The Pathway Story
It’s nothing other than a miracle, really. The vision of Pathway Church began all the way back in 2015. Let’s take it all the way back to the beginning because to know where you’re going, you really need to remember where you came from.
Rewind back to when Pastor Bryan & CaRanda were living in Pittsburgh, PA - pastoring a local church and happy doing what God had called them to do. On a Sunday in October 2015, while driving home from church, God began dealing with Bryan’s heart about the next chapter in their lives. Bryan began six months of intense prayer and on February 12, 2016, after 40 days of fasting they both strongly knew that God was leading them to plant a church. They prayed about various cities all over the USA, from D.C. to Indianapolis, from Denver to Kansas City & Oklahoma City. In June of 2016 they flew out to visit OKC and spent time here simply driving around and praying over the city. Finally, when they stopped in Yukon they knew this was the exact spot where God was leading them to plant a new, life-giving church.
They moved to Oklahoma just two months later with no team, no start-up money, no denomination, & no church! They cashed out their life savings and invested all they had into starting Pathway Church. Even the name of our church, Pathway, is significant both Biblically & geographically. In the New Testament of the Bible, in Acts 9:2, the first Christians were called, “those belonging to the way”. Since the Chisholm Trail, Route 66, & I-40 all run right through Yukon, Pathway was the perfect name to both describe following Jesus as the only Pathway in life & a nod to our location.
Pie Five Pizza
To build a church, you definitely need teams of people, so Pathway began holding “Interest Parties” at Pie Five Pizza several months before launching just to share the vision of what was to come with Pathway Church. In April, at the very first interest party, only 2 people showed up. By the end of the summer, over 100 people were in attendance to hear all about it!
Launch Day Yukon High School
The official launch day of Pathway Church was on September 17, 2017 at Yukon High School with 40 Purpose Team members & 275 in total attendance! In early March 2020, when the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, our church was forced to move out of YHS. While many other churches were able to open back up months later, we could not because we did not have a permanent facility of our own.
AMC Movie Theater
For months, we hosted church online & finally in June were able to begin meeting at Chisholm Trail Park in Yukon. Finally, in October of 2020, AMC Movie Theater in Yukon reopened and allowed us to lease multiple theaters to gather for church on Sundays. Have you ever attended church in a movie theater? It’s something. We have a lot of fun stories from those days, but most of all will never ever forget the smell of popcorn during worship!
Our New Home
Then comes the best part. On September 19, 2022 - after 18 months of prayer - God opened the door and led us to begin discussions to purchase our current building. It is a miracle story on every level to say the least! We officially purchased our current building on February 22, 2023 and quickly began the remodeling process in early April 2023. Six years (312 PORTABLE SUNDAYS) after launching as a church, we officially moved into our new, permanent home! It has been an incredible adventure watching God piece together every detail of Pathway Church and watching it grow! Thank you for wanting to be part of the Pathway family with us.
