Why I Left Calvary Chapel: a non-denominational denomination
If there is anything that Calvary Chapel prides itself in it’s in the fact that it is non-denominational. An excerpt from a popular Calvary Chapel website states, “Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational church movement focused on the inerrancy of the Bible and the expository teaching from Genesis to Revelation.” From a statement of faith found on many of their sites, “nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their over emphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the Body of Christ.”
If there is a distinctive of modernism that is chief of all it is a disdain for truth and doctrine, if I were to put it bluntly I would call it liberalism. The idea that we can not know truth, that it is not important or that it divides rather than unites is paramount to modern evangelicalism. It is a running joke that some churches can get along with a statement of faith that fits on the back of a bulletin. While it’s nice to have a condensed version, it is never acceptable to stop at saying, “we believe in the trinity, the holy spirit, Jesus and spiritual worship…”. What does that mean?! I have found that this is not limited to the non-reformed. This lack of confession is also carried about by churches that boast of “reformation.”
In a consumer driven world it is sad that churches expect and encourage men to make a choice for a church based on externals (music, pep, relevance, simplicity, comedy, lax dresscode, youth, etc…) There is an acceptable degree of consumerism by which I must find a church in this fallen world and it is only in confessional churches where I have been handed material upon material to read concerning the one thing that counts… DOCTRINE.
Too many churches are aiming at doctrinal ambiguity and hoping to attract people by their atmosphere, cool worship, funny pastor, amneties, young crowd, etc…
I like the fact that OPC is confessional and historical. If I want to know what they believe I can read the westminister confession. It is quite a work! In fact it is a direct product of the reformation and full of scripture verses for backup. They also have a manual on church discipline, a manual on the deaconate, eldership, etc… Nothing is a surprise. They have been standing on the shoulders of giants since the reformation and have 500 years of experience and mistakes to draw from.
As far as Calvary Chapel is concerned: It is hypocritical for a church that totes unity through anti-doctrinal means to have been formed by a man who found a subjective distaste for his original form of church (doctrine in the so-called ‘non-essentials’) and decided now, with his finite experience, that he will create his own sect that meets these new needs. It is this individualistic, non-submissive, consumer mentality that has permeated the “laymen” and it is precisely for the sake of unity that all men should abandon their modernistic churches and return to historic Christianity.
But the gospel is simple, right? Anyone can pastor a church…
If you have sat under Calvary Chapel teaching long enough you have heard the joke, “you don’t need to go to cemetery, I mean seminary, to become a Pastor.” Studious, intellectual study of the scriptures, theology or anything is not only frowned upon, it’s laughed at…
Donald Van Dyken in “Rediscovering Catechism” writes, ‘Perhaps we can understand how an anti-intellectual, anti doctrinal atmosphere has found acceptance. Christians have watched brilliant theologians mutilate, twist, and pervert the Word of God. Disgusted with these ways of turning the truth of God into a lie, some Christians have eschewed learning itself, whether past and present. “away with theology!” they cry. “Give me the simple gospel!” But is ignorance better than falsehood? Can the great God and Creator whose mighty acts and wondrous character confront us on every page of Scripture be reduced to a scant few beliefs? The simplicity of the gospel is precious, but its simplicity never robs it of its profundity. Place a rose in the hand of a child, and that child can see that it is a beautiful, fragrant flower, a gift of God. But place a rose in the hand of Luther Burbank, and without losing any of his simple, child-like wonder and appreciation for its beauty, he could devote a lifetime exploring its profound complexity… Some Christians harbor the notion that doctrine divides people. But true doctrine unites rather than divides. True doctrine teaches us about Christ, who is the Truth, the Word from above. When we teach and keep the truth about him, we are bound together in an eternal bond. The truth unites us to God and to each other.’
Quoted by Michael Horton, Hofstadter in “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life” says, ‘The Puritan ideal of the minister as an intellectual and educational leader was steadily weakened in the face of the evangelical ideal of the minister as a popular … exhorter. Theological education itself became more instrumental. Simple dogmatic formulations were considered sufficient. The churches withdrew from intellectual encounters with the secular world, gave up the idea that religion is a part of the whole life of intellectual experience, and often abandoned the field of rational studies on the assumption that they were the natural province of science alone. By 1853 an outstanding clergyman complained that there was “an impression, somewhat general, that an intellectual clergyman is deficient in piety, and that an eminently pious minister is deficient in intellect.”‘ Horton comments, “By the time of the Second Awakening (beginning in the last quarter of the eighteenth century through first quarter of the nineteenth), the existential act of faith replaced the objective content of faith in popular revivals. People wanted to decide for themselves which church came closest to their views. Sects proliferated. ‘The idea of a historical continuity in the life of the Church,’ says Hofstadter, ‘ carries no weight whatever for the sect consciousness.’ In fact, ’since there need be only a shadow of confessional unity in the denominations, the rational discussion of theological issues- in the past a great source of intellectual discipline in the churches- came to be regarded as a distraction, as a divisive force.’”
