Many have viewed the movie “Jesus Revolution.” The film focuses on the impact the Jesus People Movement had on evangelist Greg Laurie. It shows the special role played by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa among the Jesus People. When I saw the film, I was conscious that I had met Pastor Chuck before any of the Jesus People in the film.
As a new graduate from DTS, I pastored 1968-1973 in Santa Ana, CA. Billy Graham was scheduled to do evangelism in the Anaheim Stadium in 1969. Months before the outreach, they held a lunch for pastors. Pastor Chuck Smith sat across the table from me. He introduced himself, “I pastor a little fundamentalist church in Costa Mesa, but my primary ministry is teaching home Bible Studies in the Back Bay of Newport Beach.”
I want to present a core side of the Jesus People Movement that is sometimes missed. That is the role of verse by verse Bible teaching
For a season Calvary met in a tent, while it built a larger facility, five miles from my church.
After being gone from Orange County for 14 years, we felt drawn back to the strong Bible teaching ministry coupled with an openness to the working of the Holy Spirit found at Calvary Chapel. We went across the Rockies, because we knew Chuck Smith was teaching at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. He talked to us for an hour and told us when we came out to get in touch. So, we did. He talked to me for an hour. Then he said, “i’ll see about putting you on pastoral staff. By the way what’s your name?” Then as I started on staff, he told me. The Lord would show him who should be on staff and then He would show that person what he should do.
The Lord did show me a few things to do. The big one was our School of Ministry, our pastoral training school. I had started a laymen’s Bible school. We offered up to 30 classes in each six week term. Pastor Chuck had what he called School of Ministry, which met every other week before the men’s prayer meeting Saturday evenings. He taught through Acts emphasizing church planting. Now, I got it by the grapevine that Pastor Chuck was dropping School of Ministry, because Carl had started Tuesday School. My reaction was that what we were doing for laymen and what we were served as pastoral training were two different things.
A large old house across the boulevard from my church became a commune for Calvary Chapel hippies. I went with them to the tent that housed the church, while they built a larger facility. The atmosphere was electric as the crowd put their arms around each others shoulders and swayed to the music as they sang. I was in my late 20s and I felt old for that crowd. That atmosphere could not be reproduced without having a large crowd of exuberant youth newly saved from a life of drugs and sex.
Coming on staff I found many who had been active Jesus People, but who were now spiritually mature.
Something else was happening. We had a number of young men with Jesus People zeal, who wanted to do ministry. When they would tell that to Pastor Chuck, he started to reply. ”Go see Carl Westerlund.” So, what do I do? I decided to start a school. Our Bible College did a great job teaching books of the Bible verse by verse, but I felt pastors’ training required developing some skills.
Using Pastor Chuck’s name “School of Ministry,” I started a two-year morning school 7-10. All 50-80 students were full time. I took my DTS notes and developed curriculum. We included standard Greek and Hebrew. I had students who had done time in prison for drugs and others with advanced degrees.
My Initial reaction to what was happening at Calvary Chapel was that it was very emotional. Pentecostal. While feelings were present, because the Holy Spirit was moving, they were not cranked up. Pastor Chuck kept a close check on any emotional expression. The emphasis was always on the teaching of the Word.
Sunday mornings Pastor Chuck highlighted a few verses from the passage he was going to be teaching that evening. Midweek Pastor Chuck would do a book of the Bible in depth. Then every other night someone was teaching the Bible.
The result has been that men would sit night after night under the Word. Because it was a reproducible format, they were able to go out and start a church and teach verse by verse. Some have mega churches with national ministries. One of those was Greg Laurie. He started Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA. He told me one time that when he started in ministry, he would listen by tape to listen to Pastor Chuck teach through a passage and then he would teach it. Before he died, he had 1700 Calvary Chapels
Many think of Jesus People as somewhat superficial spiritually. They don’t realize the solid biblical foundation that was given the movement through Chuck Smith.