Early in the morning on Sunday, January 8, 2023 Pastor Jack Hayford peacefully stepped into eternity from his home in the San Fernando Valley. Born in 1934 Pastor Jack was 88 years old and enjoyed decades of vibrant ministry to the larger body of Christ, but he would always say, “my heart has always been with the local church.”

In 1969 Pastor Jack Hayford answered the call to lead the Van Nuys Foursquare Church—a small but faithful congregation located on Sherman Way in Van Nuys, CA. With 18 people in attendance at that first service Pastor Jack led this congregation through a miracle outpouring of God’s grace as it grew to multiple thousands impacting the lives of people across the globe. The Church On The Way, as it came to be known, became a place of influence in the body of Christ, and a congregation who lived and worshiped in the rich presence of the living God.

This location developed into a central hub of ministry from which Pastor Jack preached the Gospel in a way that was both prophetic and practical, transforming lives of the thousands who would worship here each week. It was Pastor Jack’s teaching here that stimulated his authoring of more than fifty books, and multiple hundreds of worship songs. All of this was part of Pastor Jack simply being sensitive to the Lord Jesus and faithfully following Him each and every day of his life.

Pastor Jack’s ministry bridged barriers between generations, socio-economic strata, and ethnicities. He was a leader in reconciliation—within those areas that divided humankind, as well as reconciling people in relationship with their Heavenly Father. Tens of thousands of people received the Lord and walked into faith under the ministry of Pastor Jack. Humble and sensitive to the Lord—not just in the pulpit, but in his everyday life—Pastor Jack taught us to rely on God’s word, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, to worship the Lord with abandon, and serve in the community where God places us. The lives of countless thousands have been changed as they’ve been discipled by this general in the faith.

We here at The Church On The Way will miss the fellowship we continued to enjoy with Pastor Jack. He has touched us all and on this side of eternity we are deeply saddened by this loss, yet we rejoice over the promise of Heaven and the fact that Pastor Jack stepped across the threshold into his eternal home to the words of Jesus resonating, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your Lord.”

Click here for more information on the life and ministry of Pastor Jack Hayford.