Modest Pastor Sees Costa Mesa Flock Grow From 25 to 12,000

In an era of fallen televangelists and mass-marketed religion, Pastor Chuck Smith’s Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa approaches its 25th anniversary unscathed by scandal and seemingly ever mindful of the pride that could precede a fall.

About 12,000 people attend services at the chapel each Sunday, making it the third-best-attended Protestant church in the nation, according to a new survey. Calvary Chapel also claims 386 affiliated churches in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Far East; religious programs on about 140 radio stations; missionaries in 15 countries, and a booming book, music and Bible-on-cassette business.

Yet, unlike its better-known neighbors, Melodyland Christian Center and the Crystal Cathedral, Calvary Chapel does not advertise its services. It shuns publicity. And as an article of faith, it never solicits contributions. “If you ask for money, you’ll probably get fired,” said Assistant Pastor L. E. Romaine.

Indeed, the church has even replaced the Sunday collection plate with a simple bag.

“That way people aren’t looking to see how much Joe gave this week, and ‘Look, Bill just gave a dollar,’ ” said Lew Phelps, who manages the chapel’s outreach ministry.

Even Calvary Chapel’s origins are low-profile. The fundamentalist church began amid the bean fields of Santa Ana, but membership had dwindled to 25 when Smith took over in 1965.

After several moves to other churches and a two-year stint in a tent, the fellowship moved in 1971 to its present location, a low-slung building at Sunflower and Fairview avenues. By then, it was attracting crowds of young people, including many ex-hippies, in what later became known as the Jesus People Movement of 1969-1974.

“They were accepted just as they were--long hair, granny dresses, fur-covered Bibles, whatever,” said Romaine.

Many still worship at Calvary Chapel.

Smith began conducting mass baptisms at Pirate’s Cove at Corona del Mar, which continue to draw huge crowds.

A five-day Harvest Crusade at the Pacific Amphitheater in August drew 18,000 to 20,000 people each night, church leaders said. The following week, Smith baptized 1,000 people.

Smith, once a Foursquare Gospel minister, is a believer in the Pentecostal gift of “speaking in tongues” and takes a literalist biblical approach, including assumptions that the world’s “last days” are near. But he has roundly criticized excesses in the Pentecostal movement, such as people collapsing as if “slain by the Spirit” and flamboyant displays of piety.

Smith said some of his flock practice charismatic devotions such as faith-healing and speaking in tongues. But the tone of the church’s public sermons is more restrained.

“We don’t believe in the actions of the charismatics which are so often excessive--for example speaking in tongues in church and making a heavy emphasis on acts of faith,” he said. “We have elders who pray for the sick, but we don’t make a big display of it. It’s not a circus-tent environment.”

At 63, Smith, who prefers to be called “Pastor Chuck,” is unassuming and easygoing. On Thursday, he showed visitors around the chapel dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and said he was “totally and completely” surprised to learn that his flock is the third largest in the nation.

The church’s 21-acre campus includes a religious bookstore, the chapel, the newly expanded Maranatha Christian Academy with 1,500 pupils in kindergarten through grade 12, a fellowship hall and several overcrowded parking lots.

Smith graduated from LIFE Bible College in Los Angeles and was a pastor in Foursquare Gospel churches for 17 years before taking over Calvary Chapel.

Calvary Chapel’s total budget was $9.5 million last year, all from donations, Smith said.Two-thirds of the income is spent on missionary work and one-third is used to operate Calvary Chapel. The church has no debts. Smith said surpluses are used to subsidize tuition at the Christian schools and to loan $10 million to affiliated churches to help them expand.

Several years ago, the church donated $453,000 to the Israeli government to help establish settlements in “upper Galilee,” now known as the occupied West Bank, and built baptismal sites for Christian pilgrims on the River Jordan, church leaders said.

The chapel was recently rebuffed in efforts to build a 550-acre religious resort and conference center in a quiet valley on Palomar Mountain. This month, it announced plans to build the retreat near Lake Arrowhead instead.