While our campuses have since reopened, we are still leading and shepherding an online campus, as people join us from wherever they are for weekly services, groups, and classes online. 

After 14 years of leading and serving BridgePoint Church, in July of 2020 Pastor Tim stepped away from his role as Lead Pastor and entered a new season of ministry.  It would be impossible to calculate Tim and his family's significant contributions to the church's history and our gratitude to them for their service, sacrifice, and heart for the community.

In 2020, Pastor Tim started the Whatever It Takes Foundation, a nonprofit that helps churches develop their vision and equip their leaders to imitate Jesus, act in his power, and proclaim his message.

BridgePoint Church continues to reach a diverse community of those new to faith and believers alike, and as God leads us, will continue to expand to additional neighborhoods and cities throughout Pinellas County and online through our digital ministries. BridgePoint has both an exciting history and a bright future ahead, and our mission remains unchanged: to help people, all people, get closer to God by believing in Jesus, living his teachings, and becoming his people.