Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches
The Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational, sola scriptura Christian church. The Calvary Chapel affiliates pastors not churches. Every Calvary Chapel pastor is accountable to another pastor. The Calvary Chapel however does not have the authority to remove a pastor form his position as pastor. The Calvary Chapel does not have a official system of church membership. Only the pastor has the power to appoint or remove elders in their church. Women may not be pastors or elders in the Calvary Chapel Churches. The Calvary Chapel practices Communion, tithing, mid-week Bible study discussions. They do water baptism for youth and adults and occasionally dedicate babies. The Calvary Chapel also conducts weddings and funerals. They support the Wycliffe Bible Translators, Campus Crusade, and Missionary Aviation Fellowship.
History
The Calvary Chapel was at one time part of the Jesus Movement of the late 1960’s. The Jesus Movement was a spontaneous Christian movement that spread throughout North America and Europe in 1969 and 1970. It was a Christian awakening which radically altered Christian Churches. The Jesus Movement was primitive in theology and sought to duplicate the original life of the early Christians. There was an enthusiastic belief in miracles, signs and wonders, healings, demonic possessions, and exorcism. The Jesus Movement was evangelistic and lacked an intense theological structure. What they did possess was a profound zeal for Jesus Christ and the love for humanity.
Chuck Smith and evangelist Lonnie Frisbee formed the first Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. Chuck Smith started out being the pastor at Calvary Chapel in December of 1965. Chuck Smith believed the Holy Spirit had led him to the Costa Mesa Calvary Chapel. The teachings of Chuck Smith centered on leading souls to salvation through Jesus Christ. The principals of the Calvary Chapel are cited as the beginning point for the New Apostolic Reformation.
The Calvary Chapel claims that over a two-year period in the middle of the 1970 they baptized thousands and were instrumental in converting hundreds of thousands to the Christian faith. Because of the immense growth of the Calvary Chapel Church they had to move from their original building to a rented Lutheran church, and then moved it into a school they had bought. This building was not up to code and they tore it down and built another church which was completed by 1969. This church was outgrown and they moved again by 1971. They bought a ten-acre tract of land on the Costa Mesa and Santa Ana border, yet, there still was an over population of the Calvary Chapel Church. The Calvary Chapel went to the airwaves in 1987.
Belief
The Calvary Chapel is orthodox in their views of the Christian doctrine; they teach Evangelical Christianity and are somewhat charismatic in character. The Calvary Chapel takes pieces of their belief from the fundamentalist tradition as well as Wesleyan, Anabaptist, and Pietism faiths.
The Calvary Chapel depends solely upon the Bible and the Holy Spirit. The Calvary Chapel does not believe ordinary people can interpret Scripture, in contrast to their “sola scriptura” slogan. The Calvary Chapel believes the Bible should be read book by book, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. They believe the church and Israel are separate from each other. The Calvary Chapel believes in the pre-tribulation theory.
The Calvary Chapel believes their pastors do not need to hold a seminary degree. They have a two year course of study to become a pastor at their Calvary Chapel Bible College; a bachelor’s degree is not required to get a pastor appointment. The Calvary Chapel does not allow women or homosexuals to become pastors because they believe this would be contradictory to Bible teaching.
The Calvary Chapel does not usually allow children in with the adults since their sermons may go as long as an hour. They believe the Holy Spirit leads the Sunday service and chooses the Bible text as they expound on the Scripture. They believe in the gifts of tongues; but, they do not allow any uninterrupted speaking of tongues to be spoken during the public service so it is rarely practiced. The Calvary Chapel does practice private speaking in tongues in prayer.
The Calvary Chapel believes baptism is to be done by immersion. Communion is usually taken at the same time as Baptisms are conducted within the service.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2006.<https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2613,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006, January) “Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2613,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2006) “Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2613, (accessed).