I will always champion of unity. Paul commanded, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” While this has been taken by modernists to mean that doctrinal discussions or debates are dangerous- we should never give in to such liberal folly. This is how, as I will write in the future, a church such as Calvary Chapel can pride itself in “teaching through the bible” yet miss the serious implications of the gospel. This is why you find such inconsistency in a preachers understanding of the gospel from Calvary Chapel to Calvary Chapel. Some teach a false man-centered gospel and others, closer to the truth, teach a /near/ accurate God-centered gospel (yes there are some faithful men in Calvary Chapel).
Larry Young said:
I respectfully disagree with most of your commentary railing against Calvary Chapel. Having attended CC in Costa Mesa for over a year before moving to North Idaho seven years ago, I found consistency. During these years, I have attended Calvary Chapels in at least six other states and have seen nothing of which you speak in any of the church bodies or the pastoral leadership. Your last paragraph could not be further from the truth when you suggest how CC “miss the serious implications of the gospel.” Not only have we NOT found the inconsistency in a preachers understanding of the Gospel, we have not found any whatsoever that teach the “false man-centered gospel” that you allude to. You sir need to be more specific than the vast generalities that do anything but create the Christian unity that you so aptly quote as Paul’s key concern. Eiither confirm and validate or apologize for the harmful slander and dissension that you are generating.
Larry Young
Hope, Idaho
randy said:
Larry,
Calvary Chapel is semi-pelagian. Pelagius was a heretic of the first century who denied original sin. Calvary Chapel does not deny original sin, but they do deny its extent (hence the SEMI in semi-pelagian). The comment section won’t provide enough space for me to go into the details but do some research and you’ll find that Calvary Chapel denies the doctrines of the reformers which are commonly called the Doctrines of Grace today. They explicitly give God all the glory and honor for our salvation and strip it from man. The doctrine of Calvary Chapel, amongst other modernistic & liberal churches denies the biblical doctrine of “being born-again” and replaces it with decisional regeneration thus shifting God’s work to men and adhering to the anti-lordship heresy which says, “Jesus can be your Savior but his Lordship is completely optional.”
Again, not all Calvary’s are blatant about this. But many are, and this is the consistent outworking of the doctrine held.
Mike Petersen said:
I have to agree with Larry Young. My wife and I have been attending Calvary Chapel’s for 16 plus years now. Even 7 years under Pastor Chuck.
It is obvious you dont agree with the entire Bible because that is what is taught. I am sorry for your hyper critical assessment of Calvary, but you are not going to find a more Christ centered, Spirit led church than that.
Mike Petersen
randy said:
Mike… I don’t agree with the entire bible because what? Can you name some specific biblical doctrines I don’t believe? I can name a few you don’t, and Calvary doesn’t with clear verses as proof.
I would have agreed with you concerning Calvary’s spirit led, Christ centricness two years ago… Until I found out that even though these teachers were so-called “teaching the full counsel of God” there were MANY MANY MANY things left out. Particularly the doctrines of grace established in the reformation, covenant theology and any sort of systematic theology.
My wife and I heard more taught in the visitors classes at our new church than we have in all our years sitting under Calvary pastors. The Calvary pastors who read the commentaries of the reformers, but deny the foundational doctrines and fail to recognizes why spurgeon, pink, macarthur, sproul was/are such a great expositors.
mike said:
I think you need to be specific and state which Calvary Chapels you are referring to. It is not fair to lump them in one category. I would be wrong to make a negative comment about Southern Baptists churches as a whole based on a visit to a few (in which I have attended several). I have attended several CCs as well and have never experienced the things you mentioned. Just a few months ago, the sermon was about Jesus being our Savior AND our Lord. I have always heard the Gospel taught accurately and on the premise of the grace of God and not the works of man. Maybe the CC you went to was messed up, but each one is different. The main common factor is that they teach the Bible verse by verse. That is what separates them from other churches and why I go to a CC.
Topical teaching will only train you up as the pastor sees fit. You are limited to the verses that pertain to the topic he wants to teach on. By teaching verse by verse you get all God’s Word and can’t skip over the hard parts.
If you are so willing to criticize, then I implore you to be a man and name the Calvary Chapel(s) you are referring to.
John said:
Hello Randy,
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is a really nice step in the right direction. Now take the leap across the Reformation divide and come home to the Catholic Church. If you truly want to be involved in the true fullness of faith you and your wife must divorce yourself from the 500 year imbedded prejudices and seriously investigate the Church Christ founded.
All other factions and denominations broke off from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. If you’re interested send me an email and I’ll recommend some great resources.
John
randy said:
John,
I am assuming you are referring to the Roman Catholic church. My family is Roman Catholic and I really am sympathetic towards it. I long for the day the visible church would be Catholic in the true sense of the word. It is sad to see the divide we do, but I do not blame the reformers for it. It was necessary given the corruption and improper interpretation of the historic doctrines present in the Roman church during the days of the reformers and present.
Even the “First Pope” was accountable to the council of Jerusalem when he was mistaken in his doctrine. Truly an example of Presbyterian church government!
–randy
randy said:
Mike,
Calvary Chapel is modern evangelical. Considering that to be modern evangelical you must reject the historic doctrines of the Christian faith: specifically the doctrines of grace, covenant theology and the stance that doctrine truly is important and necessary; I am free to lump Calvary Chapel into that category as they openly deny these things.
