Calvary Chapel

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Calvary Chapel's dove logo which represents the Holy Spirit.

Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational, Protestant fellowship of churches which began in 1965 in Southern California. The term "fellowship of churches" is used in contrast to a denomination. Churches whose senior pastor is affiliated with Calvary Chapel will usually be called a "Calvary Chapel". Calvary Chapel has over one thousand such congregations worldwide. The original Calvary Chapel is Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa which is pastored by Chuck Smith. Doctrinally, Calvary Chapel is evangelical, pretribulationist, and strongly sola scriptura.

In their form of church government, Calvary Chapel uses a mostly episcopal structure. Tongues and prophecy are not a normal part of church services, but they are held as doctrinally valid. Calvary Chapels faithfully uphold expository teaching, a "verse by verse, chapter by chapter" approach to teaching the Bible. This essentially means that their sermons are directly related to a passage of the Bible, and following sermons will start where the previous sermon left off (often this is done from Genesis to Revelation). They hold the opinion that topical studies fail to present the "whole counsel of God" and that ministers who use this approach often choose topics they have a certain inclination to teach, while leaving out important controversial issues of the Bible. It is their desire to teach, not preach the word, in order to equip and train laymen for everyday ministry; as well as encourage development of a personal relationship with Christ. Calvary Chapel also maintains a number of radio stations around the world, and they also operate a number of Bible colleges. Chuck Smith's "Calvary Chapel Distinctives" is essential to understanding, holistically, the tenants Calvary Chapel stands for.

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History

In December 1965, Chuck Smith became the pastor of a 25 person congregation and in 1968 break-off of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel denomination in Santa Ana, California. According to Calvary Chapel's record of their history, 12 of the 25 members were in a prayer meeting, before Chuck became their pastor, about whether or not to close their church when the Holy Spirit spoke to them by prophecy and told them that Chuck would become their pastor, that he would want to elevate the platform area, that God would bless the church, that it would go on the radio, that the church would become overcrowded, and that he would become known throughout the world.

Calvary Chapel then became joined what is now known as the Jesus Movement when Chuck's daughter introduced him to her boyfriend John. John was a former hippie who had become a Christian. John then introduced Chuck to Lonnie Frisbee, a hippie Christian who would eventually become the key figure in the Jesus Movement and Calvary Chapel. Lonnie moved into Chuck's home, and in a few days, more hippies moved in with Chuck and his wife. Because Chuck was not ready for his home to become a "hippie pad", they bought a house for the hippies to live in called the House of Miracles in May 1968. They eventually started at least 9 similar homes to house hippie converts. They estimate that in one summer 500 people converted to Christianity in Riverside (one of the cities with such a house).

People began to request that Calvary Chapels be started in their own communities, and so Calvary began to grow into a fellowship of churches. They began to start a tape ministry called The Word for Today which would record sermons and send them out as tapes worldwide. By 1981, they estimate 20,000 tapes were sent out per month. As they started to have a surplus of funds, they decided to start a radio ministry which broadcast a program called the Word for Today. It was broadcast on 100 stations by 1981. Maranatha! Music was also created to support new Christian music bands by helping them create albums.

In C. Peter Wagner's book Churchquake, Calvary Chapel is named as the point of origin for the New Apostolic Reformation.

Doctrine

General

Calvary Chapel believes in the fundamental doctrines of orthodox, evangelical Christianity which includes the inerrancy of the Bible and the trinity. Within evangelical Christianity, they say that they stand in the "middle ground between fundamentalism and Pentecostalism in modern Protestant theology." While they applaud fundamentalism's staunch support of the inerrancy of the Bible, they believe Fundamentalists have become "rigid, legalistic, and unaccepting of spiritual gifts." On the other hand, they believe Pentecostals have become "enthusiastic and emotional at the expense of the teaching of God's Word."

Calvinism

John Calvin

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In the much debated topic of salvation, two major perspectives have been created in Protestant christianity: Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvary Chapel likes to think they are "striking a balance between extremes" when it comes to controversial theological issues such as this one. They also "try to avoid conclusions, terminology, and arguments which are not clearly presented in the Bible." On point one of the five points of Calvinism, Calvary Chapel sides with Calvinism's view that all men are sinners and are incapable of becoming righteous again without God. This is in contrast to Arminianism which believes that there is still some good left in man. On point number two, Calvinists believe man's election to salvation is completely the choice of God, and Arminianists believe it is completely the choice of man. Calvary has taken a middle ground approach by saying that scripture supports both and that there is a balance between these two views. On point number three, Calvary strongly sides with Arminianism which contends that Jesus died for the whole world; this contrasts the Calvinist view that Jesus' death was sufficient to cover every sin but was intended and therefore efficient on for those who would believe. Point four has to do with man's ability to resist God. Calvary sides with Arminianism here and believes that man can indeed resist God's desire for them to be saved (Calvinists believe in irresistible grace). On the final point, Calvary Chapel agrees with the Arminian position. The belief of Chuck Smith is that once a person is saved they remain saved as long as they abide in Christ. This position is unavoidable since within the Calvary Chapel scheme of things salvation is the result of my choice and therefor I can un-choose.

