Westside Church of Christ meets on Heights Road on the west side of Alvin, Texas, a town in Brazoria County south of Houston. The congregation describes itself as a body of believers seeking to serve and glorify the only true and living God, and it organizes every part of its life around the conviction that the Bible is the only rule of faith, worship and practice. Sunday services, midweek Bible classes, a packed teen calendar, and mission partnerships reaching from Alvin to India all flow from that single conviction.
A Week Shaped Around the Bible
The rhythm of the week is simple and visible. On Sunday morning, Bible classes for all ages begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by Morning Worship at 10:30 a.m. The day closes with Evening Worship at 5:00 p.m. and a Teen Devotional that starts at 6:00 p.m. On Wednesday, the church gathers twice more: a Ladies' Bible Class at 10:00 a.m. and an evening Bible Class at 7:00 p.m. for adults.
Worship services follow the New Testament pattern the church works out in detail on its own statement of beliefs. Members sing a cappella, without musical instruments, because, as the congregation teaches, the New Testament does not authorize them in the assembled song service. The service includes public Scripture reading, teaching and preaching, prayers, the collection, and the Lord's Supper on the first day of the week. There are no scripted creeds, no choirs and no instrumental music. Members come expecting a service organized entirely around the word of Christ, sung, read, preached and obeyed.
Biblical Authority at the Center
The first thing the church asks a newcomer to notice is its view of Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." The congregation teaches that the Bible is the inspired word of God, sufficient for faith and life, and the only authority for what the church believes and how it worships.
The pages that lay out that conviction take pains to argue that the Bible, not human tradition or denominational structure, is the test of every practice. Old Testament passages such as Deuteronomy 4:2 and Proverbs 30:5-6 warn against adding to or subtracting from the word, and Galatians 1:6-9 warns against any other gospel. Members are taught to bring every tradition and every contemporary idea to the text rather than the other way around, and to treat God's word as timeless, "for all peoples and all times."
Salvation: Hear, Believe, Repent, Confess, Be Baptized
The church's statement on salvation walks through the same steps it sees in the conversions recorded in Acts. A person must first believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth, lived a sinless life and gave himself to die for the forgiveness of sin. Second, repentance - turning away from sin, not merely feeling sorry for it. Third, public confession that Jesus is the Christ. Fourth, baptism by immersion, which the church describes as being "buried with him by baptism into death" so that the believer can walk in newness of life. Acts 2:37-38, Romans 6:3-4 and Acts 22:16 are offered as the clearest texts. Members are willing to sit down with anyone who wants to study these questions further.
Worship: In Spirit, In Truth, On the First Day
The congregation's worship teaching argues from scripture that the first century pattern is the pattern to keep. Worship must be "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). It is to happen on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2). It includes the Lord's Supper, taken in remembrance of Christ until he returns (Luke 22:17-19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). It includes congregational singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with the heart (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19-20) - and, by conviction of the church, without mechanical instruments. It includes the public reading of Scripture and teaching (1 Timothy 4:13), prayers (Acts 2:42, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), and a free-will offering gathered on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
The teaching page includes a short note acknowledging that instrumental music entered Christian worship around 700 A.D. and was not widely accepted until the 1400s or 1500s; the church holds that absence of New Testament evidence is enough reason to leave it out.
Church Organization: Christ at the Head, Elders and Deacons Below
Westside's teaching on church government draws the same kind of detailed outline. Christ is the head of the church (Colossians 1:17-18, Ephesians 1:22-24), and each local congregation is a body of believers, not a branch of a larger organization. Each congregation is led by a plurality of elders (also called overseers or shepherds) who meet the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Deacons serve under the elders with their own qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The church states plainly that, following the pattern of scripture, only men of the congregation fill the offices of elder and deacon. Within those boundaries, members submit to the eldership while elders are accountable to Christ and the word.
That is the same pattern that shapes the actual leadership on the Heights Road property.
The Shepherds, Minister and Deacons of Westside
Three men serve as elders: Dan Davenport, Edward Ray and Jeff Stafford. The pulpit minister is Doug Rainbolt. Seven men serve as deacons, each with a specific area of responsibility: Don Berryman oversees Adult Education and Missions; Max Clawson oversees Fellowship and Trendsetters; Curtis Gardner oversees Worship; Joey Janoch oversees Youth; Brian Mooney oversees Finance; Jason Owens oversees Audio Visual; and Chad Thompson oversees Building and Grounds. Ann Clawson serves as church secretary.
Devotionals posted on the site are typically introduced by Edward Ray and feature short video messages from Doug Rainbolt, the pulpit minister, on topics such as being a servant rather than a volunteer, finding strength in adversity, and the sufficiency of Scripture.
