I have been learning more about the Jesus Revolution Movement after watching the movie a while back. It is fascinating to see just how remarkable the impact of that work of God is till today. One of the key players is Chuck Smith and as the movie points out he was changed by the experience. His small church dramatically grew, and over time Calvery Chapel became a large denomination of churches. As we will see in a future article, this group also sparked the Vineyard Movement. When you also consider the impact of Greg Laurie you appreciate just how dramatic the legacy was. Here is how Chuck Smit was described in an article I found in my Logos software:
In his ministry at Calvary Chapel, Smith has held firmly to conservative and evangelical theology, while also holding on to some aspects of charismatic teaching, expressing neither strict charismatic nor cessationist beliefs. With this foundation, there is a lot of room for varying beliefs in regards to the spiritual gifts within Calvary Chapel churches. While virtually all Calvary Chapel pastors are solidly evangelical, Calvary Chapel churches do not strongly emphasize doctrinal differences that can lead to division in the body of Christ.
Early in Calvary Chapel’s ministry, the church began reaching out to the hippie culture that was so prevalent on California beaches. As these hippies became “Jesus Freaks,” they were welcomed into Calvary Chapel, and the church began to grow exponentially. The church was among the first to emphasize contemporary worship and a welcoming atmosphere for non-Christians while at the same time not neglecting the proclamation of the truth of God’s Word. Willow Creek and the Vineyard Fellowship were influenced or birthed from Calvary Chapel, although they have since diverged significantly from Calvary Chapel on some beliefs and practices. The contemporary Christian music movement was also helped immensely by the church. There were several music groups at Calvary, and Chuck Smith started Maranatha! Music to help them distribute their songs.
Got Questions Ministries (2002–2013) Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Smith consciously attempted to forge a middle ground on many of the controversies in Christian doctrine. He was described as neither reformed nor arminian and not charismatic or cessationist. The Church explains:
“An important characteristic of Calvary Chapel fellowships is our desire to not divide God’s people over non-essential issues. This is not to say that we do not have strong convictions. When the Bible speaks clearly, we must as well. But on other issues, we try to recognize the scriptural validity of both sides of a debate and avoid excluding or favoring those in one camp over the other.
An example of this kind of inclusiveness is found in our approach to the debatable issue concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We don’t take a typical Pentecostal view, nor do we take a typical Baptist view. The minute you set your position one way or the other, you’ve lost half of your congregation. Why would you want to lose half your congregation? Our desire is to minister to as broad a group of people as possible . . .
“It’s important to recognize that we can agree to disagree and still maintain a spirit of unity and love.”— Pastor Chuck Smith”
This approach did allow a large denomination to grow but with both Lonnie Frisbee and later John Wimber, and as we see in the movie Chuck had some reservations about certain more dramatic manifestations and as a result felt he had to split with the strong charismatics. More of that in future articles.
The movement really was remarkable:
The Jesus people first came to his church in the form of a dozen “hippies” who were converted and accepted into the church, to the horror of old-line saints who failed to understand what was happening. In two frantic years, Smith was deluged with thousands of converts from the drug-oriented southern California hippie culture who crowded into his church to find salvation and deliverance from drugs. In a few months, Smith baptized some 15,000 converts in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and was forced to move his young congregation into a temporary tent seating 3,000 persons. By the end of the decade, Calvary Chapel built a church sanctuary seating 4,000 and counted over 25,000 in attendance at their regular Sunday services
Synan, V. (1997) The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 256.
In 1975 Christianity Today reported on the first nine years of the Jesus Movement and Calvary Chapel:
Nine years ago Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California, had twenty-five members. By 1969 it had 150. Then it launched into an outreach program beamed at young people in the streets. Within two years attendance reached 2,000, hundreds at a time were being baptized in the ocean, building expansion programs could not keep abreast, and Look, Time, and network television reporters were knocking at the doors. Pastor Chuck Smith claimed he was not doing anything differently from before. Yet the throngs of young people kept coming.
Calvary Chapel today has 15,000 members. About 10,000 attend the three Sunday morning services. The majority of those in the congregation are under 35. The Sunday school is so crowded out that high schoolers are encouraged to attend a church service instead. The Saturday night youth meetings attract between 4,000 and 5,000, and 2,500 show up for Thursday night Bible-study meetings. Nearly 800 were baptized on a recent Monday night . . .
Smith holds Foursquare Church ordination credentials, and he believes in Full Gospel doctrine, but Calvary’s church services are not charismatic oriented. There are only a few standard hymns or choruses (usually without instruments), no upraised hands, no tongues messages or prophecies, no “singing in the Spirit,” no shouted Amens. There is no choir (Smith says too many church troubles originate among choir members, and he thinks the entire congregation should be a choir). Nearly everyone brings a Bible, and many people take notes. Smith, 48, majors in verse-by-verse exposition, and his sermons last about forty-five minutes. He rarely gives up his pulpit to speak elsewhere. Persons interviewed at random said they attend Calvary mainly because of Smith’s Bible teaching and partly because of the love they sense there.
Plowman, E.E. and Fyles, G. (1975) “Whatever Happened to the Jesus Movement?,” Christianity Today, pp. 103–104.
There is no doubt that like Greg Laurie, the ministry of Chuck Smith was dramatically impacted by the Jesus Movement and that for decades they both carried that influence to others and saw remarkable God-given success even though the movement itself had faded. We too can recapture something of the spirit of revival as I have spoken of before.
I found the quotes in this article using Logos Bible Software. If you do not yet have this wonderful Bible Study tool or you are due an upgrade, readers of this blog get a 10% discount.
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The Jesus Revolution: A Review of the Hippies for Jesus Film
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