The Calvary Connection

5/19/2023

In his book, “Calvary Chapel Distinctives” the late Chuck Smith laid out the secret sauce to the grift, “You know the beautiful thing about being called Calvary Chapel? People don’t know where you really stand. And the whole field is ours. When you’re marketing something, you want the largest market appeal possible. So don’t chop up the market and say, ‘Well, we’re just going to fish in this little market here.’ Keep the market broad. (pg. 49, 50).”

Calvary Chapel Association (CCA) includes more than an estimated 1800 churches of evangelical Calvary mega churches. CCA is a growing financial and political grift and modern-day Music Man style con largely still centered in California. CCA is also a threat to democracy as CCA pastors believe they “can contend politically as religious leaders in the public square,” violating the Johnson Amendment which forbids politicking in houses of worship. As tithing churches, CCA churches seek funds from wealthier members of communities to continue their grift woven within private ministries that many of the pastors create and the pyramid scheme that over time the lead CCA pastor becomes authoritative with little to no oversight.

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was founded in Costa Mesa, CA in 1965 by about 25 people and the late Chuck Smith of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG). Frustrated with ICFG, congregants sought out a new spiritual home. Accordingly, in 1968, they left ICFG altogether. The teachings of CCA later became known as the Jesus Movement (JM) and its congregants, Jesus freaks. The movement itself came alive during the turbulent times in America in the 1960s where young people were seeking answers and questioning authority.

The Jesus movement created a legacy that includes multiple Christian organizations, and influenced the development of the Christian right. Smith’s daughter introduced her dad John Higgins Jr., her boyfriend at the time. Higgins Jr. was a former hippie who converted to Christianity in his teens/early 20s. Higgins would go on to head the largest Jesus freak movement in history, the Shiloh Youth Revival Centers (1968-1989). It’s worth pausing here to note that Smith is reported on Wikipedia as having been born in Ventura, CA, a short drive from where Rob McCoy (see Rob McCoy’s bio) presides over Godspeak and terrorizes the people of Thousand Oaks and surrounding communities with his antics.

Today, CCA’s mission is more clear. Or is it? For example, the website lists the following on scriptures:

“We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, fully inspired without error and the infallible rule of faith and practice. The Word of God is the foundation upon which the church operates and is the basis for which the church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 28:13; Nehemiah 8:8; John 17:17; II Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23-25; II Peter 1:3-4, 21).”

The Jesus Movement shifted the traditional church structure of an edifice on the hill with a steeple and everyday people. Replacing traditional edifices as places of worship with coffee houses or other secular social spaces welcoming what others may have perceived as societal waste with the slogan, “Come as you are.” Traditional pianos are long gone with cost-effective pianos replacing them and live bands spewing new contemporary worship music from large speaks on the stage. Rounding out the changes, ministry leaders attempt to appear stylish, youthful, and popular amongst their peers.

Today, CCA churches are still led by and filled with outcasts such as a known pedophile who was found guilty of his crimes in Los Angeles and Orange counties and is still currently enjoying access to young children at Godspeak in Thousand Oaks with few congregants aware of his crimes of the past. Or in that same CCA church, a former convict who shot at California Highway patrolman has been known to service McCoy’s airport transportation needs. Both of which McCoy platformed on podcasts. Or there is Pastor Don McClure of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa amongst other allegations, diverted money earmarked for food from young campers at a CCA summer camp to a missionary training program.

Putting aside the blatant violations of the Constitution and Johnson Amendment, it’s fair to ask oneself if these are really the people who should be contending politically in the public square? Especially since McCoy is a member of the National Council for Policy, a secret organization that meets and infuses dark money into far-right activities and politics?

– Contributing writer, Conejo Card Catalog (always filing and indexing)