Calvary Chapel claims to teach through the bible. But in all the years I have been in a Calvary Chapel I have not once been told that the dispensational method of dividing scripture and viewing God was an invention of the 19th century, nor that it can not be defended biblically.
Ask your Pastor about the history of dispensationalism. If he even knows what it is he’ll tell you that yes, “Calvary Chapel is dispensational.” and yes, “Dispensationalism was invented in the 19th century…” and yes again, “19th century dispensationalism teaches that God’s plan of salvation changes over time…”
Today’s dispensationalism isn’t what it use to be. But it is still quite sad and unbiblical. A great film on it can be found here: http://www.puritanpicks.com/browse/view.php?cat=0&item=174
I agree, the best way to teach the bible is expositionally. Sadly Calvary thinks reading whole chapters at a time and then making funny jokes, and telling stories is expository teaching. Oops.
Jason Stevens said:
Some of the pro-Calvary Chapel have asked you for specific Calvary Chapels that you have problems with in terms of their teaching.
Still waiting as all you do is give us another spiritual nugget…
You’ve thrown the gauntlet, but now you’re chicken to name names.
Name specific Calvary Chapels that you have problems with, otherwise, you are a spiritual coward.
randy said:
I seem to have struck a chord with the Calvary Chapel folks. If you are so confident that your church is scriptural than what are you doing here calling me names?
Read my posts and refute what I have said.
I said it more than once. It is Calvary Chapel as a system and their core fundamental beliefs that are lacking. There have also been specific ones I have been to that don’t get the gospel and that is a symptom of the larger picture.
Dave said:
Excellent post. Its clear from the beginning Calvary was a marketing strategy towards the hippies who refused to go to be accountable to the scripture. Anytime you trade truth and doctrine for a “middle ground” that won’t offend anyone your going against scripture.
Don’t get me wrong, they do teach many books verse by verse carefully avoiding chapters in Luke, John, Romans and Ephesians, basically anything that takes away from the harvest crusade mentality. Thats what builds Calvary’s, not repentance and belief, but walking forward and saying a special prayer without knowing what your getting into. Sadly many will only know John 3:16 in the wrong context and will never know the deeper and true love of John 3:8
God does use them, in SPITE of the glaring doctrinal issues. Just because I didn’t spin out and die doesn’t mean it was a good thing that my tire had a nail in it.
This is why 90% of Americans say they are christian, but don’t believe in 90% of the bible. Salvation is of the Lord, AMEN
James lynn said:
In a way all of the people who disagreed with the author of this article have actually proved him correct thus far. None of you have bothered to use a valid biblical reference concerning church doctrine or challenge the authors anti-dispensationalist view. All you can do is say that you disagree, but it seems that you are basing this on nothing more then hearsay, then get farther of track by ask for specific cc locations (which is beside the point anyways) and call names. Not one of you have yet to present a halfway decent counter argument. If this debate was to ever turn into a court room trial, i think the author should print out the comments that you all have left and title it “exhibit A.”
Scott F. said:
Couple ‘o things:
First, all you CC’ers, just chilax. Randy aint’ sayin’ you ain’t Christian. And you shouldn’t be hatin’ on other churches either. OPC, CC, ABC (whatever your church tag) doesn’t have it all locked up for The Kingdom. I’m not OPC or CC but I know & love a bunch of brothers & sisters under each umbrella. As long as we all rely on Christ alone and his redemptive work on our behalf, we can all be friends.
Second, for those of you (Larry & Mike) lookin’ for some specific examples, I’ll give you 3:
1. Since Mike mentioned the verse-by-verse teaching of CC’s (he’s lumping, so I guess I can too), anyone ever heard a CC pastor or any of the KWVE affiliate stations mention their “line upon line” teaching of the bible? Anyone ever bother to look up that idea in that same bible? (Hint: Is. 28:10, 13). Now that you have (hopefully), anyone care to explain what that passage means? (hint: it ain’t necessarily a good thing). This *is* the sort of thing Randy is getting at. This is one of the shortcomings of the CC approach to bible study/teaching/preaching in the CC churches that I am aware of (and I listen to CC radio just about every day, so I’ve got a pretty good sampling); most of the time it lacks context. This is why contextual exegetical expository preaching is so important.
2. Just this month on the radio I heard Pastor Chuck, while reading some OT scripture, just completely ignore a list of names and follow it up with something like “…and a whole bunch of names we don’t need to bother with…” Are you kidding me?! *Any* pastor who says something that flip about the Word of God ought to be embarrassed. (see 2 Tim. 3:16)
3. I also heard Pastor Chuck live on “Pastor’s Perspective” this month refer to someone winning at gambling as “pure luck.” His words. Which verse did he get that from? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Now, all you CC’ers, go ahead and turn on your flame throwers. I’m ready…I’m wearing my asbestos undies.