Children, from Cradle Roll to 12th Grade
The Children's Ministry is structured around age-appropriate Bible classes that meet during the regular Sunday Bible class hour. The list on the church's own pages walks down the years: Cradle Roll, 2-3 Years Old, 4-5 Years Old, 1st-3rd Grade, 4th-5th Grade and 6th-12th Grade. The opening text for the ministry is Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Children move through the classes alongside their families in the same building, so that age-appropriate learning happens inside a community that gathers every week to do the same thing.
The Westside Youth Group
Teen Ministry at Westside is one of the busiest calendars in the building. Sunday nights, after the 5:00 p.m. Evening Worship, the youth group gathers for a devotional that runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and includes food, singing, a devotional period and games. Different member families host throughout the year. Joey Janoch, the deacon over youth, organizes the program, and teen devotionals appear on the church calendar almost weekly.
Beyond Sunday nights, the youth group runs an annual slate of activities. Weekend events include Hensel Youth Camp, the Gulf Coast Youth Summit and the fall retreat. Each summer the teens travel to Camp Bandina for a week of singing, worship, Bible classes and team activities. Service projects - both local and within the broader church family - are a regular rhythm, as are fellowship activities separated into guys' and girls' groups. A yearly mission trip gives the teens a chance to take what they have learned on the road.
The church's photo gallery shows the lighter side of that calendar: stops for donuts and ice cream on the way home from Jaberwacky, watermelon stress-testing on a summer evening, and the youth group at the Challenge Youth Conference in Dallas.
Sweet Sisters and the Trendsetters
Two smaller groups round out the ministry calendar for adults. Sweet Sisters is a ladies' fellowship that meets monthly in a member's home for a devotional, a meal and conversation. The pattern is intentionally simple: encouraging one another "through fellowship," drawing on Galatians 6:9-10.
The Trendsetters is a group of retired members who meet on the second Tuesday of each month in the Fellowship Hall. Their program combines a devotional, a potluck meal, games, fellowship and occasional group outings. The name leans into the experience of being long-time members of the congregation, with the stated goal of being "committed to each other in the love of Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
Mission Work at Home and Abroad
Mission work is one of the most developed pages on the site, and it reaches far beyond Alvin.
In Asia, Hershel Bearden oversees a ministry that covers India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. His work includes erecting "buildings without walls" - simple frame buildings that serve as meeting places for local congregations - training local preachers, distributing funds to those preachers and congregations, and administering a children's home for the most vulnerable children in the community. Supporters can give toward new church buildings, Bibles, preacher training, bicycles for preachers and the children's home, along with general benevolence. That work is overseen by the Angelina Church of Christ in Lufkin, Texas, and Courtney Swann and Matthew McCartney are listed in connection with a children's home in Chipurupalli, India that was established in 2004 and includes a private school and college scholarships.
In Alaska, Ben Buchanan serves as a missionary working with the Spring Brook Church of Christ in Eagle River. His work includes preaching and teaching, weddings and funerals, building maintenance, mentoring teens and young adults, planning cooperative events with other area congregations, and helping coordinate soup kitchen efforts in the area. Summit Church of Christ in Cold Spring, Kentucky oversees the work.
In addition, the church promotes World Bible School, an online and mail-based correspondence program that offers free basic Bible lessons. Members are encouraged to become WBS Study Helpers, grading lessons and corresponding with students around the world.
Supporting Three Children's Homes
Children's homes have their own page and three specific partnerships. Sunny Glen Children's Home, established in 1936 in San Benito, Texas, cares for abused and neglected children. Cherokee Home For Children, established in 1958 in Cherokee, Texas, provides a Christian home and school environment for children in need. A third home, associated with Hershel Bearden's work, was established in 2004 in Chipurupalli, India, and includes a private school and college scholarships for the children who live there. The church frames its support of these homes with James 1:27 - "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
Devotionals and an Online Reach
Members and visitors can keep up with the congregation between Sundays through the church's devotionals and online media. Short video devotionals by Doug Rainbolt are posted on the site under categories such as "Servant or volunteer?," "Finding strength in adversity," "Do you have a passion?," "The Bible is all we need" and "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of all knowledge." Sermons and Bible class recordings are shared on the church's YouTube channel, with additional video and event coverage on its Facebook page and Instagram account. The full calendar of upcoming events, including youth devotionals, Ladies' Bible Class, Trendsetters meetings and leadership meetings, is published at alvinwestsidechurch.com/events and can be subscribed to through Google Calendar, Outlook or iCal feeds.
What to Expect on a First Visit
Visitors who come to 831 Heights Road on a Sunday morning will find Bible classes for every age at 9:30 a.m., followed by the main worship service at 10:30 a.m. The service is a cappella and centered on the Bible: singing, prayer, Scripture reading, a sermon, the Lord's Supper and the collection. Evening worship returns at 5:00 p.m. for those who want to come back. Wednesday brings a Ladies' Bible Class at 10:00 a.m. and a general Bible class at 7:00 p.m. The church secretary's office is staffed through the week, and the phone line (281-388-2252) is answered during business hours. The building is a single campus on the west side of Alvin; a map and directions are available through the church's online event pages.