History
Brookside’s Beginning
In February of 1981, six families launched the beginning of Brookside Church with their first Sunday morning worship service. This step of faith came after months of prayer and planning. The original meeting place of this new church family was the Willa Cather Elementary school at 139th and West Center. In March of that same year Steve Moltumyr was called to be Senior Pastor. At that time the church consisted of sixteen adults, one teenager, and eight children. For everyone there was a sense of anticipation to see what God would do in the months and years ahead.
Looking back to that first year, we’re grateful for the sincere love of people and their readiness to serve. Together they provided a healthy foundation to the building of a strong church. We are convinced that the strength of our ministry today is directly connected to this commitment to Jesus Christ.
Knowing we would need another temporary facility until we could purchase land and build, we leased space in the Woodhaven Center at 160th and West Center Road. We had our first worship service at Woodhaven in July of 1982. With all of its limitations, we had a wonderful time together as a church family that’s give us some great memories. Most importantly, we experienced spiritual growth in our personal lives and numerical growth as a church body.
In 1986 Brookside voted to purchase just over 17 acres of land at the juncture of Interstate 80 and L Street. In 1988 the church voted to build our first worship and ministry center. Construction of the first phase was completed in March of 1989. During construction, we moved our Sunday morning worship from the Woodhaven Center to Millard North High School.
These too were good days for us as we transitioned from a relatively small area for worship with a few classrooms to a large auditorium with many classrooms. It was great to have room to grow and during those months we grew from approximately two hundred in attendance to just over three hundred. This space for growth helped prepare us for stepping into our new building in 1989.
Through the years we have continued to grow and add space for ministry. In 1994 we completed the second phase of our master plan, with a new youth room and additional children’s classrooms. Then in 1998 construction began on a new worship center, lobby, and classrooms. This was completed in September of 2000. It has provided tremendous opportunity for ministry to larger numbers of people.
We have also added ministry staff since our beginning in 1981. We now have a multiple staff providing leadership to the many ministries taking place through our church body. We are planning for future ministries and staff so that we are strategic in meeting the needs of people within our church family and in expanding our ministry into the surrounding community.
In 1999 Brookside took an important step of faith in launching a church plant during the construction of the third phase of our building master plan. Twin Valley was planted in Bellevue and is the result of a long-term plan to start a church in that city.
We are truly excited about our future as a church and look forward with great anticipation to where God leads us in the years to come. We invite you to join us on the journey!
