Any Christian-based group has a few hurdles to jump when seeking a wider popularity. How do you create music that can appeal beyond a Christian audience without taming your overall message in fear of alienating the secular music fan?

It’s a tricky tightrope to traverse, but that doesn’t mean the St. Joseph alt-folk trio The Bypass isn’t willing to try.

The group formed when youth pastor and singer/songwriter Jeremy Sharp, 31, met Sarah Orrick, 18, at the Ikon Student Ministries youth camp in La Cygne, Kan. Orrick was a fan of the songs Sharp performed for campers, and Sharp heard through a few students that Orrick could sing. He asked her to sing for him. Reluctantly, she did. He didn’t have to hear much to know he wanted the two to collaborate.

“The delivery was just naturally amazing,” Sharp says. “She’s young enough that you can tell it wasn’t something that you just learn how to do. It just comes naturally to her.”

After acquiring percussionist James Shumaker, they recorded their debut EP “The Ultimate Answer” in Sharp’s upstairs rooms with the help of Pro Tools recording equipment and several mattresses for sound-proofing. Sharp’s sweet, catchy guitar melodies were transformed into something different with Orrick’s vocals, which channel the angelic vulnerability of Sarah McLachlan and Ingrid Michaelson. They try their best to balance songs secular (like the quirky and playful “All That You Are”) and faith-driven (like the pretty, mid-tempo number “Best Friend”). The Bypass has made the choice to write what they feel on religious and human levels.

“We all experience the same type of situations, non-Christian and Christian ... We’re singing about stuff we go through every day and how we deal with them,” Orrick says.

The Bypass will hold its CD release party at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Word of Life Church, 3902 N. Riverside Road. But this isn’t just a “Hey, buy our new CD” type of gathering. Two other regional Christian acts, Eyelit and Steady Hands, also will be performing, and there will be free coffee from Soloman’s Porch Cafe and an art gallery featuring the work of 24 local and regional artists.

“It’s about doing something not typical,” Sharp says. “I want people to come and feel like they’re experiencing things on all sides, not just sonically.”

As The Bypass grows, hoping to add new members and maturity, its members hope that combination of transcendent belief and relatable human experience can resonate with not just Christians, but with music-lovers.

“I don’t have agendas for both sides. I just think it just boils down to writing the truth. People are going to relate to heartache. That’s just how it is,” Sharp says. “We just want the music to be so good that it crosses over.”