Local Church is a miracle from God. In the summer of 2014, Ryan and Jana Miller lived in Indianapolis and were wrestling with what God had next for them. Ryan had worked in campus ministry for the previous decade and Jana had raised their three (eventually it would turn in to four) kids. During that summer, God gave an overwhelming call on their lives to move back to the town where Jana grew up and start a church.

Two years later the Millers had partnered with a national church planting network called ARC (www.arcchurches.com). They moved to Marietta, OH in May 2016 and began building a team of people to start the church together. The events that transpired over that summer were nothing short of miraculous. 45 adults decided to join a “launch team” that would help to start Pathway. A large church in Indiana gave a $30,000 gift to help Pathway get started and ARC provided an additional $50,000 in financial support. A worship leader joined the team and a location opened up in a business park to hold regular Sunday services.

On October 23 rd , 2016, Pathway Community Church was opened. For the last three years we have now watched hundreds of people make decisions to follow Christ. An amazing team of volunteers (we call them the Dream Team) have come together to make our Sunday services possible. God has been gracious and we’re excited to see what the future holds. We’d love to have you join this movement with us.

Ryan, along with his wife Jana, planted Pathway Community Church in 2016. Most weekends you’ll hear Ryan deliver the sermon. He also oversees the staff team and guides our church as we expand. Here is Ryan’s description of himself: “College football fanatic, consumer of leadership podcasts, coffee aficionado, chess addict. These passions pretty much describe me. I married an incredible woman who is way out of my league, and have four awesome kids! Let me know if you’re up for a game of chess or watching a Penn State vs. Ohio State football game.”

Corey joins Pathway as our Associate Pastor. He has overseen/directed ministry teams in multiple areas for over a decade. Corey wears multiple hats at Pathway in administrative, small groups, teaching, leadership development and coming alongside Shelli in youth ministries. Corey is a Jesus follower, husband, father, avid dad joke teller, lover of travel and adventure!

Dee is Pathway’s Kids Director. Dee loves working with children and seeing them grow in to their potential. You will not find a more committed person to the spiritual development of children. Dee married her High School sweetheart, has worked with kids in Church since she was 14, has taught Pre-K at Oak Grove Christian School for 11 years, loves Jesus and sweet tea!

Shelli joins Pathway as our Youth Director. She has impacted the lives of hundreds of students through her heart for Jesus, leadership abilities, and authentic communication. She married her High School sweetheart, had lots of babies, traveled the country in an RV, and has dedicated her life to serving Jesus through the local church.

Jessie Vaca has served in ministry for 20 years in various roles: Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor, Lead Planter, Campus Pastor, and Pastor of Multiplication. He now serves as the Executive Pastor at Pathway and the Executive Director of the 99 Network.

Jessie, and his wife Carla, planted a church in the Chicago neighborhood of Lincoln Square in 2014 and pastored there until 2018. During that time, Jessie co-authored the book, “Developing A Leadership Resident” and also worked for Newthing (a church planting network) serving as a coach, conference speaker, consultant, and ultimately as the Regional Director for Central & South America.

Jessie is passionate about creating healthy systems / organizational structures to help churches maximize their impact, and helping churches launch (focusing in Pre-Launch and year 1). He also specializes in leading churches through strategic planning/goal setting, demographic identification, and leadership development strategies.

Jessie is a secret tech nerd, loves to read, watches the news every morning with his coffee, and can often be found playing video games in his spare time. He’s been married to Carla for 23 years and has 3 kids: Isabelle (17), Gabriel (16), and Elijah (14).