Our Story
BridgeWay Community Church was planted in 2005 by Pastor Dale Schaeffer and a team from our parent church, Pekin First Church of the Nazarene, under Pastor Greg Mason and District Superintendent Crawford Howe. BridgeWay was established with the vision to specifically âconnect people to Jesus Christ, to each other, and to Godâs purposes for their lives.â
BridgeWay first met at the Bertha Frank Theater in Morton from February 2005 to August 2006. We then moved to the Field Shopping Center in Morton, where we worshiped together from September 2006 until October 2010. We then gathered at Tremont High School until the purchase of our current building. We purchased a building in Pekin on the second-busiest intersection in Tazewell County and held our first service at BridgeWayâs own home on July 29, 2012, under Pastor Dale Schaeffer.
Throughout BridgeWayâs first ten years, we witnessed 806 professions of faith and 309 baptisms! In addition, the culture of BridgeWay encouraged and empowered the church plant of Second Chance Church in Fishers, Indiana.
In November 2013, Pastor Schaeffer and his family relocated to Oregon to fulfill Godâs call on their hearts to serve as pastor of a church plant, and we began the prayerful search for a new lead pastor.
Central to BridgeWayâs effectiveness was the consistent guidance of our Mission-Vision team and the continued determined work of our pastoral staff, ministry leaders, volunteers, and the investments of both Pekin First Church of the Nazarene and the Northwest Illinois District Church of the Nazarene. We continued strong into BridgeWayâs next chapter.
Pastor Jeff Stark joined our pastoral team in August 2014 as lead pastor. In late 2015, we were approached by a small struggling church about merging with us to impact the community of Marquette Heights. BridgeWay accepted the invitation and on January 6, 2016, we launched our Marquette Heights campus.
And we continued to plant!
In the summer of 2018, we planted Reachway Church in Peoria, pastored by Seth Major, who was one of our church plant residents. God continues to move in and through BridgeWay Community Church in faithfulness and power! In May 2019, Pastor Jeff followed his calling into the heart of downtown Chicago.
We welcomed Pastor Michael Downs as our new lead pastor in August 2019. In June of 2024, Pastor Michael followed Godâs leading to serve a new church.
In February 2025, Pastor Darin Fowler come to BridgeWay as our next lead pastor. Within the first couple months we began a partnership with Hope Chest thrift store and food pantry in Pekin to serve the needs of the underserved. We are refocusing our original call "to connect people to Jesus, to each other, and to Godâs purpose in our livesâ.
God has made it clear from our beginning that He continues to be powerfully at work through BridgeWay Community Churchâacross the country and throughout the world! We continue in awe, anticipation, and worship of God as He continues to unfold His further plans for BridgeWay Community Church!
BridgeWay first met at the Bertha Frank Theater in Morton from February 2005 to August 2006. We then moved to the Field Shopping Center in Morton, where we worshiped together from September 2006 until October 2010. We then gathered at Tremont High School until the purchase of our current building. We purchased a building in Pekin on the second-busiest intersection in Tazewell County and held our first service at BridgeWayâs own home on July 29, 2012, under Pastor Dale Schaeffer.
Throughout BridgeWayâs first ten years, we witnessed 806 professions of faith and 309 baptisms! In addition, the culture of BridgeWay encouraged and empowered the church plant of Second Chance Church in Fishers, Indiana.
In November 2013, Pastor Schaeffer and his family relocated to Oregon to fulfill Godâs call on their hearts to serve as pastor of a church plant, and we began the prayerful search for a new lead pastor.
Central to BridgeWayâs effectiveness was the consistent guidance of our Mission-Vision team and the continued determined work of our pastoral staff, ministry leaders, volunteers, and the investments of both Pekin First Church of the Nazarene and the Northwest Illinois District Church of the Nazarene. We continued strong into BridgeWayâs next chapter.
Pastor Jeff Stark joined our pastoral team in August 2014 as lead pastor. In late 2015, we were approached by a small struggling church about merging with us to impact the community of Marquette Heights. BridgeWay accepted the invitation and on January 6, 2016, we launched our Marquette Heights campus.
And we continued to plant!
In the summer of 2018, we planted Reachway Church in Peoria, pastored by Seth Major, who was one of our church plant residents. God continues to move in and through BridgeWay Community Church in faithfulness and power! In May 2019, Pastor Jeff followed his calling into the heart of downtown Chicago.
We welcomed Pastor Michael Downs as our new lead pastor in August 2019. In June of 2024, Pastor Michael followed Godâs leading to serve a new church.
In February 2025, Pastor Darin Fowler come to BridgeWay as our next lead pastor. Within the first couple months we began a partnership with Hope Chest thrift store and food pantry in Pekin to serve the needs of the underserved. We are refocusing our original call "to connect people to Jesus, to each other, and to Godâs purpose in our livesâ.
God has made it clear from our beginning that He continues to be powerfully at work through BridgeWay Community Churchâacross the country and throughout the world! We continue in awe, anticipation, and worship of God as He continues to unfold His further plans for BridgeWay Community Church!
Our Mission and Vision
The mission of BridgeWay Community Church is to connect people to Jesus Christ, to each other, and to God's purposes for our lives.
Our Misson
Our mission influences everything we do at BridgeWay, from every ministry we launch to every event we offer.
Our Culture
We are a church built on the foundation of Jesus. The church is alive, authentic, full of passion, and brimming over with hope, acceptance and love! We are a church built on the life, love, and teachings of Jesus.
Our Ministry
Our ministry is for the vast number of people in our community not connected to a healthy body of believers- people that once experienced connection but fell away or left for some reason.