Our Story

In 1981, eight couples believed that the Holy Spirit was stirring them to do something new. Under the leadership of Pastor Jay Passavant and his wife Carol, this group gathered in a home in the North Hills of Pittsburgh to pray and seek the Lord. They let God lead and together founded North Way Christian Community. Anchored in Scripture and empowered by the Holy Spirit, they set out to make followers of Jesus.

Looking back on this, Pastor Jay reflected, “My goal was never to grow a bigger church. My goal was always to grow healthy Christians. Healthy believers grow a healthy church.”

This new community would grow through discipleship, the idea of sharing faith from one person to one person to one person, or 1-2-1-2-1. This intentional discipleship became such an integral part of the North Way DNA that when the first permanent location was opened in Wexford, Pennsylvania, in 1994, Pastor Jay chose the address 12121.

The church did indeed grow and thousands of lives were transformed by the hope of the Gospel. Over forty years and six locations later, North Way looks different, but the goal is the same: to grow healthy followers of Christ. Our mission is to lead people to know, experience, and follow Jesus, so that they go and lead others to do the same 1-2-1-2-1.