Jeremiah Nelson said:
I have to agree with the author of this article. Having grown up in Calvary Chapel (literally from the womb) and attending for over 30 years (not just Church, but CCBC) I have seen the Biblical inaccuracy and sloppiness he speaks of. I have not only seen it from the pulpit, but from Calvary Chapel’s Bible College. The unfortunate thing is, not only is the teaching a non-exegetical picking of verses out of context, but anyone who disagrees is shunned and made to look like an apostate. I know people this has happened to. I will not list their names, as they have been humiliated enough. I have to add that I was not only an avid attender of church and bible studies, but worked at Calvary Christian Camp, where pastors from around the globe would come and teach. Not only that, but I served in youth ministry and taught Calvary doctrine. One guy advocated going to your pastor and asking for a history of dispensationalism. DON’T. You might find yourself on their bad list, or be made to look like a fool for questioning the teaching. guys like David Hocking, Steve Mays, Jack Hibbs, Raul Ries, Mike MacIntosh, and Chuck himself pay a lot of lip service to the Word, but do it a great disservice in how it is taught, denying church history, being completely apposed to any outside opinions, and packaging it as superior to “other churches”. I am grateful for the foundation in the Word I was given by Calvary Chapel, so forgive me for being so negative to this point. Unfortunately I am no longer willing to take what is told from the pulpit at face value. Not in regard to essentials of faith, but Calvary’s interpretation.
By the way, if one is so inclined to really get back to the Apostolic Faith, go pass the Reformation, wave to the Roman Catholics and say hello to Eastern Orthdox. THIS is the original tradition begun by the Apostles. No disrespect to Roman Catholic, but they broke away from the east. I say than tongue-in-cheek, of course.
Debbie said:
Randy,
I agree with you. Everybody who is disagreeing is not paying attention to what he said. There is a tremendouse variance between one to another. The one I attended here in Washington state was focused on the Holy Spirit and “sin light.” When I asked about doctrine, I was told that it was man-made and therefore, not necessary. I didn’t say dogma, mind you. The great doctrines of salvation were never discussed. Half the church believed one could lose their salvation, the other half not. (Not very promotive of unity) So many churches fail to teach even basic theology. When I asked the pastor if we might have a NT Greek class, his reply, “we don’t even know if the NT was written in Greek.” That was the final straw for me. Calvary Chapel allows any Tom, Dick or Harry to call himself a pastor-teacher and use their name. It is a cult. No Calvary pastor may publish without Chuck Smith’s approval, the pope of Costa Mesa. It was a horrible experience for me, people being excommunicated, gossip, etc. and I almost turned my back on Christianity once again after a 20 year hiatus. Thank God He has planted me in a home church where doctrine is discussed, debated and shared; where Greek and Hebrew are learned and prayer and care for the group is foremost.
MARANATHA
Chris said:
Puritans,
Taught a return to Rome. Puritans were not Reformers like Calvin and Luther! Puritan teaching was renounced by Walter Marshall(Reformer) as heretical and called the New Divinity. Why? Because New Divinity, Lordship Salvation, and Federal Vision taught you must work to be saved. True Reformers taught salvation through Faith by Grace in our Lord and Saviour Jesus. Faith moves to repentance and surrender not before conversion. Even a born again beliver must rely upon the power of the Holy Ghost to live a Godly life or failure will ensew. Puritans and modern Lordship is Catholic and will have you always doubting the finished work of Christ because it is man centered, inward, and fleshly. Never relying on Christ!
randy said:
Chris.. You are a little confused about who or what the Puritans are or said. Walter Marshall was a Presbyterian Puritan. Additionally the Puritans held firmly that a Christian must rely upon the power of the Holy Ghost to live a Godly life.
Lordship salvation doesn’t put works at the root of salvation, it puts it as the fruit. If you are saved, it will be worked out in your life through sanctification. Salvation is not merely a post-mortem fire insurance. The gospel reconciles us to God that we might turn from our rebellious way and have fellowship with Him, glorifying Him and living for Him. It makes the same assertions 1 John does concerning the man who claims to know Christ but lives in consistent unrepentant sin.
The opposite, which is Calvary Chapel’s stance, is that Jesus can be ones savior and not be his Lord. The scriptural command to all men was to repent and believe the gospel. It wasn’t, “you need fire insurance, repeat this prayer and continue as you were.”
Your comment is so chock full of errors, false presuppositions, and lies that I remember being told growing up in Calvary Chapel that I don’t know where to begin except to perhaps recommend doing some research and reading your bible
I am constantly amazed at how quick people are to throw around terms like “lordship salvation”, “puritan”, “reformer” and not know what any of them are.
andrew said:
greetings Christians, this is an interesting discussion i find Romans 16:17 fitting for this blog and if you put it in context with the chapter it fits even better so forgive me for not including the whole chapter. the point is unity and love which i will expand on later.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
i find it interesting that you talk about calvarys lack of doctrine, just to get you perspective what do you concider doctrine? doctrine is simply teaching in the original greek so calvary does teach you may not agree with their beliefs but they do teach specific “doctrines”. i would like you to expand on your idea of the doctrine of grace please. i don’t understand how calvarys views are wrong biblically. i wouldn’t want to missinterpret what you where trying to say. but please expand so i may have an opportunity to understand your side. listen Christians i spoke of love earlier this is a doctrine we hold dear at least at my calvary chapel i don’t like to see Christians argue over differances in our understanding of what someone else believes about God and how they chose to worship. you say we have no docrine other say you are blinded by the world and we go back and forth throwing mud, who gets the glory Christians?? is it God or satan?? we are instructed to loving correct see 1 Cr 4:21
“What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and [in] the spirit of meekness?”
