Beliefs & Mission
An church of imperfect people serving a perfect God
Our Core Values
Unity
We join hands as one body, committed to Jesus Christ as Lord.
Spiritual Growth
We passionately pursue Jesus and live out our faith every day.
Generosity
We lead the way in radical generosity.
Community
We welcome every person into the loving family of God.
Outreach
We give ourselves in sacrificial service so that Jesus is made known in our community and in our world.
Our Mission
LOVE GOD
Make God our first priority through an intentional, sustained commitment to Him.
LOVE PEOPLE
Following Jesus’ example of accepting people for who they are and where they are at in their life with a welcoming and joyful attitude, while maintaining a willingness to serve and extend grace to others.
MAKE DISCIPLES
Bringing Christians and non-Christians to an engaged, intimate, and committed relationship with God.
Our beliefs
What We Believe
- One God in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- The deity of Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, who was born of a virgin, who lived a sinless life, who died for our sins, who rose bodily from the grave and ascended to heaven, and who will one day return in glory and power.
- The ministry of the Holy Spirit within every believer, empowering for witness and service, and providing spiritual gifts to every Christian.
- The inspiration of the entire Bible as God’s infallible revelation to mankind.
- The one true universal church, the body of Christ, consisting of all believers throughout the world, whose head is Jesus Christ.
- Salvation by faith in Christ alone, without works of merit, solely by the grace of God.
Our story
Our History
On January 18, 1962, a small group of believers from Springfield First Christian Church signed the first charter to join together in a new church body. Three days later, Northwood was commissioned and held its first worship service at Page Elementary School, with 42 placing their membership. By August that year, that number grew to 106 members. In September of 1963, groundbreaking began at the site across the street from Page, where Northwood still currently stands. In January 1964, nearly 200 attended the first service in the Northwood Christian Church building.
Frank Betzer was Northwood’s first permanent pastor, serving for over nine years. Over the next eight years, there were several pastors that led Northwood in growth. In 1982, Gary Wells became pastor, bringing new excitement and love. Pastor Gary and his close partnership with Northwest Christian College led to the hiring of a new youth pastor, Barry Lind. Pastor Gary Wells retired in 1994 when he felt God’s work through him at Northwood had been completed. In the fall of 1996, Northwood called upon former youth pastor Barry Lind to lead the church. Pastor Barry has been leading the Northwood family for nearly 30 years.
In 1999, as Northwood continued to grow, an expansion was needed, and groundbreaking began on the new sanctuary. In 2020, with plans to build another expansion, God presented Northwood with an opportunity to purchase 8 acres of land in Marcola Meadows, less than one mile away from the original church location. Within 90 days, over $1.2 Million was raised to purchase the land. Northwood has embarked on a 5-year-long journey of fundraising, construction, and endless prayer. Northwood is beyond is excited to open new doors for continued growth of a church greatly blessed by God throughout its over 60-year history and welcome church members and the entire community into its new home on V St.