Community, Connections, & Commerce Episode 13 with Chris Figaretti

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome back to Community Connections and Commerce.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm Drake Watson, along with my protost as always, Wendy Anderson.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Good morning, Wendy, Good morning, Drake. How are you.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I'm wonderful and I'm pleased to be joined by Chris Figuretti,
our special guest this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Chris, it's great to have you on. We appreciate you
coming on this morning.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
It's great to be with you. Guys.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Thank you for coming down. We really do appreciate it
because you were just here yesterday.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (00:40):
Absolutely, we had church here at the Capitol Theater yesterday.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
So you're already jumping into it.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Tell us a little bit about kind of what you do,
who you are, and all the things you have going on.

Speaker 5 (00:50):
All right, Well, my name, as you said, is Chris Figuretti.
I'm the lead pastor of Newbridge Church. We have been
in the Ohio Valley for forty five years of September,
mostly known as the Vineyard for most of that time.
We just changed our name this year. We meet at
the Capital Theater on Sunday mornings at ten thirty and

(01:10):
we have a great time. It's a great venue to
do church. So but then we're involved in the community
the rest of the week doing all kinds of things.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
So Drake, like, I go to the vineyard, I've been.

Speaker 4 (01:25):
Newbridge, New Bridge.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I go to the New Bridge. I knew it.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
I have it right here, the New Bridge and for
about probably about sixteen years now, and I love it.
When we were out at Warden's Run Road and now
we have moved to the Capital Theater. So why did
we move to the Capitol.

Speaker 5 (01:45):
Yeah, so great question. We have a building that we
built in nineteen ninety six on Warden Run Road. It's
a lovely little building. We still own it and we
have our offices there. But we outgrew that space. We've
actually outgrown that over the years, probably four or five times.
But there are not a lot of places to go
in Wheeling, West Virginia. The topography is not cooperative. And

(02:06):
so finally we actually in twenty fifteen we launched a
satellite campus at the Highlands Movie Theater, which was really fun,
and we did that for about three years and then
we outgrew our space again. And it was at that
point in twenty eighteen we were able to come to
an agreement with Denny McGruder, who was in charge of
the Capital at that point and with the Capital Theater folks,

(02:28):
and we have been in the Capitol ever since. With
a small break for COVID, we were online and meeting
outside for a lot of that.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
So, yeah, well you've got some new things coming along
here too. I'm hearing about a daycare facility that you're
thinking about and yeah, absolutely, we've talked about a cafe.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Yep, there's a cafe on the on the Main Street
side of that.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
So yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
So coming out of COVID, we were able to purchase
the old Children's Museum building right on the corner of
tenth and Main Street, to full big building, and we
purchased that because we needed some really viable child care
and children's church space on Sunday mornings because the Capital

(03:11):
doesn't really offer that, and so that was something we
had been looking to do for a while. We were
able to purchase that building and we moved the kids
in there as we came back to the Capital after
COVID and it was.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
Going really well.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
But we were asking the question, we've got this huge space,
what is the best way we can serve our community
with this space? And so we started talking to community leaders,
We started doing you know, just surveying people and what
came to the top.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
There are two huge issues.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
In the Ohio Valley. One of them is addiction and
the other is childcare. There is a twenty to thirty
month waiting list. In fact, I was speaking with the
mayor not too long ago. He was saying his child
is now at the twenty month mark waiting. So if
the mayor can't get a spot in childcare, you know,
there's an issue. And uh and so this is an

(04:02):
economic issue for business in the Ohio Valley. This is
a it's an economic issue for families because uh, you know,
parents can't go back to work now, they're they're financially
behind and uh and and really the kids aren't getting
the educational foundation they need. And that's one of the
things we're super committed to with our academy. We're calling

(04:24):
it Newbridge Academy for Kids. It's going to open here in.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
Just a few weeks.

Speaker 5 (04:28):
We have done a basically an eight month renovation top
to bottom on that building at the gateway to downtown Wheeling,
and it is it's amazing. It's it's it's a first
class environment designed just for kids. And then the team
that we've put together and are and are continuing to assemble.

(04:49):
UH is going to make that just The mission statement
for the Academy is building bridges to the brightest future
and so really just commit to equipping these kids with
the foundation they need to go as far as they possibly.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
Can in life.