i don’t here alot of loving corrections sadly. coming from both sides there is alot of negitivity twards eachother, this greaves me friends because while we are agruing over our doctrine there are still many out there who have never heard the Gospel there are many who will never hear this good news or will hear it but it will be drown out by the arguments within the body of Christ and they will turn away. sadly this is everyones fault we all do it, because we all are guilty of thinking that we as finite creations can explain our infinite Creator. i think we would all agree that God is far beyond our comprehention and his Holy Word with the guidance of the Holy Spirit is his way of educating us about Himself so the responibility is not with our church leaders as it was with the old covenant but it is with us. Jesus died so we can have unlimited acess to God so seek him Christians and know that the beauty of God is that he is perfect so we don’t have to be. we all fall short my friends. i will leave you with 2 Cr 11:3
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
God bless all of you weather you think i’m a heritic or a brother we are the body of Christ we all represent our Lord to the world. God could of chose the angels to do his work on earth but insted he chose us….what a blessing.. chose how you use it wisly firends.
Joshua said:
I attend CC and have for 8 yrs now. I have to say I agree with Randy. I cannot comprehend how not only CC pastors but many Pastors today quote the likes of Spurgeon but totally disagree with 90% of this beliefs. Calvary does go verse by verse but just like this past Sunday we did more talking about politics and today than elaborate on the Scriptures context. For a few years now I a have been studying the Doctrines of Grace and was able to overcome my CC views that had me rejecting these wonderful Doctrines that cement ones faith and leave a person falling into the hands of the Holy, merciful God!
What I am reading here is what I have battling for several years not and am finally at the point of seeking a new fellowship. Not because I believe CC to be non believers just not biblically sound and not the safest place to be spiritually. I believe God is using these churches to bring people to Him but do believe that as Christians mature in there faith and pursuit of Truth they will come to the same conclusion I have. This article may seem an attack on CC but rather it is a call for TRUTH. The devotion i read from Spurgeon the other day deals with all this banter
quite nicely.
2 John 2
For the truths sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
Once let the truth of God obtain an entrance into the human heart and subdue the whole man unto itself, no power human or infernal can dislodge it. We entertain it not as a guest but as the master of the house-this is a Christian necessity, he is no Christian who doth not thus believe. Those who feel the vital power of the gospel, and know the might of the Holy Ghost as He opens, applies, and seals the Lord’s Word, would sooner be torn to pieces than be rent away from the gospel of their salvation. What a thousand mercies are wrapt up in the assurance that the truth will be with us for ever; will be our living support, our dying comfort, our rising song, our eternal glory; this is Christian privilege, without it our faith were little worth. Some truths we outgrow and leave behind, for they are but rudiments and lessons for beginners, but we cannot thus deal with Divine truth, for though it is sweet food for babes, it is in the highest sense strong meat for men. The truth that we are sinners is painfully with us to humble and make us watchful; the more blessed truth that whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus shall be saved, abides with us as our hope and joy. Experience, so far from loosening our hold of the doctrines of grace, has knit us to them more and more firmly; our grounds and motives for believing are now more strong, more numerous than ever, and we have reason to expect that it will be so till in death we clasp the Saviour in our arms. Wherever this abiding love of truth can be discovered, we are bound to exercise our love. No narrow circle can contain our gracious sympathies, wide as the election of grace must be our communion of heart. Much of error may be mingled with truth received, let us war with the error but still love the brother for the measure of truth which we see in Him; above all let us love and spread the truth ourselves.
Tommy said:
I lefy a calvary, after 12 years, and the reason I left was because of the liberal attitudes of the leaders and the head pastor. The church was allowing worldly pratices into to church, and also allowing a minister to practice in a profession that the Bible clearly forbids, I know not all CC are like this, and it was hard for me to leave.
I feel they are lukewarm, and serving a designer Jesus, and not the jesus of the Bible.
Quentin said:
I can mention at least one Calvary Chapel that has a profound problem. Calvary Chapel Silver City NM.
Besides the usual problem with todays protestant churches as being simply a modification of the Roman system with their elite “pastor” read priest, or as I refer to them as protestantized catholicism, this particular “church” has a single pastor, his wife as the school director, his father-in-law holding the purse strings, his daughter-in-law as a teacher…and all on the “church” payroll. Avoid any appearance of evil? Or does nepotism override scripture? This is one of the classic problems with the one man pastorship. Will they change? No! They will continue to reinterpret scripture to stay in their comfort zone.
Besides who is Chuck Smith to start a new denomination? What is wrong with the scriptural pattern for church leadership? Simple! There is no place for ego and profit in it. And these men love to be “known”.
Marie said:
Leaving Calvary Chapel:
After attending a liberal United Methodist Church for many years, I happened onto the bible teaching of several CC pastors on a CSN radio station broadcasting out of Indiana in SW Michigan. It was wonderfully refreshing! My quest for a local home bible study ended up at my own home, where a CC pastor from another area drove weekly to lead a group that several months later, grew into a church plant and became an official Calvary Chapel. He moved to our town to pastor it.