Holy Spirit

Although Calvary Chapel believes in the continuing efficacy of the gift of tongues, they do not recognize uninterpreted tongues spoken to the whole congregation to be those inspired (or at least directed) by the Holy Spirit because of their understanding of 1st Corinthians 14. Interpreted tongues and modern prophecy are affirmed doctrinally by Calvary Chapel. Practicing tongues in private is more common.

Baptism and communion

Baptism by immersion is practiced. Calvary Chapel does not believe baptism is necessary for salvation, but instead see it as an outward sign of an inward change. As a result, they do not baptize infants, although they may dedicate them to God. Communion is viewed in a similar way.

Church government

Calvary Chapel considers themselves to have more of an episcopal church government than anything else. They believe that there are three forms of church government found in scripture: congregationalist, Presbyterian, and episcopal. Immediately, congregational rule is discarded because they believe congregations always made poor decisions in the Old Testament. They cite Exodus 16:2 as an example: "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness" (KJV). They believe the second two forms of New Testament church government, Presbyterian and episcopal, are clearly ordained in the New Testament (Acts 14:23 and 1 Timothy 3:1).

To rectify these two forms of government, Calvary Chapel has modeled their system of government after the theocracy that God created in the Old Covenant. In this system, God was the head of the church, and under God was Moses who lead the Israelites as God directed him. Moses also had a priesthood and seventy elders under him for support. Calvary Chapel has adapted this to where their pastor has a role like Moses and their board of elders functions like the priesthood or the seventy elders.

Eschatology

Calvary Chapel is strongly pretribulationist and premillennialist. In their eschatology, which is the study of the end times, they believe that the rapture of the Church will occur first, followed by a literal seven year period of great tribulation, followed by the second coming of Jesus Christ, and then finally a literal thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on earth called the Millennial Kingdom. Calvary Chapel also rejects supersessionism and instead believes that Israel will play an important part in the end times.

Affiliation

The [Calvary Chapel Outreach Fellowship (CCOF)] is responsible for affiliating pastors with Calvary Chapel. A church whose pastor is affiliated with Calvary Chapel is usually referred to as a Calvary Chapel (but not always). There are three requirements for becoming affiliated. The first is that the pastor must "embrace the characteristics of the Calvary Chapel movement as described in [Calvary Chapel Distinctives]." Second, their church must have the characteristics of a church as opposed to a less developed home fellowship. Third, an applicant must be willing to spend the time to fellowship with other Calvary Chapels. A notable omission of these requirements is a seminary degree. Many pastors do go to Bible college or a school of ministry before becoming a pastor, but this is not a requirement.

Every Calvary Chapel pastor is accountable to the pastor who ordained him. The purpose of this accountability is to "avoid becoming an offense to our Lord, our fellowship of clergy, or to other Calvary Chapel fellowships." Regional lead pastors are also used for accountability. Since there is no legal or financial ties between Calvary Chapels, the only disciplinary procedure available is disaffiliation.

In accordance with Calvary's interpretation and understanding of the Bible, Calvary Chapel does not ordain women or homosexuals as pastors.

Practices

Calvary Chapel's overall philosophy of the purpose of the Church is based on Ephesians 4:9-13 which partly reads, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." They believe this to be in contrast to churches that focus only on evangelism. They believe the primary purpose of the Church is to bring glory to God by being God's instrument in ministry, and in a secondary sense, to equip the Church for that ministry.

Calvary Chapel's most defining practice is possibly their emphasis on the Bible. They prefer expositional sermons rather than topical ones, and they will often give their sermons sequentially from the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. One of the reasons for their choice is people's tendency to speak only on topics which they like while leaving out topics that are uninspirational yet still important. They believe that by teaching through the entire Bible, they will be able to say that they have "declared unto you the whole counsel of God" (from Acts: 20:27). Another advantage, they say, is that it makes difficult topics easier to address because members of the congregation won't feel like they are being singled out. That is to say, they won't feel that the pastor chose a particular sermon because of some flaw he saw in the congregation. They also see an advantage in the steady edification of the congregation. Rather than some preachers "who come in with a flash and a fire," they try to have consistent teaching that, over time, brings the "perfecting of the saints" which is part of their general philosophy for the Church.