Speaker 5 (05:07):
And so we have an environment that's going to be
full of love and joy as well as educationally focused.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
So I'm really excited about that.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
I know my daughter went to visit because she actually
got our grandson in there, so he's going to be
starting here shortly when she goes back to work. But
I know that is such a huge problem in the
Ohio Valley is to find childcare, a good childcare. And
that's the thing, well.

Speaker 5 (05:34):
Any childcare, I mean, it's just it's hard to come
by somebody.

Speaker 4 (05:37):
So what we said is, Okay.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
If this is the biggest need in the Ohio Valley
and this is really affecting families and futures and really
the economy of our community, the culture of our community,
really and we've got this resource, this amazing building with
lots of space, let's solve the problem. And so we
stepped out and took a big risk. The people of

(06:01):
Newbridge Church pledged almost three million dollars to make it happen,
and it's costing way more than that. It's a that's
a huge space over that. It's twenty six thousand square feet.
We're gonna be able to accommodate almost two hundred and
forty children, and so it's a big splash in the
capacity of Wheeling. I think it's about a twenty five percent.

(06:22):
It's twenty five percent of the child care capacity and
Wheeling we're adding an additional twenty five percent, which really
should make a difference right.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
Out of the block.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Absolutely, absolutely, that's what it's all about, making a difference.
And we always say there's no better investment than one
can make than in its community's youth.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, absolutely, speak to that a little bit.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
I mean, just the importance of investing in the youth,
especially within the community.

Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
Well, and and really it starts, it starts at that
early age. It's not just you know, you get to
high school and kids are kind of on their trajectory
right right, and so you have to build that foundation
in as they're coming up. And so yeah, we you know,

(07:08):
the vision, my vision for our church in this community
is to impact so many people's lives that it changes
the culture of our community. And one of the ways
that we that we are going to shape culture from
negative to positive, from pessimism to optimism, you know, is

(07:28):
is starting with the kids, you know. And and so, yeah,
we we feel like something else that we are doing
in the community. The other big issue that we discovered
was addiction, right, and so we've partnered with an organization
called Hope Center to open recovery houses. These are faith
based residential recovery houses. So right now up in Dallas Pike,

(07:52):
we've got thirty one men living there and going through
a year long recovery program, and we're getting ready to
open a women's center well. And so we're trying to
solve practical needs in the community. Addiction is a big one,
but we have to have something at that end of
the spectrum, you know, the remediation, rehabilitation, all.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
Of that that that has to happen.

Speaker 5 (08:16):
And that has been so good and so fun and
those guys are in church every weekend and it's it's
it's fantastic. But if you want to solve the problem
long term, you have to start when they're they're kids.
Oh yeah, yeah, and so the childcare is kind of
that end of the solution for us.

Speaker 3 (08:33):
Okay, so you also have different things in Newbridge. You
have the one eighty Ministry, so tell us about that and.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Then the Way.

Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (08:45):
Yeah, we have a variety of ministries for different age groups. So, uh,
one eighty is our middle school and high school program,
and they get together every week for well a lot
of fun stuff because you know, when you're in middle
school in high school, there's got to be fun, and
so they have a blast. It's hysterical actually some of

(09:06):
the stuff they end up doing. And so we've got
a group of I don't know, seventy eighty kids that
show up every week, and I mean they went to
camp this summer down in the mountains of West Virginia.
But they're community, they're you know, they get together in
small groups and grow and learn. And it's interesting because

(09:27):
it's especially as they get into high school, they're not
interested as much in the fun, goofy stuff as they
are in hey, what's real about life? And so it
gives them those environments to have those conversations and build
those friendships. And then we have a program called The Way,
which is our eighteen to twenty five age bracket and
there's about one hundred of them that get together every

(09:49):
week on Sunday. They get together on Wednesday evenings. Actually
it was Wednesday evenings. And it's an amazing community. It's
an amazing community of you young adults. And it's been
fun to watch this this crew. I mean, they've always
got new people coming in, but we're enough into this
that the first wave is you know, they've been getting

(10:12):
married over the last couple of years. I mean families,
they're starting to register their children at the academy. Yeah,
and it's just it's just been amazing and it really is.
One of the things I love about New Bridge is
that it is multi generational. You know, it's not just
not just young people. We've got people in their nineties

(10:34):
who show up and people in their you know, their
teens who show up on Sunday morning and really enjoy
what we do here at the Capitol and the service
that we have, and everybody in between.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
So what's it like when you see some people's lives
come full circle in that way that you just described,
and then you can almost see your vision of changing
the culture and changing the attitude kind of the community.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
You can see it person by person. What's that like
for you when you see that come together?

