The houses of worship serving Westwood. When I was a kid, back in the Bronx, it was as common to ask people what parish you were in as to ask what exit you take on the Thruway or Garden State Parkway (to get home). It was a way of categorizing and identifying people and their affiliations, not to mention their religions, and where kids went to school. Back then, it was more important to “stick with your own kind.” Today, people change churches and denominations in search of a better Fit, or as they age, have children, find themselves alone.
The first Catholic Church in Westwood was located in a house on Capilla Road! The Priest lived on one floor and served mass on the other until San Rafael was built, and the congregation moved there. Life Bridge Church, on West Bernardo Drive, is a “Bible-focused, service-oriented, family of faith” One of the newer groups serving Westwood, is the Maranatha Chapel, a non-denominational, Evangelical Church, which has since built a school for its growing congregation. Since the 80’s, churches have sprung up not only in homes, but in shopping centers, movie theatres, and community centers like Ed Brown Center, anywhere they can find space to reach out and touch people. They have expanded from providing spiritual and social guidance, to schools, single parent classes, AA classes, camps, child care, as many of the needs of their congregates as they identify.
Surrounding Westwood, there are many Temples, the Chabad, RB Community Presbyterian Church, the Chinese Church – in fact, page 16 of our local RB Phone Book lists 29 places of worship!
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Robert Schuler of Crystal Cathedral fame, first preached on top of a drive-in movie snack bar! Worshipers sat in their cars with the speaker bringing them the Word. This type of outreach turned out to be an excellent way for people in wheel chairs or incapacitated in other ways, to leave home and worship for the first time in many years. Televangelists like Billy Graham to the Dalai Lama, the Pope in Rome, and others have reached over the airways to those who could not come to them. Most communities now participate in Social Media, blogs, and have websites for sharing the benefit people derive from religious comfort. For some it’s about coming together physically, for many others the spirit transcends the physical distance.
