Calvary Chapel: history, beliefs and distinctives
How a church of twenty-five in Costa Mesa became a movement of verse-by-verse Bible teaching, and what Calvary Chapels teach today.
wsb.bible is an independent resource. It is not the official site of Calvary Chapel, the Calvary Chapel Association or any church.
Calvary Chapel history: Chuck Smith, Costa Mesa and the Jesus Movement
In 1966 Chuck Smith, then thirty-eight, became pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. The church had twenty-five people and was in the middle of a split. He taught the Bible in depth and verse by verse, and within weeks attendance began to grow. The Word For Today dates the move to 1966; some accounts give 1965.
From 1967 Chuck and Kay Smith began reaching the young people on the beaches of Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, and the church grew quickly as converts arrived straight off the streets. This was the Jesus Movement. The church opened houses overseen by elders where the new believers could live, worship and study, and parents who came to see what had happened to their children often stayed.
More than 1,500 churches were established out of it over the years, alongside schools, Bible colleges, radio, television and film. Chuck Smith kept teaching at Costa Mesa until a few days before his death on 3 October 2013, at eighty-six. The Word For Today, which he founded with his brother Paul Smith in 1978, carries his teaching.
“Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
His life in full, from The Word For Today's own account, is on Chuck Smith: books, commentary and biography. Source: The Word For Today.
What do Calvary Chapels believe?
Calvary Chapels are evangelical churches that teach the Bible verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation. They stress the grace of God, the gifts of the Holy Spirit used decently and in order, and the return of Jesus for His church before the Great Tribulation.
Chuck Smith described what sets them apart as a balance:
“In Calvary Chapel we find the teaching of the Word, and an open heart to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is this balance that makes Calvary Chapel a distinct and uniquely blessed movement of God.”
The book he wrote to set those distinctives down, Calvary Chapel Distinctives, and its companion, The Philosophy of Ministry of Calvary Chapel, are free to read as PDFs.
Calvary Chapel distinctives
The whole counsel of God
“Another primary distinctive of Calvary Chapel is our endeavor to declare to people the whole counsel of God.”
“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
Grace
“Calvary Chapel has a distinctive position on the subject of God’s grace. We realize that without the grace of God none of us would have a chance.”
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The Holy Spirit, in balance
Calvary Chapels hold that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available and valid today, and that they are to be used in order in the gathered church.
“In this area, we don’t fit in the Pentecostal category, nor do we fit in the cessionist category that would deny any valid experience of the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit today.”
“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
The rapture of the church
Calvary Chapel looks for Jesus to come for His church before the Great Tribulation. The pre-tribulation rapture, below.
Do Calvary Chapels believe in a pre-tribulation rapture?
Yes. Calvary Chapel teaches that Jesus will catch His church up to meet Him in the air before the Great Tribulation, from passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Revelation 3:10. Chuck Smith said it without hedging:
“I firmly believe that the church will not go through the Great Tribulation.”
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
The case is made in full on the pre-tribulation rapture, and the questions people ask about it are answered one at a time:
Is Calvary Chapel Calvinist?
No. Calvary Chapel takes neither the Calvinist nor the Arminian side. In Chuck Smith's words, describing the fellowship:
“We’re neither ‘Five Point Calvinists’, nor are we Arminian. We do believe in the security of the believer.”
He declined both the Calvinist and the Arminian label, and held the free offer of the gospel to every person, grace that can be resisted, and the security of the believer.
Scripture states the offer in words that leave no one out:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
The five points of Calvinism are taken one verse at a time on TULIP, one verse at a time, and the questions behind them are answered here:
Calvary Chapel verse-by-verse teaching
Chuck Smith took the church at Costa Mesa through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, again and again, and the Calvary Chapels that followed teach the same way.
“And that’s why in the majority of the Calvary Chapels, and the most successful ones, you’ll find the systematic teaching of the entire Word of God, going through the Bible from cover to cover.”
His own verse-by-verse teaching is on this site, to read and to hear:
Calvary Chapel Bible study and commentary
For a personal or group Bible study in the Calvary Chapel way, start with the text and go through it in order. Chuck Smith's commentary sits beside every chapter of the reader, his recordings play on Listen, and Kay Smith's Bible studies are here too.
- Chuck Smith's free books and commentary PDFs
- Listen: the whole Bible read aloud, and Chuck Smith teaching it
- Kay Smith's Bible studies and conference messages
- About Kay Smith
Chuck Smith and Kay Smith: Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Calvary Chapel pastors and teachers
The pastors of the Calvary Chapel Association's Leadership Council each keep a free teaching archive covering the whole Bible. They are gathered, with links to each church, on Calvary Chapel pastors: CCA teaching archives.
What is the Calvary Chapel Association?
The Calvary Chapel Association is a fellowship of Calvary Chapel churches and pastors, led by a Leadership Council of pastors. Its own site is calvarycca.org.
Today two fellowships of churches trace their roots to Chuck Smith's ministry: the Calvary Chapel Association and Calvary Global Network.
This site's pastor listings and church finder follow the Calvary Chapel Association.
Find a Calvary Chapel church near you
Use the Calvary Chapel Association's church locator, which lists the churches in the association.
OPEN THE CCA CHURCH LOCATORcalvarycca.org/churches · maintained by the Calvary Chapel Association
Looking for a Bible study that meets near you? Find a study or a church near you.
Questions about Calvary Chapel
What do Calvary Chapels believe?
Calvary Chapels are evangelical churches that teach the Bible verse by verse, from Genesis to Revelation. They stress the grace of God, the gifts of the Holy Spirit used decently and in order, and the return of Jesus for His church before the Great Tribulation.
Who founded Calvary Chapel?
Calvary Chapel began as a small congregation in Costa Mesa, California. Chuck Smith became its pastor in 1966, when it had twenty-five people, and taught there until his death in 2013. More than 1,500 churches were established out of the Jesus Movement that grew from it.
Do Calvary Chapels believe in a pre-tribulation rapture?
Yes. Calvary Chapel teaches that Jesus will catch His church up to meet Him in the air before the Great Tribulation, from passages such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Revelation 3:10.
Is Calvary Chapel Calvinist?
No. Calvary Chapel takes neither the Calvinist nor the Arminian side. It holds the free offer of the gospel to every person, as John 3:16 states it, and the security of the believer.
What is the Calvary Chapel Association?
The Calvary Chapel Association is a fellowship of Calvary Chapel churches and pastors, led by a Leadership Council of pastors. It keeps a church locator on its own site, calvarycca.org.
How do I find a Calvary Chapel church near me?
Use the Calvary Chapel Association's church locator at calvarycca.org/churches, which lists the churches in the association.
wsb.bible is an independent resource. It is not the official site of Calvary Chapel, the Calvary Chapel Association or any church. Chuck Smith is quoted from Calvary Chapel Distinctives. Permission granted by The Word For Today.