First Baptist Church renames youth-centered facility, focuses on student needs

To avoid confusion, First Baptist Church in Jackson has renamed its youth-centered activity building — formerly The Bridge — to The Summit. Family pastor Ben Bextermueller said the change plays into the church working more with the Jackson School District, offering a place for after-school activities.

“We talked about utilizing our building because we’re so close to the (Jackson) High School,” he said.

Bextermueller said students would sometimes confuse the building at 326 S. High St. in Jackson with The Bridge Church in Cape Girardeau, the bridge in Jackson City Park or the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau.

So rebranding was probably a good idea, he said, “especially kicking things off fresh.”

“Our youth ministry’s name is Elevate, so we decided to find a name to coincide with that,” he said.

In an email Wednesday, Jackson School District superintendent John Link said the district had been “searching for ways to support all of our children and families,” including looking for ways to assist teachers and school staff with daily needs.

“We also knew the Heroes for Hope campaign we started four years ago was meeting some needs, but there were some we felt we were missing,” he said. “And in review of our strategic plan’s focus on the whole child, we knew we needed assistance.”

Link said the district decided to reach out to its “faith-based community” just as it does with local businesses.

“We have developed partnerships to assist with mobile food pantries, volunteer tutoring, filling power packs, as well as many other areas of assistance.”

The building will offer a space for students to work on school assignments, WiFi access, tutoring for students in need and snacks. “We have board games, we have basketball and we have table tennis.”

Link said, “When I came to Jackson five years ago, it was apparent the appreciation this community has for their children and their education. As we all know, ‘It takes a village,’ or in this case, a community, to raise all children.”

Bextermueller said the church acquired the recently remodeled building several years. “From my understanding, it used to be an old auto parts shop.”

The Summit will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.