My view of Calvary Chapel. Your thoughts.

[Points To Ponder]

I've really been drawn to things I've learned about Calvary Chapel. I grew up in an Assembly of God church and have no issues with most of the doctrine. Calvary Chapel seems to be a Church that falls in the middle between Southern Baptist and the Assembly of God teachings and theology. Calvary Chapel seems to have a strict adherence to the scripture. Curious if any Calvary Chapel members were ever AOG?

 

[Hope3]

I did go to Assembly of God when I was younger. Then I found Calvary Chapel. I love the teaching. However, I do not go there at this time because I moved, and we don’t have one close by.

 

[TheGoodLight]

I haven't been to a CC yet, but I feel like the theological points I agree on or otherwise can support far outweigh differences I may have. Hoping to visit one soon.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

I went from Baptist, to Assemblies of God, to Calvary Chapel, To Eastern Orthodox ......

And now I'm back at Calvary Chapel for various reasons. LOL

.

 

[The Liturgist]

I went from Baptist, to Assemblies of God, to Calvary Chapel, To Eastern Orthodox ......

And now I'm back at Calvary Chapel for various reasons. LOL

.

I would be interested to hear about your journey.

 

[LizaMarie]

I attended Calvary Chapel for awhile when I lived out on the West Coast. I am now confessional Lutheran inquiring into Orthodoxy, etc. I think for an evangelical church Calvary Chapel is one of the better ones.
It does seem very similar to Southern Baptist. I did like their strict adherence to the Bible.

 

[LizaMarie]

I would be interested to hear about your journey.

I would, too.

(double post)

 

[LizaMarie]

I went from Baptist, to Assemblies of God, to Calvary Chapel, To Eastern Orthodox ......

And now I'm back at Calvary Chapel for various reasons. LOL

.

I would be interested to hear about your journey, too.

 

[The Liturgist]

I attended Calvary Chapel for awhile when I lived out on the West Coast. I am now confessional Lutheran inquiring into Orthodoxy, etc. I think for an evangelical church Calvary Chapel is one of the better ones.
It does seem very similar to Southern Baptist. I did like their strict adherence to the Bible.

Indeed; I mainly focus on liturgical Christianity so I don’t know a lot about Calvary Chapel; I have a friend who was a huge fan of Chuck Smith (memory eternal). I would like to learn a bit more about them. Along with @Paidiske I am a fan of church management structures that provide accountability if the pastor engages in misconduct , but I have never heard of any allegations of misconduct on the part of Chuck Smith or any CC pastors, and I am curious how his Moses Model addresses this issue. Also I recently read on the website of a Calvary Chapel parish that many of their services are formal, with organ music, traditional hymns and so on - I would be very interested to know how the CC feels about liturgical worship if a pastor feels inclined to move in that direction. Also, if I recall, Chuck Smith preached the Bible using lectio continua, and I would be interested to know if any Calvary Chapel churches use lectionaries or if they depart from lectio continua for important feasts like Christmas and Easter.

 

[LizaMarie]

Well, Most Calvary Chapel pastors that I knew about in the '80's there was no misconduct among pastors. What I saw of Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie and the guest pastors and Chuck Missler(I attended a Bible study in Costa Mesa where he dropped in and taught) was they were very Godly men and were held accountable by a board of church elders. They are very Bible-based, and although they are open to being charismatic, it is not a main point of their services. The services when I attended were very Bible based and evangelistic, i.e. sharing the gospel and getting people saved. They claim to be non-denominational but I consider them to be a denomination as all the Calvary Chapels seem to have the same statement of faith, same order of service, rules and expectations for pastors,etc.
On the negative side I disagreed with their pre-tribulational dispensational stance on the End Times and
the memorial view of the Eucharist. Like most evangelical churches they do not have sacraments at all. ( this among other reasons is why I returned to the confessional Lutheranism I was raised and confirmed in.)
There is no structured liturgy at all in the Calvary Chapel services when I attended. Just singing hymns and the sermon with no outline. I believe Chuck Smith disliked denominationalism. They have a strict adherence to scripture which the OP pointed out which is a big plus.
Greg Laurie who was big in the Calvary chapel scene when I was out there in the '80's has recently become Southern Baptist.

 

[LizaMarie]

Indeed; I mainly focus on liturgical Christianity so I don’t know a lot about Calvary Chapel; I have a friend who was a huge fan of Chuck Smith (memory eternal). I would like to learn a bit more about them. Along with @Paidiske I am a fan of church management structures that provide accountability if the pastor engages in misconduct , but I have never heard of any allegations of misconduct on the part of Chuck Smith or any CC pastors, and I am curious how his Moses Model addresses this issue. Also I recently read on the website of a Calvary Chapel parish that many of their services are formal, with organ music, traditional hymns and so on - I would be very interested to know how the CC feels about liturgical worship if a pastor feels inclined to move in that direction. Also, if I recall, Chuck Smith preached the Bible using lectio continua, and I would be interested to know if any Calvary Chapel churches use lectionaries or if they depart from lectio continua for important feasts like Christmas and Easter.

I have read that things have changed since Chuck Smith passed.

