Calvary Chapel began in the late 1960's as a small
non-denominational church of 25 members pastored by Chuck Smith. As we approach
the turn of the century, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa is home to some 30,000
believers, The Word for Today publishes Bible study books and tapes all over the
world, KWVE broadcasts God's Word to all of Southern California, and Calvary
Chapel's
Bible College provides Bible education to thousands at its home campus
in Murrietta, California and at over 20 extension campuses world wide.
Because of its size and influence, many Christians have asked exactly what
Calvary Chapel believes, what are its distinctives, what sets it apart from
other Christian groups. At Calvary Chapel, we have always been hesitant to try
and answer those questions, not because we are unsure of our beliefs, but
because we are cautious to avoid division within the Body of Christ. After all,
what really matters is what we have in common as Christians: the "essential"
doctrines of the infallibility of God's Word, the virgin birth of Christ, His
sinless life, death for our sins, bodily resurrection. ascension to glory, and
personal return to rule the earth. These are the essence of Christianity, and
agreed upon by virtually all born again believers.
When we move away from the essential doctrines to those that are less
essential we risk setting barriers up in the church, something we at Calvary
Chapel have no desire to do. Still, Calvary Chapel is distinct from
denominational churches and other Protestant groups and people want to know what
those distinctions are. That is the purpose of this little booklet.
It is not our purpose to cause division or discord in the Body of Christ,
conversely, we long for unity among God's people of all persuasions, and we
allow for a great deal of flexibility even within our own ranks. Calvary Chapel
pastors are not clones who all believe exactly the same thing. Still, there are
distinctives that make Calvary Chapel unique and which define our mission.
THE BALANCE
In a broad general sense, Calvary Chapel is the
middle ground between fundamentalism and Pentecostalism in modern Protestant
theology. In fact, we believe that this is at least part of the reason why God
has raised up this ministry.
Fundamentalism is that portion of Protestantism which holds to the literal
interpretation of the Scriptures, believing that they are divinely inspired and
inerrant. Hence, the "fundamentals" of the faith are emphasized. Although the
modem news media and the liberal church scorn fundamentalists as backwards and
stupid, the truth is that fundamentalism has preserved the integrity of God's
Word and held on to the essential doctrines of the orthodox faith.
Pentecostalism as a modern movement grew out of the Azusa Street revival in
Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century, and spawned denominations that
emphasize the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the exercise of spiritual and
Scriptural gifts of the Spirit which had fallen dormant in the main line
churches. Also criticized by the liberal church and news media as being
emotionally driven, Pentecostalism restored to the church the importance of
gifts of the Spirit and the power of God for the believer today.
Over the years, however, fundamentalism, while it clung to the integrity of
God's Word, tended to become rigid, legalistic, and unaccepting of spiritual
gifts. Similarly, Pentecostalism became enthusiastic and emotional at the
expense of the teaching of God's Word.
Calvary Chapel is the balance between the two. At Calvary Chapel we believe
in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible, and we encourage their
exercise, but always decently and in order, and with the primary emphasis on the
Word of God which we look to as our primary rule of faith.
To quote Pastor Chuck Smith: "We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit
mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are
exercised within the Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the
best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might
be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular
gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless."
Because of this balance, Calvary Chapel services are designed to be centered
around the verse by verse teaching of God's Word, and special "after glow"
services are provided where the gifts of the Holy Spirit can operate freely
under the leadership of mature Christians. Many Pentecostals think Calvary
Chapel is not emotional enough, and many fundamentalists think Calvary Chapel is
too emotional. That balance is indication, in my opinion, that we are right
where God wants us to be.
Calvary Chapel also differs from most mainline churches in its style of
church government. Most denominational churches maintain either a congregational
form of church government, a Presbyterian form, or an Episcopal form of running
their churches. These three terms should not be confused with the denominations
that bear the same names because other churches of different names share the
same styles of government.
The congregational form of church government is an American invention and
appeals to our American sense of democracy. Basically, the congregation as a
whole makes all decisions in these churches by voting on matters of importance
and appointing committees from its ranks to run the daily operation of the
church. Most Congregational, Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren, and
non-denominational churches are organized in this fashion. The congregation
votes on hiring a pastor, votes on how to spend the money, and on anything else
of importance. Although democratic people like the idea, congregational forms of
church government often wind up at best causing the pastor to be directed by the
sheep he is supposed to lead, and at worst reducing the pastor to a hireling.