Speaker 5 (10:58):
No, it's incredibly encouraging and gratifying, you know. And and
I think a picture of what what could be and
what can be and uh, you know, we are uh
impacting our community for the good now and I just
see that growing as we move forward from here. Again,
I want to impact so many people that it literally

(11:20):
changes the culture of the community. And what's one of
the blessings of being here at the Capitol is we've
got room, you know, We've got we've got space for
more people, you know, and uh and and more lives to.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
Be touched, so you take care of them. You're going
to start taking care of them from cradle to school
and then beyond because you also do you have starting
up this fall the Alpha course.

Speaker 4 (11:45):
Yeah, yeah, the Alpha Course. Why don't you talk about that?

Speaker 3 (11:51):
That's my absolute I just I just get all goosebumpy
when I talk about the Alpha course. It was funny
because we went my husban and I went so many
times that Jen said, Okay, you can't go anymore as
just to go, you have to do something else. So
now we kind of teach the class, But it is

(12:12):
a way that for any person who does not have
a clue about their christ about Christianity, Christianity, or their beliefs,
or they're questioning what it what is it for me?
Where am I going to go with this? Or how
can I give back to the community, or how do
I find my faith? This is the walk that you

(12:35):
want to walk on. This is the walk that you
want to do because it has absolutely changed my life.
It so many years ago.

Speaker 4 (12:43):
And so many people. Yeah, so it has.

Speaker 5 (12:45):
So Alpha is a ten week class. It's a practical
introduction to the Christian faith, but it is for anybody.
You don't have to be a Christian to come explore that.
And what we're finding is that, you know, our world
is so goofy right now coming out of COVID, and
a lot of things don't make sense, and people, young people,
old people again everybody in between are asking the deeper questions.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
Of life like this.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
This, this isn't working obviously, culture is not working well
for people right now. You look at suicide rates, depression rates,
everything else, and so you begin to ask the deeper
spiritual questions and there aren't many places that you can
go to ask your questions and explore and find out, hey,
what what do these people think?

Speaker 4 (13:29):
And what you know?

Speaker 5 (13:31):
And there are it doesn't feel like there are safe
places to do that. Well, Alpha is a safe place
to do that meets once a week, like I said,
for ten weeks, and it's a safe place to explore
and figure.

Speaker 4 (13:43):
Out what you believe.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
And it's a place where you can find like minded people.
So we have created some bonds with some couples out there,
and we have an Alpha group and we still we
took it way back when and we all still every
once in a while get together. And we're talking from
early or late twenties now to up to I think

(14:08):
I'm the oldest one sixty three and we still get together.
We still text make sure everybody's okay. Especially during COVID
we had no place to go, we had nothing, We
couldn't touch each other, we couldn't see each other. So
that was that relation building class was That was what

(14:29):
I took out of that.

Speaker 4 (14:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (14:31):
Yeah, community is so profound. And I would say that
about you know, whether that's one eighty in the in
the in the youth, or the way and the young
adults or you know, the young married people or you know,
and again even our older folks. It's it's that connection
and research has shown over and over again the power

(14:53):
of connection and community. It's the difference. It's the difference
between years of longevity and not, you know, and you know,
faith and community are the two things that really make they're.

Speaker 4 (15:07):
The X factor.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
They really are.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Tell me about your motivation for solving problems and changing lives.
That's what I've kind of picked up on since you've
been talking to us, is that's really what drives you.
And I'm just curious as to as to why you're
wired that way. If that's kind of always been the
way that you've thought as a young boy, if you've
thought young Chris, was he sitting there saying, you know,
I want to grow up and I want to make
a difference in people's lives.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
That's incredible if that was the case. If not, you know,
when did you realize that?

