What We Believe

West Side is part of a network of churches in the Presbyterian tradition. Click here to explore convictions held in common with other Fellowship Community of Presbyterians congregations, and here to explore the confessions that we hold in common with other Presbyterian USA churches. The values held in common with other Fellowship churches are:

Jesus-shaped Identity

We believe Jesus Christ must be at the center of our lives, and making disciples of Jesus at the core of our ministry.

Biblical Integrity

We believe the Bible is the unique and authoritative Word of God, which teaches all that is necessary for faith and life. The prominence of God’s Word over our lives shapes our priorities, and the unrivaled authority of the Bible directs our actions to be in concert with Christ’s very best for our lives.

Thoughtful Theology

We believe in theological education, constant learning, and the life of the mind, and celebrate this as one of the treasures of our Reformed heritage.

Accountable Community

We believe guidance is a corporate spiritual experience. We want to connect leaders to one another in healthy relationships of accountability, synergy, and care.

Egalitarian Ministry

We believe in unleashing the ministry gifts of women, men, and every ethnic group.

Missional Centrality

We believe in living out the whole of the Great Commission – including evangelism, spiritual formation, compassion, and redemptive justice – in our communities and around the world.

Center-focused Spirituality

We believe in calling people to the core of what it means to be followers of Jesus – what “mere Christianity” is and does – and not fixate on the boundaries.

Leadership Velocity

We believe identifying and developing gospel-centered leaders is critical for the church, and a great leadership culture is risk-taking, innovative, and organic.

West Side Presbyterian Church Statement of Purpose

We are a body of believers who have confessed our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As his children, we have received His grace, are empowered by His Spirit, and are under the authority of His Word. God has called us to be His disciples and ambassadors in the ministry of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are committed to unite regularly for worship, for the study of God’s Word, for mutual support, and Christian fellowship, all in communion with our Lord. In this ministry to each other we seek to exercise in love the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to equip each believer more fully for the work to which Christ has called us.

We believe this work is to proclaim and to demonstrate to the entire world the life transforming love and power of Jesus Christ, and His Lordship over all things. Therefore we will continually seek to live as Christ did, by ministering in His love to the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs of those around us, by ensuring that the product of our lives reflects His Lordship, and by challenging all to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

In all it is our ultimate purpose that God’s name be glorified.

Approved by WSPC Session, January 1984