Rev. James Way was a Bible Christian minister in the early days of the colony of South Australia, and for whom Way College was named. He was the father of Sir Samuel Way.

The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O'Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbear, Devon. Members of the Church were sometimes known as Bryanites, after their founder.