Speaker 4 (15:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (15:34):
I mean, well, I you know, I've I've grown up
in the Christian faith, you know, and so the the
ethic of that, the teachings of Christ are are to
build bridges between Him and people, and uh and that's
why we're called new bridge, you know. We're building new

(15:56):
bridges into this this era, and we're across from the
old bridge on you know, our buildings across from the
old old suspension bridge. But we're new bridge and we're
building bridges and and so built into the teachings of
Jesus are you know, help people, help people find Him,

(16:16):
help people follow them, help them with the practical issues.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
That they have.

Speaker 5 (16:21):
So that's always been a part of my my ethos,
you know, the the the always looked at the world
through how can we how can we make a difference
in how can we be the blessing wherever we are?

Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, you know, over time you've had to change your
approach on your investment in the valley. So you've you
started when we were at the vineyard, the church, the
new bridge.

Speaker 5 (16:51):
And the building on the building up that was changed
a warden, Oh my goodness. Yeah, there's a lot of
change over the years.

Speaker 4 (17:02):
But yes, yeah, we started out there.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
Yes, you've had to change your approach. So what how
did you who did you who helped you with that
thought process? Do you have like a group of people
around you that you guys talk about it? Do you
You said you talked to the city officials and just
different people. How has that changed from the time we

(17:24):
were out there to here.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing that that
changed is the decisions that we've had to make along
the way. You know, we've we hit a point where
we were we couldn't we couldn't fit anybody else in
the building on Sunday mornings, and so we had to
make a decision, are we here to to care for

(17:48):
the people that we have, which, of course, we are
here to care for the people that we have, but
our greater mission is helping people find and follow God.
So if we're going to help people find and follow God,
that that's beyond just the people who are already in
the seats.

Speaker 4 (18:04):
So we had a decision to make.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
Are we going Are we willing to leave this comfortable,
wonderful environment that we have and go somewhere else that
isn't even a church environment, although I have to say
the Capital is an awesome place to be a church,
But are we willing to leave our comfort zone to
continue in this mission that we've been given?

Speaker 4 (18:27):
And uh, and.

Speaker 5 (18:28):
And so that that's where it started, you know, And
so we moved downtown and then okay, so well, now
we need we need kid space that's going to work
for us. Okay, well, now we bought the building and
now we need you know, and now we need this now.
And then all of a sudden, okay, well, addiction is
a huge issue which has.

Speaker 4 (18:43):
Been for a while. Uh.

Speaker 5 (18:45):
And we we made you know, we made this connection
and this relationship, and all of a sudden, we're introduced
to Hope Center.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (18:52):
And so we we build a relationship with them and
we raise money to be able to launch these centers.
So yeah, it's just you know, God brings things into
your path and then you have to make a decision
as to whether or not you're going to pursue those
things or not. Yeah, and you know, prayerfelly, we try
and listen and do what we feel like we're supposed

(19:14):
to do.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
Have you had any challenges naysayers that has tried to
stop you?

Speaker 5 (19:21):
No, I mean, I mean there are always negative people. Yes,
you know, and you know, Wheeling has in the Ohio
Island in general, the rust Belt I think in general
has had a you know, a fifty year history of decline.
So believing that something can happen that's good and beautiful

(19:42):
and better is hard. For some people to get their
heads around until they see it. And so now that
this building's coming around, I mean, not only have we
created a world class child care facility and a cafe
on the main street side. The cafe will be opening
in September at some point in September. We've restored a

(20:05):
beautiful historic building, I mean on the corner of the
gateway to downtown Wheeling, and so we're investing in the
infrastructure of downtown and rehabilitating Downtown Wheeling as well. So
it's hard to argue with that. I mean, it's easier
to argue with it on the front end when you're like, yeah,
they'll ever do it or whatever. But you know, we're

(20:27):
nine months in on this project and it's done so
and so our keeps telling people are a contractor, it's
great con construction out of Studentville, Ohio.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
They're wonderful.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
The project manager, Jack Boston, actually attends our church and
I think took a personal interest in this. But it's
come in on time and under budget. And everybody that
I've talked to and construction has been like.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
That just doesn't happen.

Speaker 4 (20:53):
Everything is I have.

