Who are we?

Westside Gathering is a local church in the West Island of Montreal, located at the border of Pointe-Claire and DDO.

We started in 2003 with six people who had a hunger to launch a new church in our city that would be present for the West Island and its surrounding regions. Today our church serves locally and globally with intention.

We gather together on Sunday mornings for worship, learning, and connection. We also meet throughout the week in smaller groups. We have classes, youth and young adult events, prayer, local serving opportunities, and various events throughout the year.

We take Jesus and His teachings seriously, with excitement! He is the message we learn from, the lens we read scripture through, and the model of a purposeful and meaningful life. Jesus' faithful life and work, seen climatically in the cross and resurrection, is why we trust Him fully and invite others to consider following Him too.

We hope that you'll view our teaching approach as practical and accessible, while engaging with scripture seriously; that we hold to truth and grace as we engage with each other and the world; that we call each other to passionate service and stewardship, while encouraging our need for rest in a fast-paced world.

Our Mission

Jesus calls his followers to make disciples (learners or apprentices) of Him by teaching anyone interested to listen to and follow Him.

We believe that everyone who gets connected to Jesus and follows Him as Lord discovers true life – life to the fullest. But Jesus doesn’t expect us to follow Him alone. When we connect to Him we get connected to his body, the church. Our connection to Him and to each other are the two most important relationships in our lives. In fact, Jesus summarized the scriptures with these two phrases:

Love the Lord your God and Love Your Neighbour. (Matthew 22:35-40)

This process of following Jesus is what he called discipleship. So, our focus is to build discipleship environments that fuel mission. Most of our discipleship is done in community, the same context in which Jesus’ first followers grew spiritually. This is how Jesus called people to follow and learn from Him, so why not continue His practice?

Our vision is to saturate the West Island and the rest of the city with people connected to Christ and each other – in pockets of community – growing in their relationship with God, supporting each other along the way, and serving their neighbours and networks.

One day, we envision hundreds of community groups all over the city, and neighbourhood churches serving as regional hubs.

Our Confession (Belief)

Our simplest confession of faith is that Jesus is Lord, or the longer version, Jesus Christ is Lord, have mercy on me a sinner. This sums up our rootedness in the gospel of God’s kingdom, announced in Jesus and made tangible through his death, resurrection and ascension.

Historically, we affirm the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. The church has been rooted in these creeds since its earliest days.

As a church in partnership with our Canadian association, we also affirm the Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith.

Apostle's Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.

*catholic means universal or what has been the true Christian church of all times and all places