We are a church community that believes anyone and everyone can encounter the surprising grace of Jesus.
Our Logo
When our upside-down crown first appeared as the symbol of our community, over a decade ago now, most of us were surprised by it. The crown made sense of our name, of course (we are the King’s Church), but it’s upside-down-ness startled us. And then we came to see that this was not only deeply right, but deeply helpful for us in thinking through the meaning and power of the gospel. We follow a king who serves, who laid aside his power for a while, who used his power not to dominate us, but to love us and raise us up.
And here is perhaps the strangest thing of all: we have come to see that it is not our crown that is upside down, but we ourselves: our perspective, our values, our understanding. We have come to see that the crown is actually right-side up in an upside-down world. And therefore to think through our faith is to find ourselves turned around, turned over, reversed in some basic way.
Creeds
Since our beginnings in the 1990’s we have hoped to blend the deep stream of Christian spirituality into our contemporary space; exploring the way of Jesus in a convergence of the ancient and the new. Confessing creeds together roots us into the deep, shared, historic traditions of following Jesus, aligns us with those who share our faith today, and projects us into God’s future as a Jesus centred people.
The Apostles’ Creed
The Apostles’ Creed, which we use most commonly at Westside, is a grassroots confession of faith from the 2nd Century and one of the earliest known creeds of Christianity. Yet it is also a prophetic voice for our time. In a world of denominations, divisions, arguments and squabbles the creed talks about unity, about one “Holy catholic Church. The word catholic (with a lowercase “c”) is an old Greek term with a dual sense. It means “throughout the whole” but in reference to all time and all places, while also meaning unity and wholeness. The word catholic doesn’t refer to any one denomination but rather it transcends divisions of ancient and modern, orthodox and progressive, conservative and liberal, Protestant and Roman Catholic - and invites us all to confess, even when we struggle to believe, and centre ourselves on Jesus as one church in him and him alone.
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.
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, is another statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church. To some extent it tracks the developing theological understanding of the Church. In its present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381). It was accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Along with the Apostles’s Creed it is considered one of the foundational confessions for Christians everywhere throughout our history.
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.
Westside King’s Church acknowledges that we worship, live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.