Calvary believes that most churches have a "dependent, highly organized, [and] structured" environment, but that most people want a "independent and casual way of life." Calvary therefore has decided to have a casual and laid-back atmosphere in their churches. A practical implication of their philosophy is that people may wear street clothes to church.

Praise and worship usually consists of upbeat contemporary Christian music which can be different from the hymns sung at more traditional churches (although many Calvarys also play hymns).

Calvary Chapel does not have a formalized system of church membership. Calling a Calvary Chapel your church usually means regularly attending church services and becoming involved in fellowship with other "members" of the church.

Ministries

Bible college

Technically, Calvary Chapel has only one Bible college, and it is located in Murrieta, California and called Calvary Chapel Bible College. However, this school also has at least 90 extension campuses throughout the world. Founded in 1975, it was originally a "short, intensive study program", but it is now a two year school which awards Certificates of Completion, Associate in Theology degrees, and Bachelor of Biblical Studies degrees depending on a student's educational history. No matter which degree or certificate is earned, the course requirements are the same. The college is unaccredited.

Broadcasting

A number of Calvary Chapel churches operate radio stations that broadcast Bible teaching and Christian music.

• [Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa] operates KWVE in Los Angeles, California. Their programming is mostly Bible teaching, but it also has some Christian music.

• Calvary Chapel Twin Falls (in Idaho) operates KAWZ whose programming is retransmitted by satellite to 43 full-power stations and 344 broadcast translators around the country. This network of radio stations is called the Calvary Satellite Network International (CSN International). Their programing is mostly Bible teaching with some Christian music. The entire radio ministry is in the midst of a number of law suits involving Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and Twin Falls as well as the leaders of both churches. Once Chuck Smith is done with the legal issues the face of these radio stations will be changed. Calvary Chapel Twin Falls also operates KEFX called Effect Radio, which broadcasts Christian rock music. They are a mostly Christian music station with around 50 stations re-transmitting their programming.

• [Calvary Chapel Albuquerque] (in New Mexico) operates KLYT which is called M88 Radio. This station plays Christian music and has 16 broadcast translators around New Mexico.

• [Calvary Chapel Chico] in California operates KQIP-LP 107.1 FM, known as The Calvary Road. This station airs sermons from other Calvary pastors as well as live, weekly broadcasts of Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday Services. Calvary Chapel Chico also operates a webcast that broadcasts live services as well as past archived services.

Harvest Crusades

Harvest Crusades is a ministry of Harvest Christian Fellowship (a Calvary Chapel in Riverside, California). It is an evangelical ministry similar to Billy Graham's. They meet in stadiums and have Christian music bands play followed by an evangelical message normally given by Greg Laurie. They estimate three million people have attended since its inception in 1990.

Criticisms

• Calvary Chapel has been criticized because they themselves criticize others. They say Calvary Chapel has attacked denominations, Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, Catholics, Lutherans, and word of faith teachers.

• A number of people have criticized Calvary Chapel's stance on Calvinism and Arminianism. These critics contend that the doctrine of free will is unbiblical and that God alone chooses those who will be saved. - the subject of the above open letter

• [Christianity Today article critical of Calvary of Albuquerque] (Dated 8 May 2006)

• [Phoenix Preacher BLOG] - Has the accounts of many people who were allegedly abused at Calvary Chapel.

• [Wiki dedicated to Calvary Chapel Criticisms]

See also

Related groups or movements

• International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. Chuck Smith originated from this denomination.
• Jesus Movement. Calvary was a part of this movement in the late 60s and early 70s.
• Association of Vineyard Churches split from Calvary Chapel in 1982 over ideological differences about the Holy Spirit.

• Chuck Smith, founder.
• Lonnie Frisbee, hippie evangelist, the key figure of the Jesus Movement.
• Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship.
• Jon Courson, pastor.
• Mike MacIntosh, pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship.
• Chuck Missler, author and teacher.

• Protestantism. The main branch of Christianity Calvary is a part of.
• Calvinism
• Evangelicalism. The part of Protestantism they are a part of.
• Fundamentalism. Calvary considers themselves to be between this and Pentecostalism within Evangelical Protestantism.

References