The Church On The Way (The First Foursquare Church of Van Nuys) is a

Foursquare church The Foursquare Church is an Evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923 by preacher Aimee Semple McPherson. The headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, United States. History The church has its origins in a vision of ...

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

, led by Senior Pastor, Tim Clark. It is one of a handful of flagship churches in the Foursquare denomination. The church was formerly pastored by

Jack Hayford Jack Williams Hayford (born June 25, 1934) is an American author, Pentecostal minister, and Chancellor Emeritus of The King's University (formerly The King's College and Seminary). He is a former senior pastor of The Church On The Way in Van N ...

and was widely influential in the

Charismatic Movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

in the 1970s through the 1990s, with services regularly televised on the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

and aired on its own local radio station. The church is related to several other churches of a similar name in Southern California, including La Iglesia En El Camino in

and The Church On The Way, Santa Clarita in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

. The Hollywood Cross, a landmark in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, is owned by the church.

History

In 1926, a group of students from Life Bible College (now

Life Pacific College Life Pacific University (LPU) is a private Christian Bible college endorsed by the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and located in San Dimas, California. LPU serves as the denomination's flagship institution for higher education. T ...

) started a tent revival on Friar Street in Van Nuys, California. These prayer meetings developed into a church, which in the following year, was moved to a newly built facility on Erwin Street. In 1949, the church began building a new sanctuary, still located at 14344 Sherman Way, and completed it in 1951 with a marching band celebration down Van Nuys Blvd. By 1969, the aging church had been reduced to a small number of elderly members. When Howard Carson, senior pastor at the time, became ill and decided to step down, Jack Hayford was appointed by the Foursquare Church as interim pastor. In 1971, he accepted the position as permanent senior pastor. Following Hayford's appointment, the church grew significantly. By 1974, the sanctuary had to be remodeled to increase capacity, and in 1981 the current sanctuary at 14300 Sherman Way was built. In 1987, as the church continued to outgrow its facilities, the church initiated the purchase of 14800 Sherman Way from the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys. In 1999, when Jack Hayford retired, his son-in-law,

Scott Bauer Scott George Bauer (January 11, 1954 – October 24, 2003) was the senior pastor of The Church On The Way from late 1999 until his sudden death in 2003. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the King’s College and Semina ...

, was installed as his successor, serving as senior pastor until his sudden death in 2003. Between 2004 and 2010, Jim Tolle served as senior pastor of both the English and Spanish speaking congregations, and in 2011 Ricky Temple pastored the English speaking congregation for a year until 2013, when Tim Clark was named as senior pastor of the church, his term beginning in early 2014.

References

External links

The Church On The Way Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Church On The Way Churches in Los Angeles County, California Evangelical churches in California Foursquare churches Christian organizations established in 1969 Evangelical megachurches in the United States Megachurches in California