About Us
Hillside is located on the northwest side of Cedar Rapids, IA. We are an outward-focused church, trying to reach out both to our community and to the world.
Hillside belongs to the Wesleyan denomination. The Wesleyan Church is a small, protestant denomination in the Methodist tradition. Our denomination finds its beginnings in the anti-slavery movement in the 1800's. This movement became known as The Wesleyan Methodist Connection and later the Wesleyan Methodist Church. We became the Wesleyan Church when the WMC merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1965. For more on the Wesleyan Church, visit our official site.
We consider ourselves to be a "holiness" denomination, meaning we take seriously the Biblical command, "be holy as your heavenly father is holy."
John Wesley like Jesus, defined holiness as "loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:34-40). Hillside strives to be a place where people love each other unconditionally and we reach out to the world in love rather than judgment. (John 3:17)
We believe the Bible is the Word of God and our guide for life and salvation. We believe people are called to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who died and rose again so taht we can gain freedom from our past--sin, guilt, shame, addiction.
Christ accepts us where we are, but does't expect us to stay there. He desires for us to become like Him in our character. When we give our lives to Him, He works in us to make us into the people He created us to be.