EC Proud to Announce Bridgeway Church Partnership

Phil Beverly of New Hope Community Ministries, Anton Brown of Bridgeway Community Church, and Eastern Christian’s Head of School Tom Dykhouse.

The Urban Christian Education Partnership is a joint venture between Bridgeway Community Church of Haledon, NJ, Eastern Christian School of North Haledon, NJ, and New Hope Community Ministries of Prospect Park, NJ.  The partnership was founded to help urban families who desire a Christian education for their children to realize this dream for their kids and to help transform their homes and neighborhoods.

The partnership includes a number of critical elements to help ensure the success of the students in their new school environment.  Students are nominated for the program by Bridgeway Church and New Hope Ministries on the basis of their Christian testimony and family commitment to the having the student thrive in a challenging academic environment.  Eastern Christian School considers the students’ applications on the basis of its normal admissions criteria, and then works with Bridgeway Church to provide sufficient scholarship support so as to make the financial commitment realistic for the families being served through the partnership.

For the current school year, nine students are enrolled on Eastern Christian’s three northern New Jersey campuses and their families are receiving encouragement and practical parenting and academic support from Bridgeway and New Hope.

“The Urban Christian Education Partnership is a miracle that God made for my family to show me that he is in control of everything and he doesn’t forget my prayers,” said a one EC mother with a child enrolled at EC through this program. “My kids started school expecting a lot of new things, but they realized that going to school every day and praying, singing, and worshiping God in everything that they do – even studying – can make the difference between having just a day at school or having a blessed day at school. I’m so thankful to the people that heard God’s voice and started this partnership. It is a blessing to families that could not otherwise afford a great Christian education for their kids.”

Eastern Christian School’s Executive Director, Tom Dykhouse, said, “Our school was founded in the City of Paterson 122 years ago, and we have remained committed to serving the students from urban settings throughout our history.  The Urban Christian Education Partnership is a great way for us to demonstrate our commitment to serving urban families in a concrete way.”

The Banner also featured this story which explains the program.