 

[Points To Ponder]

Well, Most Calvary Chapel pastors that I knew about in the '80's there was no misconduct among pastors. What I saw of Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie and the guest pastors and Chuck Missler(I attended a Bible study in Costa Mesa where he dropped in and taught) was they were very Godly men and were held accountable by a board of church elders. They are very Bible-based, and although they are open to being charismatic, it is not a main point of their services. The services when I attended were very Bible based and evangelistic, i.e. sharing the gospel and getting people saved. They claim to be non-denominational but I consider them to be a denomination as all the Calvary Chapels seem to have the same statement of faith, same order of service, rules and expectations for pastors,etc.
On the negative side I disagreed with their pre-tribulational dispensational stance on the End Times and
the memorial view of the Eucharist. Like most evangelical churches they do not have sacraments at all. ( this among other reasons is why I returned to the confessional Lutheranism I was raised and confirmed in.)
There is no structured liturgy at all in the Calvary Chapel services when I attended. Just singing hymns and the sermon with no outline. I believe Chuck Smith disliked denominationalism.
Greg Laurie who was big in the Calvary chapel scene when I was out there in the '80's has recently become Southern Baptist.

I thought that Greg joined the SBC but didn't become Southern Baptist. I think he characterized it
as a partnership or something like that.

 

[LizaMarie]

I thought that Greg joined the SBC but didn't become Southern Baptist. I think he characterized it
as a partnership or something like that.

Oh OK you may be right. I'll have to check into that. Yes, I believe the congregation or church itself may not be SBC(Harvest fellowship in Riverside.)That he pastors.

 

[Points To Ponder]

Oh OK you may be right. I'll have to check into that. Yes, I believe the congregation or church itself may not be SBC(Harvest fellowship in Riverside.)That he pastors.

That is how I understood it but things could have changed. My guess is He and Harvest might not embrace that relationship too much these days given all the negative issues in the SBC lately.

 

[The Liturgist]

I have read that things have changed since Chuck Smith passed.

How so?

 

[LizaMarie]

A Tale of Two Calvary Chapels: Behind the Movement’s Split
This is behind a paywall so it may be hard to read.
May not be such a big deal I don't know.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Splits From Association, Citing Old Testament Prophet - The Aquila Report

 

[Points To Ponder]

How so?

There are Youtube videos posted by Chuck's brother who was with Chuck in his last days before his death. He paints a picture that Chuck didn't want his daughter and son-in-law to take over the ministry.

 

[RDKirk]

My family attended Calvary Chapel of Honolulu pastored by Bill Stonebraker in the early 90s. We attended a good number of different congregations over many movements during my military career, but we rank that one still as the very best and most "1st century-like" congregations we ever knew. My daughter still brags about the hard-core scriptural education she got there as an elementary-aged child. We still brag about how that church cared for its members in relevant and real ways, not just tongue-service.

Acts 2 and Acts 4? That congregation was there for it.

Edit: The pastor made a couple of statements that spelled out the heart of the congregation: "No member of this congregation need worry about ever being hungry, homeless, or naked." And also, "Every member has a resource, every member has a need."

He encouraged every member to let the Holy Spirit tell them what their resources were and what they should provide to the congregation. It might not be money, it might be a skill, or even just extra time. And he encouraged us to present our needs as well as the resources we were willing to share...and then his staff matched needs with resources.

For instance, one member owned a Chevron service station with three service bays. He volunteered two of his service bays one Saturday a month to do auto maintenance and repairs at his expense. His chief mechanic volunteered his services for that day. There was a Chevrolet dealer mechanic and a Toyota dealer mechanic who also volunteered their services. I was a pretty good Chrysler and Ford shadetree mechanic, so I joined in.

Pastor Stonebraker had already done something I've never seen another pastor do: He kept a congregation widow's and single mother's list...because God is hard-core about caring for widows and fatherless children. Realizing that auto breakdowns are a serious problem for widows and single mothers, he applied that list to the offer of automobile service. So the women on that list were scheduled to bring in their automobiles every three months for service. It was extremely rewarding service to those ladies.

Also, a number of older members were empty-nesters. They made their extra bedrooms available to the pastor for any need to put someone up for a time. The pastor--actually his wife--created the "House of Ruth" which used the offer of those rooms as confidential safe houses for abused wives in the congregation. They were pretty aggressive about sniffing out abuse, too.

If they discovered a situation and a wife needed to escape, a team from the Security Ministry (congregation soldiers, nightclub bouncers, athletes--men whose resource was "I'm big") would go in while the husband was away and move the wife and children out to one of the safehouses.

Then another team of men--police officers, professional counselors, and more Security Ministry guys--would remain in the house and wait for the husband to return. "Where is my wife?" "Our dear sister is safe..and she will remain safe. But we're going to have a serious conversation."

 

[Unqualified]

I went to the assemblies for a while before CC and I watched TBN and channel 42 in the east Bay Area. But somehow I heard teaching of CC on radio or something and am still there.

The Bible is awesome and I don’t use that word lightly. Only God is awesome. But it in the hands of somebody rightly dividing it has everything we need for life and growth. Positive teaching, it is what we have of God. All of it is important.

It is life, it is love, it is meat, it is milk and honey.

 

[crixus]

I've been attending Calvary Chapel churches since I went up for an altar call led by Pastor Chuck Smith in 1977. Fortunately the Calvary Chapel church I attend now does NOT go along with Broderson's split.