The Episcopal form of church government, used by Episcopalian, Anglican,
Catholic, Orthodox, and Methodist churches (to name a few) is controlled by a
church hierarchy which may have differing names. Basically, there is a bishop,
or someone of similar stature if called by a different name, who oversees the
churches, appoints pastors to pulpits, sets policy, and guides the vision of the
local congregations. Unfortunately, this style of government, which grew out of
European monarchies, leaves little freedo m for the local pastor or congregation
to follow the leading of the Spirit.
The Presbyterian form of church government, which is typical in Presbyterian
and Reformed churches, puts the decisions of church polity in the hands of a
select group of elders (the "presbytery") who are appointed in various different
ways, depending on the church. These elders are over the pastor, who in turn is
over the congregation. The problem here too is that this system puts the
God-appointed leader, the pastor, under some of those he is supposed to lead.
Calvary Chapels are organized differently. Church government at Calvary
Chapel is very simple, not a complex bureaucracy, committees and sub-committees
are essentially non-existent. Basically, at Calvary Chapel we believe that the
pastor is responsible for the church, responsible to hear from God, and
responsible to feed and love His people faithfully. Elders are appointed in the
larger churches to help the pastor care for the spiritual needs of the
congregation, as are deacons to help the pastor care fo r the material needs of
the church.
In addition, our churches have church boards as required by most states which
vary in size depending on the size of the church, and which usually are made up
of mature Christian businessmen who can advise the pastor with respect to the
business operations and decisions of the church such as property management and
investments. At Calvary Chapel, church organization is de-emphasized, and only
the organization that is needed to run the church is instituted. The pastor
guides the church as he is lead by the Holy Spirit, and we trust God to put
pastors where He wants them to be.
DOCTRINE
At Calvary Chapel we believe in all the fundamental
doctrines of the evangelical Protestant church. For example, we believe in the
inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaiiients, is the
inspired, infallible Word of God.
We believe that God is eternally existent in three separate persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that God the father is the personal,
transcendent, and sovereign creator of all things.
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was
born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins
by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the
Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the father, and ever lives
to make intercession for us.
After He ascended to Heaven, Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit on the
believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the
Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.
We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and
responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness
of sin are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a
person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord,
trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the
Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of
God, destined to spend eternity with the Lord.
As we previously mentioned, we believe in the proper Scriptural
exercise of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, the greatest gift of
all being God's love.
At Calvary Chapel, we await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church.
Calvary Chapel is strongly committed to a belief that the church will be
raptured before the seven year tribulation period described in Revelation
chapters 6 through 18. We recognize that other believers hold a different view,
but this is the way we see the Scripture's teaching on this subject.
We believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ with His saints to
rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millenial, and visible. This motivates
us to heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God's Word,
regular fellowship with other Christians, and participation in both adult
baptism by immersion and in Holy Communion.
Calvary Chapel rejects the teaching of "amillenialism" which spiritualizes
Scripture and denies the literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth as
described in Revelation chapter 20.
WHAT WE DO NOT BELIEVE
At Calvary Chapel, we reject some popular
doctrines of some Christian groups because we believe them to be in error
Scripturally. This does not mean that we will not fellowship with those holding
these views, it simply means that such views are outside the boundaries of what
constitutes a Calvary Chapel church.
For example, we reject, as we have already mentioned, "amillenniallsm",
post-millennialism, as well as a mid or post-tribulation rapture view. At
Calvary Chapel, we are strongly pre-millennialists and pre-tribulation
rapturists.
We also reject the belief, held by some Pentecostals and charismatics, that
Christians can be demon possessed. The Scripture says "greater is He that is in
you than he who is in the world" which makes no sense if a believer can be
simultaneously indwelt by both the Holy Spirit and evil spirits. Christians can
be attacked by demons, but they cannot be possessed or controlled by them.
