Westwood Christian Church was incorporated on March 6, 1958, on the developing South-west side of Madison as 25 people signed their names to incorporate a new church. Many of those people helped build this church with their hands as well as their hearts, laying bricks and building relationships. From the beginning, our purpose has been to help people follow Jesus as best we can. Westwood’s very first purpose statement was “to win people to Faith in Jesus Christ and commit them actively to the church, to help them grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ that increasingly they may know and do His will and to work for the unity of all Christians and with them engage in the common task of building the Kingdom of God.” 60 some years later we still want to serve our community in this way. Some things have changed over the years, like our carpets and some of our people—though amazingly, we still have some of those founding members with us today! But our dedication to God, to one another, to our community, and to unity have not changed.

Westwood is an Independent Christian Church, part of the Restoration Movement that began during the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) in America. At the heart of the Restoration Movement was the hope to find unity among all Christians regardless of denomination and tradition, and to live out a simple expression of the way of Jesus with a love and mercy for all people. Here you will find shadows of all the great church traditions. While we are non-denominational, you will find a common set of beliefs and values among many of our sibling churches, and you will find parts of our worship that you would discover in other traditions as well. Like these sibling churches, we baptize by immersion, we partake in communion (the Lord’s Supper) every week, and we believe in the priesthood of all believers.

We are located in the same location we have always been, in the Midvale Heights Neighborhood of Southwest Madison.

* Image from September 9, 1959 Wisconsin State Journal