Saying all that to say this, I was in it from the ground up. My husband helped organize the church from the legalities of establishing a non-profit to handling the acquisition of the real estate for the church’s location. We met and had contact with many CC pastors from other areas. He attended leadership meetings and church administration seminars. He and I attended many conferences a year (pastor’s conferences, prophecy conferences, men’s retreats and women’s retreats). I was prompted by the pastor to check out establishing a church bookstore (Calvary Chapel had their own distribution warehouse in California). I flew from Michigan to California and attended the beginning years of the bookstore conferences at Calvary Bible College in Murietta (at my own expense). I did establish the local bookstore and managed it for about 4 years. It grew and expanded and was for me, a good experience in personal growth, understanding what was available in commentaries, bible translations, etc.
I now have many areas of disagreement with Calvary Chapel doctrinally and organizationally. Many of the things stated in other’s comments are true in my experience as well, the worldliness in church leadership, the bias against education, several members of the pastor’s family being on the payroll with the pastor’s wife keeping the books, a pastor who demanded submission to himself from the congregation, the directed shunning of those who decided to leave our Calvary, and very shallow teaching of the Word. Anyone who dared challenge the pastor wasn’t there long. We were strongly encouraged to quit taking prescribed medications and our faith was called into question if we disagreed. Even after a young woman in our congregation attempted suicide twice and was nearly successful, the pastor still would not reconsider his anti-medication stance. While I was struggling over that issue of a church dictating medication, I saw a CC conference (out of CA) on the internet and a CC pastor from Maine was teaching. I heard the same anti-medication message to thousands who were listening, sanctioned by the top CC leadership. At that point, I was preparing to leave.
My pastor, from the pulpit, declared that he was in control of the church and if his board disagreed with him, he could fire them and get a new board. So, I ask, in that sort of system, where is the pastor’s accountability? There were also questionable financial practices, enough so, that many of the established leadership quietly departed because the pastor refused to be held accountable. Now, almost 10 years later, I believe that all but one of the original bible study group have moved on to successfully serve in other churches.
Giving God the glory, my bottom line is that God can work through a pagan king to accomplish His will. I had many family members saved there, in spite of that pastor or church system, and I am thankful for that.
I believe CC’s inconsistencies, the ease with which unqualified men can become pastors, the prideful attitude that CC is the best, shallow teaching and lack of structure and doctrine allowed many other errors to creep in, which then set the stage for some real messes in our CC.
I’m relieved to be out and finally in a solid, doctrinally sound
bible church.
I agree with the way Tommy said it….. CC, serving a designer Jesus and Quentin’s comment that these men love to be “known”. Very true in my experience.
Gord Eshpeter said:
These are some of my thoughts on Calvary Chapel.
I attended a Calvary Chapel in Calgary AB for approximately five years. I’ve also spent extended time in Calvary’s in Australia and New Zealand. Initially, I loved my time at Calvary. I was a re-commiting Christian and the Bible centered culture of CC was very important for my walk with God. It was only after I started to grow and expand my learning about different systems of theology and church history that my beliefs began to clash head-on with the Calvary “distinctives”, as outlined by Chuck Smith. It reached a point where my wife and I could no longer envision a future of service within the Calvary movement so we prayerfully decided to leave…….quietly.
These were our main concerns that were observed in every Calvary we attended:
1. We felt that the senior Pastors and his main associate had too much power. Pastoral bullying, as I would call it, was common place and I could cite several examples.
2. Picking dates for Christs return. Every CC I attended the pastor vocalized when they thought Christs return would be. This ranged from statements like “really, really, really soon” to “fifty years”. Even though the Bible says that no one knows when Christs return will be, Calvary pastors seem to think that they do. Not surprizing since Chuck Smith made a habit of doing so as well.
3. Over-emphasizing end times theology and the role of Isreal. It is my belief that end-times theology makes for great debate but is an absolutely secondary issue in the church. Any end-times belief that is contrary to Calvary’s dispensationalism is frowned upon. They will tolerate you as long as you keep your ideas to yourself. Otherwise you will be asked to leave the church.
4. The “mosaic principle”. Chuck Smith parlayed this supposed Old Testament governance model into the New Testament. The problems with this are too numerous to cite here.
5. Anti intellectualism and anti seminary. “All you need to do is read your Bible” mentality.
6. Anti-Calvinist. Again, keep your ideas to yourself or leave.
7. Limited Bible knowledge. Despite Calvary’s assertion that they teach the whole counsel of God, they often come off as educationally unqualified to do so. I sat through many sermons where the Pastor simply did not get it right.
8. The Calvary way is the only way. I found this mindset at every CC.
If I had to use one word to characterize the Calvary Chapel movement it would be this: Naive
Just some thoughts
Mike said:
Dear reader’s of this blog, in reference to the many railings and accusations of the calvary chapel doctrine or lack of I would like to respectfully offer some thoughts. First off I would like everyone to know that I am ordained as a Pastor in the Calvary Chapel Church movement, I say this not out of any kind of pride or ambition but as an accountable leader of the church before god. I would tell the readers to accuse any members of the body of christ without going to them first and following the procedure as the Lord Jesus instructed in matthew ch 18 v 15-19 is simply unbiblical or did we decide to throw that part out of the bible.
