Love. Share. Disciple.

It is the mission of the West Side Church to LOVE God and others, to SHARE faith and life, and to DISCIPLE others to Jesus Christ. To fulfill this mission...

​We will spread the good news. 

We are committed to spreading the good news (Mark 1:15) about Jesus. We believe this is the best news anyone could receive; that Jesus loves us, that he died for us, that he conquered death, and wants to walk through life with us, in relationship with him. We will share this news both at home and around the world. We will teach the good news each week when we gather together, and we want to take it to our friends and neighbors in the River Valley. Ultimately, we want the good news to reach the entire world. 

​We will teach people to be more like Jesus.

​We are passionate about carrying out Jesus’ mission to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). We believe that every person who is committed to following Jesus should be in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ. As we become more like Jesus, one of our key tasks is to call people to be more like Him as well. 

​We will pursue and participate in meaningful worship. 

​For us, worship extends far beyond Sunday. In fact, we believe that we offer our entire lives to God as an act of worship (Rom. 12:1-2). When we meet together as a family, our prayer is that we will have moving, heartfelt, and inspiring moments of worship. We hope to create an environment that empowers people to worship God with all of their heart, soul, and mind. We seek to worship not only when we get together as a church family, but also as we serve God’s Kingdom, every day. 

​We will serve the hurting. 

​We have a responsibility before God to serve those who are in need. This includes our church family but stretches far beyond the walls of our building. We want to be known as a church that loves and cares for anyone who is hurting, down and out, or struggling. Come as you are. We want to do what we can to serve. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). 

​We will care for our family while welcoming everyone with love. 

​This congregation is committed to doing everything we can to nurture, encourage, and challenge the people that God has entrusted to our care. We are a body of broken people, who desperately need the grace and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of our deepest desires is to be a welcoming, loving family. Regardless of where you are or where you have been, we welcome everyone who is seeking a relationship with Jesus. We want our family to grow and we believe that no one should go through life’s challenges alone. We believe this reflects the character of God as expressed in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

​We will invest in and guide the next generation. 

​We are passionate about investing in young people (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Our goal is to see them follow Jesus, become disciples, and become leaders in our churches and in our world. We will use all available resources to see this aspect of our vision carried out. 

​We will cooperate with others to be a force for good in our community and the world. 

One of the last things Jesus prayed for when he was on earth was the unity of all who would believe in Him. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21). We will do everything within our power to work with believers outside of our family, other churches, and organizations to impact our community and the world. We will remain rooted in our core beliefs while doing everything we can to reach the world for Christ and promoting the unity of all believers.