Speaker 5 (20:54):
A friend who's in banking and He's like, we budget
in ten to fifteen percent for overruns because that's where
things are actually coming in. So you know, to be
able to pull that off in a town where the
street scape's taken five years and it's look like bag
or look like Baghdad in the middle of a war,
you know, it's it's kind of they're making us look

(21:14):
good really, but it's hard to argue with that kind
of progress.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
So you mentioned earlier moving to a spot such as
the Capitol where it's not a typical church environment. Right,
you walk into a different building, does that kind of
speak to you, know, your your thought process as to
it doesn't matter what the building is, It doesn't matter
what the setting is. As long as you can accomplish
your goal and your mission and still reach people the
way that you've always have, you know, then it's worth.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
It, absolutely whatever it takes. You know.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
The building, I think for a lot of people think
people think church and they think building. Yes, you know,
it's a it's a cathedral, it's a it's a country church,
it's a whatever. And if you know, I mean the
word for church in the New Testament is ecclecia, which
means yeah, I was just saying, so it's it has

(22:03):
nothing to do with the building. And so you know,
like I said during COVID, we met down at the
waterfront for six months and that was huge.

Speaker 4 (22:09):
People loved that.

Speaker 5 (22:10):
And but that's not a church facility. We met online
and we did what we call church at home when
the weather turned cold, and that went on for another
six months and phenomenal, But it was you know, it's
not about the building. And I love that the capital
kind of communicates that. The fact that we meet in
the theater where whoever was in concert the night before,

(22:35):
and here we are, and the church is wherever the
people of God gather together.

Speaker 3 (22:40):
Absolutely absolutely well. I I think what you guys are
doing is amazing and I'm glad to be part of it.
And I think the city of Wheeling is very fortunate
to have you, and so are all the family members
that you're going to take care of, all the babies
you're going to take and all the way up to

(23:01):
the ninety year olds that we have in church. So
I thank you very much for doing what you do,
and I love your vision and I can't wait to
see what's next.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
It's gonna be fun.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
I know.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
I'd like to thank you for coming on this morning.
It's been a pleasure talking to you. We really appreciate
your time. If there's anything else you have to add
or anything, we've got a couple more minutes.

Speaker 4 (23:22):
Here, Okay.

Speaker 5 (23:23):
I would just say to whoever whoever's listening out there,
come check us out. Come, come, come on out on
a Sunday morning. It'll be the best hour of your week,
and you're going to meet some really good people, the
kind of people who are invested in making a difference
in their community and not just saying so, but actually

(23:44):
doing actually doing so. And I tell people, Wendy, you
ask the question who do I Who do I talk to?
And what do these ideas come from? A lot of
it is our staff team, but I have pastor friends
from around the Tree that I talk to regularly. And
one of the things that I get to or that

(24:05):
I tell them, is I get to work with some
of the best people on the planet.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
And I really mean that.

Speaker 5 (24:12):
I don't think I would be a pastor if I
weren't a pastor here, like I wouldn't wouldn't look to
move to another community or a bigger church or whatever.
I love the people of Newbridge Church and the people
of the Ohio Valley, And it's just a real privilege
to get to do what we get to do, and
we get to do some amazing things because of the people.

(24:33):
So if you're looking for a church home, come check
out Newbridge. If you're looking for a cup of coffee,
check out the NB Cafe on Main Street. If you're
looking for a childcare, check out Newbridge Academy for Kids.
If you're looking for faith and trying to figure out
what you believe about God, check out the Alpha Course.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Absolutely. I will ask you one more thing, what are
you going to have at the cafe? Is it just coffee?

Speaker 5 (25:00):
He's going to be coffee and coffee shop type food,
so pre made sandwiches, danishes, cakes, you know.

Speaker 4 (25:10):
Kind of what you would get in the Starbucks.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
And when will that open? September?

Speaker 5 (25:13):
That will open in September. We don't have a hard launch.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah, but by the time this airs it was a
few months ago. Yeah, it'll be December. So yeah, it.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Will be open.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
It'll be.

Speaker 4 (25:26):
And we're going to try and be open.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
Uh some evenings just for youth and young adult gatherings.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Well that's nice, right, Well, we really appreciate your time.
Thanks for coming on for Chris Figuretti, Wendy Anderson, I'm
Drake Watson. You can reach us at OUI Podcast at
Ohio dot edu. Once again, that is o u E
Podcast at Ohio dot edu. Thanks for listening to community
Connections and commerce