Our history

The Way has an interesting history with a few twists and turns internationally. A group of Americans started the Great Banquet, a 3 day discipleship weekend, in Jamaica.  One of the Jamaican organizers, visited NI (Northern Ireland) for a youth outreach trip.  After returning to the states, she found there were 2 other ladies, also from her hometown in Indiana, who had recently visited the same area of NI.  Was that a coincidence?  Their hearts had connected with the N. Irish people.  They began to meet and pray, discussing the possibility of taking the Great Banquet to NI.  Through their personal relationships with people in NI, these 3 ladies, along with 3 others, traveled back to NI, in 2013, to begin setting the groundwork.  They met with 42 different N. Irish over a week of lunch, teas and suppers.  The purpose and benefit of the 3-day weekend was shared.  Their prayer request: if 6 N. Irish agreed to come to Indiana, to experience the Great Banquet, they would continue pursuing where they felt God was leading.  Exactly 6 of the 42 said yes.   Wow God!!  
 
As the outreach for the three-day event has grown, the organizers realized the movement needed the flexibility to adapt to different cultures in regard to certain procedural and cultural aspects of the three-day process.  To accomplish this need, it was determined that in order to have this flexibility, without the possibility of violating any copyright laws, a new three day movement would need to be created. Through much prayer and faith, a new movement was written.  This movement, as with the many other versions that have evolved over time, follows a distinct pattern, yet it has the flexibility to adapt to different cultures.  This new movement has been called “The Way”.  The Way is centered on John 14:6 when Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

The Way Castlewellan, Northern Ireland began in 2014.  The Way Goshen, Indiana began in Indiana in April 2016.  The Way Highgate, Jamaica, previously operating as the Great Banquet, switched to The Way in August 2016. The Way Nature Coast, Florida began in October 2018. The Way Teens in Goshen, Indiana began in June 2023. The Way Phoenix, Arizona began in May 2024. The Way Upstate New York has begun planning for a future weekend.  The Way has truly been blessed by God, offering the opportunity to deliver the message of Salvation and Discipleship to new communities.