Chuck Smith (preacher)

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Chuck Smith (also Charles Ward Smith ; born June 10, 1927 in Ventura , California , † October 3, 2013 in Newport Beach , California) was an American preacher and founder of the Calvary Chapel movement.

Life

Chuck Smith trained at LIFE Bible College and was appointed pastor of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel . After spending several years as a pastor in Tucson ( Arizona ), Huntington Beach ( California ) and Corona had worked (California) and was frustrated by the church development and efforts towards new church members, he took over in 1965 a church with 25 members in Santa Ana ( California), which he called Calvary Chapel (later Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa ). Smith immediately began broadcasting his sermons on the radio. The resulting increase in church attendants was unexpectedly high, so that after two years the congregation consisted of almost 2000 members. The growth was so strong that the radio broadcasts were temporarily stopped because there was not enough space for new members.

When the hippie culture peaked in the mid-1960s, Smith came into contact with young Christians from the Jesus People through his teenage daughter . Despite initial prejudices against the hippies, he began to make his church available as a meeting place and residence for some hippies. It was from this time that the “come as you are” attitude rooted in the mentality of the Calvary Chapel congregations stems from. Chuck Smith realized that many hippies were turned down by other churches because of their looks. Many of his later collaborators and many of the elders of his church were hippies from that time.

Over the years, Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa has planted more than 700 other churches worldwide. However, there were also splits. The Vineyard Movement, founded by John Wimber , split off from the Calvary Chapel Movement due to different emphases on supernatural signs and wonders.

Until his death, Smith's simple, Bible- based sermons reached 25,000 people every week; in addition, to this day people are reached through his recorded speeches and books.

criticism

In his books End Times (1978) and Future Survival (1980), Smith predicted that the world would end by 1981 at the latest. When the prediction did not come true, many disappointed followers left the Calvary Chapel movement.

Smith drew criticism when he described disasters like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as divine anger over homosexuality and abortion .

Other evangelicals criticized Smith for tolerating financial and sexual irregularities in the Calvary Chapel movement; he does not permanently remove sexual sin and lewd pastors from his church. When pastors repented and accepted counseling, Smith returned them to the pulpit.

Works

  • Harvest. Thugs, drug addicts, freaks - the scum of society. Chuck Smith's amazing story of how Calvary Chapel was made and the men God called into his harvest. Calvary Books, ISBN 3-934957-00-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chuck Smith, 86, Dies After Cancer Battle
  2. ^ Newton, Gwen: Religious Movements Homepage: Calvary Chapel ( English ) In: University of Virginia New Religious Movements Archive . University of Virginia. Spring, 1998. Archived from the original on August 28, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  3. ^ Larry Jones: History of Calvary Chapel. (PDF; 208 kB) April 23, 2001, archived from the original on November 28, 2011 ; accessed on October 2, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Monday, June 21, 1971: Time Magazine June, 1971: "The New Rebel Cry: Jesus Is Coming!" ( English ) Time.com. June 21, 1971. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Jaimee Lynn Fletcher: Calvary Chapel founder battling lung cancer ( English ) In: Orange County Register . January 5, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  6. ↑ Alex Murashko: Pastor Chuck Smith Suffers Setback in Battle With Lung Cancer ( English ) In: The Christian Post . June 24, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  7. ^ Arellano, Gustavo: Remembering When Chuck Smith Predicted the End Times - And They Didn't Happen . In: OC Weekly . May 7, 2011. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 3, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.ocweekly.com
  8. ↑ William Lobdell: In Aftermath of Attacks, Talk of, End Days' Soars . In: Los Angeles Times , August 1, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2013. 
  9. ↑ Christopher Goffard: Father, Son and Holy Rift . In: Los Angeles Times , September 2, 2006. Retrieved October 3, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Moll, Rob: Day of Reckoning . In: christianitytoday.com . February 16, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Chuck
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smith, Charles Ward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American preacher and founder of the Calvary Chapel Church
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Ventura (California)
DATE OF DEATH 3rd October 2013
Place of death Newport Beach , California