Second I would like to defend the “doctrine of Calvary” as some have called it. Now it would seem that there are many gripes and complaints about the leadership and the lack of seminary training and qualified men. Remember Acts 4:13 “”Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized they had been with Jesus.” Now where does the bible ever say that they needed religious training? Nowhere. I do admit a certain humbleness is needed to be under authority to men whom God has selected that one might feel superior to intellectually, and spiritually, but we do have to remember the words Paul spoke to the Corinthians in his first epistle to them because of the same problem. 1 cor 1 v26-29 “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty ;and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,that NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE.
DOCTRINE= TEACHING
What does the bible teach about Gossip?
Grace= The free and unmerited favor of God.
Ephesians 2v8 For by grace you have been saved and that not of yourselves;it is the GIFT of god,not of works lest anyone should boast.
I do have to mention also that Jesus Christ is not glorified if even mentioned in any of the comments which leads me to ask whether or not we are talking of the teachings of Jesus Christ or the Teachings of the “Men” of the church. There is not enough time to refute and examine the many claims of the commentators, and to show that not ever has the church been perfect. We are being prepared as the Bride, to be married the Groomsman this is what the bible teaches. We will one day be glorified as heirs of /with Jesus Christ in Heaven. But for now we are still having to live this imperfect life while attempting to do our best as we depend on the Holy Spirit as his seal of promise to bring us to perfection. Check out the Blue Letter Bible
and you will find a more complete section of the teachers of Calvary Chapel and You will also find there is no charge and Jesus gets the Glory. Thanks I am sorry I could not appease the readers on all arguments if even any but I am sure that if they are walking with Christ no one could take them from his Grip. John 10v28-19
randy said:
Mike,
The problem isn’t that Calvary Chapel pastors do not have degrees. A degree is nothing. The problem is that they are ignorant of the scriptures and it shows in their teaching and abuse of the scriptures.
It is not gossip to point out false teachers. As you know, it’s been done many times in scripture themselves, even naming names. You would not hesitate to point out the folly of a false teacher; the reason you have a problem with me doing it is because YOU are the false teacher! You demonstrate a lack of consistency in your interpretation of the scripture.
What did Eph 2:8 have to do with your comment? Were you hoping to quote random verses to support your claims?
Grace, and the imperfection of man is never an excuse for bad teaching. God isn’t going to say, “aww, I know you were sinful; so it’s ok that you deceived my people.” Here is another Calvary Chapel pastor mutilating grace and making it an excuse to sin.
Neither is Grace an excuse for Pastors to commit adultery and continue in the service of pastoring. The bible presents qualifications for elders and teachers. Grace has to do with our salvation, it’s not an excuse to live contrary to the word of God.
It’s ironic that Calvary Chapel denies the true context of the verses you quoted. Calvary Chapel denies the doctrines of grace, stating that our salvation starts and ends with God.
Gord Eshpeter said:
Dear Mike,
Stating observational fact about the Calvary Movement is not gossip. Personally, I am stating my experience with calvary both to call out the problems with the movement in order that it would bring change within the movement, to inform the unsuspecting, and to empathize with the many thousands of sincere christians who have been unfairly hurt by this movement. As a pastor, you would do well to contemplate very seriously the admonitions found on this blog since they are endemic among calvary churches.
Further, your point that since Peter and John were uneducated men, therefore so can Calvary Pastors be, is short-sighted. Far better than a seminary education, these men were instructed by the king of instructors, the Lord of the seminaries, the God of the universe. Sure, these men weren’t educated by the societal institutions, but we certainly should know better that they could hardly be considered as uneducated after their time spent with Christ.
Carl said:
What initially attracted me to Calvary Chapel was the “non-denominational label and the teaching through the Bible verse by verse,” however I very quickly saw that it was a denomination, they just didn’t admit it. The verse by verse teaching was clouded by twisting of Scripture to fit dogma. Despite seeing a need for topical teaching at various times, the chapter by chapter teaching was adheared to as this was the way it was done. Despite teaching through the Bible three times we were still being spoon fed, surely a pastor is to lead sheep to pasture, so they can feed themselves not to be fed grass blade by blade for fifteen years?
I found the pastor desired to be in total control, only relinquishing control to family members because “you can ask more of family than from believers.” If a member of the body desired to serve in “visible” capacity then they had to serve a menial apprenticeship of the pastors duration before it was God’s time to use them. This effectively stifled the body.