In addition, we reject "5-point Calvinism". For a deeper understanding of
what Calvinism is, see my book Calvinism versus Arminianism, but for our
purposes here, suffice it to say that Calvary Chapel rejects two of the five
points of five point Calvinism. First, Calvinism teaches that Jesus' atonement
on the Cross was limited, that is, that He died only for a chosen group, His
"elect", not for the sins of the entire world. At Calvary Chapel, we believe
that Jesus died on the Cross for all the sins of a ll people, and that anyone
who wants to can accept Him as Lord and savior and be born again. Strict five
point Calvinists believe that only the elect can be saved and that God has
elected others to spend eternity in hell.
Secondly, we reject the Calvinistic teaching called "irresistible grace",
which is the belief that man cannot, even if he wants to, resist the wooing and
calling of God to salvation. Instead, at Calvary Chapel we believe that man has
a free will and he can resist the call of God if he chooses to do so. Therefore,
those who hold to five point Calvinism are outside of the borders of what
defines Calvary Chapel.
At Calvary Chapel, we also reject the teaching of "positive confession" which
is the doctrine put forth by the faith movement teachers that says that we as
human beings can have unlimited health and wealth because we, like God, have the
ability to create our own reality by the confession of our lips. These people
teach that if a person will confess health and wealth consistently, then that is
what they will have, and, conversely, the Christian living in sickness or
poverty is settling for less than his full inheritance in Christ. At Calvary
Chapel, we believe that many believers both in the Bible and in daily life are
often afllicted not because their confession is wrong, but simply because we
live in a foreign world. We believe that the health and prosperity doctrine is a
perversion of Scripture and is often used to fleece the flock of God. We do not
believe that God can be commanded by man to heal or provide, but that we must
always submit to His perfect wlll even in affliction.
Additionally, we reject the teaching that uses human prophecy to supersede
the Word of God. There are some Christian groups around which claim to have
prophets and apostles of equal validity with those who wrote the Bible.
Moreover, they claim that the prophetic utterances from these people take
precedence over the Word of God. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that the Bible is
the final authority and the complete Word of God for His church today, and that
no prophecy or teaching can ever supersede it.
Some churches have incorporated human secular psychology and philosophy into
their teaching programs, creating sermons that are more based on secular
humanistic theory than on the Word of God. While we respect our fellow believers
who work in mental health related fields, we at Calvary Chapel believe that the
central mission of the church is to proclaim God's Word to a lost and hurting
world. Moreover, it has been our experience that humanistic psychology and
philosophy often do more harm than good, and people respond best when God's
Word is proclaimed in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. It is God's Word
that changes lives for the better. At Calvary Chapels our services remain
centered on the teaching of the Bible.
This is not to imply that we object to the work of the many dedicated
Christian mental health professionals; conversly, we thank God for them. Our
point is simply that in our church services, we emphasize the teaching of God's
Word.
And finally, as we have mentioned before, Calvary Chapel rejects the
over-emphasis of spiritual gifts and experiential signs and wonders to the
exclusion of Biblical teaching. Again, we are a Bible based ministry that avoids
programs and gimmicks in favor of the simple teaching of the Word of God in love
to His people. In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God
through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We offer both
expository and topical studies; we do not allow s peaking in tongues loudly
during services because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit Would interrupt
Himself.
WORSHIP
Many people are under the impression that a particular
style of worship is insisted upon at Calvary Chapel, that style being the soft
contemporary Sound made popular by Maranatha! Music and by Asaph Records (which
both originated at Calvary Chapel). Although most Calvary Chapels do utilize a
form of contemporary worship, there is actually a great variety of styles Of
Music found In our churches. Some are very traditional and conservative, with
organs or pianos and hymns, while others prefer electric guit ars and drums.
There is no set style of worship makes a Calvary Chapel unique; instead there is
wide latitude in expression. All of us desire, of course, that whatever the
style of worship, it come from our hearts.
Similarly, some of the worship services at Calvary Chapels are quite
traditional, while others are more contemporary. Some of our churches are filled
with elderly people in suits and ties, some are filled with young people in
jeans and tee shirts, and many are a combination of all different ages, styles,
and races of folks who come together with one common focus: love for Jesus
Christ and the desire to know Him more intimately.
I recently spoke at one of the larger Calvary Chapel affiliates where seven
different ethnic groups of people who range in age from teens to quite elderly
gather every week filled with the love of Jesus. That is typical of a Calvary
Chapel church. Most are places where anybody with any style of dress or musical
taste or culture feels welcome.
