The Church on the Way
| The Church on the Way | |
|---|---|
| The First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys | |
| Country |
 United States |
| Denomination | American Foursquare |
| Website | www.tcotw.org |
| History | |
| Founded | 1969 |
The Church on the Way is a Foursquare denomination megachurch in Van Nuys, California, and was founded by Jack Hayford. It is one of four flagship churches of the Foursquare denomination, at one point reporting membership exceeding 10,000. Pat Boone was an elder in the church, and Trinity Broadcasting Network's (TBN) founders, Paul and Jan Crouch, were one-time members.
History
In 1969, young Jack Hayford became the pastor of this church when pastor Howard Carson became ill and then stepped down. Hayford's intentions were to only take the position on a temporary basis.
In 1971, Pastor Jack was about to leave the church and noticed that the sanctuary was filled with a mist. In 1974, the original church building (today called the prayer chapel) was remodeled, increasing seating capacity to 400.
Between 1980 and 1981, the congregation built a new sanctuary, The Living Room, and dedicated it a year after beginning construction with over 2000 in attendance.
In 1987, the West Campus properties (Sherman Way at Kester Ave) were purchased, formerly the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys. The first Sunday services at the West Campus or the King's Place was October 18, 1989.
In 1999, Jack Hayford retired from his long-held position as the senior pastor at the Church on the Way, transferring it to his son-in-law, Scott Bauer, who served until his sudden death in 2003. Hayford returned to the pulpit for one year following Bauer's death, then, in 2004, Jim Tolle, the senior pastor of the Spanish-speaking congregation La Iglesia En El Camino was installed by Hayford to serve the dual role of senior pastor of The Church on the Way as well as La Iglesia En El Camino. Jim Tolle resigned the English-speaking position in November, 2010. On February 3, 2013, Jim Tolle stepped down as pastor of La Iglesia En El Camino.
In June, 2011, the Foursquare denomination engaged Ricky Temple from Savannah, Georgia, for 90 days to consult the Church on the Way church council and staff on numerous issues, as the search for a new senior pastor continued.
In October, 2011, the church extended an offer to Temple to become the lead pastor of the congregation, a newly created position, while simultaneously maintaining his position at the church he has pastored in Savannah for over 30 years. The plan was endorsed by Hayford and presented to the congregation at a series of three evening dinner meetings.
After accepting the offered position, on January 15, 2012, Temple was formally installed by Jack Hayford as the lead pastor, with Dan Hicks accepting an offer of another newly created position as senior executive pastor.
Temple resigned his position effective December 15, 2013, to focus on his life's work in Savannah.
In November, 2013, the ICFG board of directors appointed D. Timothy "Tim" Clark as the new senior pastor of the Church on the Way. Clark was installed by Jack Hayford accompanied by Foursquare senior leadership on February 2, 2014.
In May, 2014, Clark announced that he would be leading the congregation in taking a time of "pause" for the next three to four months, with only limited church services and programs available to the congregants and community. This plan was quickly endorsed and supported by Jack Hayford.