I know this is only my experience but in talking to other pastors of Calvary Chapels I found the same rigid control. I found that if a person hadn’t been through the Calvary Chapel’s teaching courses then their Scriptural knowledge was dismissed. I speak as someone who has been through four and a half years of teaching / training /daily evaluation to be a missionary in a primitive environment (tribal church planting). The man given qualifications I attained were duly despatched to the trash - The discipleship I received as the Lord dealt with me was more important than a bit of paper, sadly at Calvary Chapel I found thr opposite to be true.
andrew said:
Randy,
i’ve been following this blog for some months now and it does peak my interest, i currently attend a CC and i can’t say the one i attend fits into the description of any of your claims, that being said i’m sure you’re claims are valid for some. my problem is i would refrain from labeling all CC’s as bad and false teachers you havn’t been to them all and that is a very bold claim, like i said in a prior post you are lacking the love in which biblical correction takes place read ephesians 4:14-16, we are the body of Christ and insted of edifying we’re cutting eachother down, pointing out faults with out leading to correction. your attack on mike is shocking coming from a pastor, and I know there many times when Jesus boldly confronted the pharisses and other religous leaders BUT you’re not Jesus you don’t know mikes heart and his thaughts you didn’t give him a chance to explain why he put that verse you felt was out of place, you just attacked and called him a false teacher. there is a time for confrontation in boldness but what is going on here is not biblical correction. this is a good blog i enjoy reading it but you’re missing the potential this has to bring glory to God. a blog like this could be much more effective in doctrine correction if everyone would set aside thier egos and pre conceptions of eachother and allow for propper discussion of the Word and what the Lord has for us. Philemon 1:8-9 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, [yet] for love’s sake I rather appeal [to you] being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
i would like a place that we could discuss our differant stances in a way that will be edifying and glorifying to God, i am a young believer and every where i look everyone has differant docternal stances and they all think they are correct. now brother randy you are very educated and i know that personally i could probably learn from you but i also know that you are not the only one who has Gods Word figured out the right way, (and i pray that you would not make such bold a claim, for the holy spirit guides us but our flesh corrupts the knowledge). randy you are a very strong and passionate believer i know that, and you do have a burden (as i do) to get God word right but as Jesus says in Matthew 7:3-5 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
we all mess up and no grace doesn’t give us that right to mess up Gods word those who are called to teach are called to teach it right James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment
it’s a big responsibilty and that is why we need eachother to edify and build up. the church is so divided we can’t even fellowship without cutting eachother down, how about we try to unify, you want to get through to the evangelical right (a referance to the stance not a claim we are correct) then approch with love and seek fellowship stop trying to out wit and dismantle arguments with uncaring and harsh words there are many who have probably left this discussion with a bad and wrong impression of you, if you truly have a burden then it must sadden you that your attitude has hindered your ability to reach anyone who holds a differant point of view. Now Randy to bring this to close i’m sorry i went so long, my challenge to you would be take a look at your heart and pray about what this blog means to you if it is to reach those you believe are following a false teaching then you need to change your approach but if it is simply to win arguements then i am sorry for wasting your time and i will find another blog to read. and my challenge is the same for everyone who reads this blog we as beleives have done more damage to furthering the Word and work of Jesus Christ than any atheist ever could. God bless
randy said:
Andrew,
All Calvary Chapels do hold to this doctrine. It is in their statement of faith and for them to deny them is to leave Calvary Chapel.
I do not claim to know it all. That is why I am against individualistic Christianity that rejects several centuries of biblical scholarship, debate and study. You have to realize that Calvary Chapel does hold to a set of doctrine that was and has been condemned as heresy over the last several centuries. It is not a matter of my opinion verse someone else’s. It is a matter of humanistic theology vs. God’s sovereignty. Calvary Chapel rejects and mutilates clear biblical texts. Five years ago I would of been saying the same things as you. I fully understand and I have compassion for you. My directness isn’t aimed towards the believer but the system that loads believers with false presuppositions and ideas about God and his word.
Kyle said:
I just want to thank you for this informative post, for your site, and for your labor of love in the Lord. I know it is hard for many CC people to break free from the stronghold that the cult-like movement has on them, but I trust that God will reveal the truth to His own, in time, and that His people will come out from it.
I attended a Calvary high school and subsequently attended chapels and even the main service. Most of what I remember included nepotism, unaccountable leadership, and arrogant hypocrisy. While I didn’t know much about doctrine back then, I always felt as if something was wrong. The continual “walking the aisle” to the “altar” for “altar calls”, and weekly “rededication” for those who had sinned a lot during the past week did not make any sense to me. Yet we were always told that Calvary taught “verse-by-verse” and I remember feeling like there was no other sound church in the world except for Calvary. I grew weary of all the nonsense and turned towards rebellion from what I thought was Christianity for a year or so until the Lord drew me back into truths that I had never been taught at Calvary. Learning about true repentance, conversion, actually being born again, the Lordship of Christ, the sufficiency of grace, the new life in Christ, the body of Christ, how the church is supposed to function, etc. - these were all foreign concepts to me before.
I am still learning and am hoping to find a good, solid church, but I feel for those in my family, friends, and others who are still caught in the CC trap. I know some of the CCs, particularly those farther from the mother ship, may have pastors who are learned in scripture and teach things like the doctrines of grace (to some degree), but these are few and far between and, if caught, would probably lose their Calvary status. Calvary operates dictatorially, the “Moses model” which is wholly unscriptural for a New Testament church. The authoritarian dictates and idolizing of “Pastor Chuck” all reek of Roman Catholicism. The entire system seems like Roman Catholicism-lite to me…
Anyway, just wanted to share some thoughts.