STATEMENT OF FAITH
To better help people not familiar with the
Calvary Chapel ministries understand who we are, we at Calvary Chapel's Bible
College developed the following statement of faith, most of which was written
by, and all of which was approved by Pastor Chuck Smith, the founder of the
Calvary Chapel movement, pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, and President
of the Bible College.
Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship
of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His
image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor
are we opposed to denominations as such, only to their over-emphasis of the
doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the Body of Christ.
We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's
(Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess, and without
which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.
We believe worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain
flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give
great place to music in our worship.
We believe worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our
services are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God
that He might instruct us how He should be worshipped.
We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for
His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly
worshipping Him.
We believe in all the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical
Christianity.
We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New
Testaments is the inspired, infallible Word of God.
We believe that God is eternally existent in three separate persons:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and
sovereign Creator of all things.
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was
born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins
by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the
Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives
to make intercession for us.
After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the
believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the
Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.
We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and
responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness
are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person
repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting
Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy
Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God,
destined to spend eternity with the Lord.
We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the
Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the
Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to
exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe
that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without this
love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
We believe that church government should be simplistic rather than a
complex bureaucracy, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead, rather than on
fleshly promotion.
We await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe
that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on the earth will be
personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living,
heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God's Word, regular
fellowship, and participation in adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion.
We seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be
applied to an individual's life, leading that person to greater maturity in
Christ.
We reject: (1) The belief that true Christians can be demon possessed;
(2) "5-point Calvinism" (i.e., a fatalistic Calvinistic view that leaves no room
for free will; specifically, we reject the belief that Jesus' atonement was
limited, instead we believe that He died for all people, and we reject the
assertion that God's wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some
people to go to hell; instead we believe that anyone who wills to come to Christ
may do so); (3) "positive confession" (the faith movement belief that God can be
commanded to heal or work miracles according to man's will), (4) human prophecy
that supersedes the Scripture, (5) the incorporation of humanistic and secular
psychology and philosophy into Biblical teaching, and (6) the over-emphasis of
spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical
teaching.
In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through
worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We teach both expositorily
and topically. We do not allow speaking in tongues loudly during services, nor
prophecy while a Bible study is in progress because we do not believe that the
Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself. We have specific "after-glow services" and
believer's meetings when these gifts of the Spirit may be exercised.
CONCLUSION
By clarifying some of what we believe at Calvary
Chapel, our purpose has been simply to help others less familiar with the
movcinent gain insight into who we are. It has not been our intention to say
that we are right and everyone else is wrong, nor has it been our intention to
argue our position with any Christian believer. We are content to agree to
disagree, and we desire to have nothing but love and fellowship with anyone who
calls on the name of our Lord in truth and sincerity .
While there are many additional areas of polity and doctrine we could
discuss, and while we could write volumes in an effort to defend all our
positions against other positions, this is not our desire. Our desire is to
simply adore Jesus, and we invite all God's people to join us as we do so.
On the other hand, there have been people who have started churches and
called them Calvary Chapel that hold views and practices very different from
what has been described here. In our opinion, it would be better if they would
take a different name for their churches that more accurately reflects what they
believe and practice so as not to confuse people who are looking for a ministry
that is in line with what we have described on the previous pages.
While many different kinds of people attend and pastor Calvary Chapel
affiliated churches, all of the Calvary Chapel leadership (men such a Raul Ries,
Greg Laurie, Mike MacIntosh, Jeff Johnson, Jon Courson, Skip Heitzig, Don
McClure, Steve Mays, Oden Fong, and Wayne Taylor) agree on the essential
elements of this booklet, although their individual styles of ministry, methods
of preaching, and visions for outreach vary greatly.
As a potential Calvary Chapel affiliated pastor, we welcome you to start a
ministry under the direction of the Holy Spirit and to join our fellowship of
independent autonomous churches if you are in harmony with our vision. As an
individual believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we welcome you to our churches and
Bible College programs regardless of your background or doctrinal position.
We seek the unity of the Spirit in a bond of peace and love and believe that
God has called us to a unique ministry that fulfills His special purpose in this
generation. May God bless you as you seek to draw near to Him in love.
