our story

Recently (May 2024) our website, social media and online presence in general took a shift alongside our physical location as our team followed a very clear new direction. For the past year you may know that we had been ministering in the small town of Paisley out of a United Church in the afternoons, little did we know that that time would be short as God called us forward. However we are incredibly grateful for our time there to learn and grow as a team, to develop the vision God had placed on our hearts and build up our courage to take this next step. 

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In early spring 2024 the entire team started to feel a shift in their spirit calling us closer to home. We began the search for a building to rent that would allow us to return to a morning service, but also give us the flexibility to use it during the week for evening ministries - all within our small budget. We thought this would a huge hurdle to face but little did we know God had it all worked out! A friend of ours suggested we reach out to Saugeen Academy as they use the building during school hours. One meeting later and we had found our new home. We are blessed by every open door God has gifted us in the past year - but we must say this one felt extra special. The details began to come together very quickly and with every open door we heard from God a resounding "Yes, this is what I have for you." Our hearts were encouraged that every obedient step we took was another blessing He had for us. 

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May 12th (Mothers Day!) 2024 we opened the doors to the public for the first time and we were blown away that day, just as we continue to be now. God is up to something and we are so excited to be along for the ride. 

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The name "Pathway Church" was birthed from a very special service where we tangibly felt the spirit of God speak to us. We always knew that we were going to be apart of a "New Thing" but that specific day God pointed us to Isaiah 43 which says " Isaiah 43:19-21 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a PATHWAY in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." and Wow did that resonate with us! 

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Since then we have received affirmation after affirmation on Gods specific design for this church. He gifted us 12 statements (11 + the scripture) that we will be using as the vision and mission of the church to remind this generation that #HISNAMEISJESUS the name above every name.... 

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1. There is a PATHWAY through your wilderness... His name is Jesus 

2. There is no need to know the way... when you know the Waymaker

3. Everyone is looking for something... Love, Freedom, Family, Forgiveness, Joy, Hope, Home, Safety, Belonging. We are here to tell you we've found Him. 

4. Lost, Hurting, Addicted, Bound, Imprisoned, Ashamed, Heartbroken, He died for that. 

5. We will SHOUT His name, because He changed our lives. 

6. Isaiah 43 

7. His name means FREEDOM. 

8. There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. 

9. We declare in your name & by your blood. 

10.Who do you say I am? 

11. Live like He died for you. Live like He cares for you. Live like He's alive. Because it's true. 

12. There is someone who loves you enough to take a bullet for you (or in His case a cross) 

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Pathway Church is a Christian, evangelical, non denominational, body of Christ. We have a dream, a dream to love people and share Gods’ love with everyone but we don’t plan to stop there, God is showing us that He has a lot of doors just waiting to be opened in small towns and rural areas where He is looking forward to do a new thing! 

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Pathway operates under the 4HIS MINISTRY umbrella. This ministry has been run by the Brandsma family for 18 years and just recently became reinstated as a charity. Check out the 4 HIS MINISTRY tab to get acquainted with the ministry that started long ago, but ultimately led us here. 

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Read more on the stepping stone that Brought us to Pathway... Home: Church and furthermore our heart for small town communities written by Pastor Maren. 

 

 

HOME:CHURCH Paisley, the God story behind an unusual church plant. Recently people are asking how we ended up in Paisley planting a church, in a rather unusual setting, a United Church building. Over 20 years ago God spoke to Eric about going on the road to do ministry, we thought it was odd as we weren’t in ministry and were just getting our little family going but God kept nudging Eric and preparing our hearts for what was to come. Sure enough in 2006 God began to show us that He wanted us to go help rural and small churches by strengthening and revitalizing them. So we developed 4 H.I.S. Ministry and off we went. We did this “on the road” for 15 years moving about with our kids as they grew, assisting 9 churches, living by faith for our provisions. Over the years we would see the pattern of God nudging Eric that something was about to change when God had another assignment for us and so even though I often challenged both Eric and God when the nudges came I learned to pay attention.

 

About 10 years ago God moved us to Hepworth (the top of the Bruce Peninsula) from a small town several hours south. The route we would take to prepare for the move always took us through Paisley, a little tiny charming town that I had very fond memories of from childhood. We had many a picnic and family gathering at my Aunt and Uncles in this quaint town. Naturally I would reminisce as we drove through but to my surprise Eric would always say he loved the town and thought we might open a church there one day. Not being church planters or lead pastors I thought this was just Eric talking, but over the years he would bring it up time and time again. We looked up the churches there and would make a point of stopping at stores and restaurants each time we went through town. God kept it in our minds even as He took us to different places to help. Then life took another turn -  a lot has happened in the last few years with our health. As both of us became disabled we unfortunately conceded that our active years of formal ministry were probably over and we took a big step back. 

 

God had a different plan though, one that was a big surprise to us. Last fall I got an email from a 2nd cousin of mine who still lived in Paisley that I hadn’t seen or talked to for several years, He was looking for someone to do some pulpit fill in the winter as they were without a minister for a couple years. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel at first, they are a united church and we worked mainly with Pentecostal churches, I hadn’t preached in 2 years and wasn’t even sure I could stand for that long, so I asked God what to do. He clearly impressed on my heart that I needed to talk to my now adult kids and ask them their thoughts. Both came back with a resounding yes, God wants you to do this and will give you the strength. So I said a very unsuspecting and nervous yes. 

 

We arrived in Paisley expecting to see an old United church from 100 years ago but instead found a fun little mid century church that held our hearts captive from the moment we walked in. We brought a friend with us that Sunday and all of us experienced an incredible peace and we felt right at home when we walked in. As the morning went on we learned that the church there was struggling and may not remain open for too long and that the Baptist church had closed and others were struggling as well. Immediately our spirits were quickened and we wondered if God was calling us to Paisley. Before the morning was done our friend turned to us and said the same thing - though we had never told her Paisley was on our heart or that we had thoughts of planting a church there. By the time we left after being given a tour of the building, God had clearly told us to pray for victory over the land. 

 

While we were both excited we were also very apprehensive and thought for sure this was a crazy idea and others would agree! As we shared the prospect that God had laid on our hearts, something he had been revealing especially to Eric for decade our friends and family near and far affirmed over and over again that this was God’s plan, several people said they had known for some time we would be planting a church somewhere. We had no idea how any of this would happen or if it could in our humanness but we knew that when God moved, He moved mountains. 

 

A couple months later we found ourselves needing a place to hold services as our living room had been filling with people Sunday mornings, God brought together a team with a passion for seeing small town churches planted, thriving and revived. As we gathered and prayed and worshipped together the dream grew and so with a little nudge from a family member we got over our fear and asked if we could possibly rent the United Church building in Paisley to hold services after theirs. 2 weeks later we were there! 

 

In short why did we choose Paisley? Because 10 years ago God gave Eric a dream, a dream that has slowly grown in my heart too, a dream that we would let go of 2 years ago, a dream God would give back to us in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Why now? Because God is doing something new all over the world, because God is always faithful and because God opened the door - a United Church door. Who are we? A bunch of Jesus loving regular people, spirit filled, seeking to be in God’s will, to love the lost, provide a place where everyone feels at HOME, has a place to belong and can learn about life with Jesus.

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Although God has since asked us since to move on from Paisley we are so incredibly grateful for our time there - our much needed stepping stone on this crazy path God has for us. We are wholly committed to following his direction on this ministry wherever it may lead. 

 

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