Posted on 10/03/2013 9:24:43 AM PDT by hoagy62
Chuck Smith, the evangelical pastor whose outreach to hippies in the 1960s helped transform worship styles in American Christianity and fueled the rise of the Calvary Chapel movement, died Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013, after a battle with lung cancer. He was 86. Diagnosed in 2011, Smith continued to preach and oversee administration at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (California), where he'd been pastor since 1965. In 2012, he established a 21-member leadership council to oversee the Calvary Church Association, a fellowship of some 1,600 like-minded congregations in the United States and abroad.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
..another great man of God being ushered into glory—see you soon Pastor Chuck...
I thank almighty God for saving Pastor Chuck and for his faithful ministry. May God richly bless and comfort his family.
Thanks Pastor Chuck... see you soon
Amazing what this man did through the tools GOD called him to use.
Roger that. I was attending Calvary Chapel in my area too, He will be missed, but we will see him again.
Ping!
"Yet it was his openness to new cultural styles, including laid-back music and funky fashions of California's early surfer scene, that helped him reach young idealists and inspire a trend toward seeker-sensitive congregations...his impact can be seen in every church service that has electric guitar-driven worship, hip casually-dressed pastors, and 40-minute sermons consisting of verse-by-verse Bible expositions peppered with pop-culture references and counterculture slang."
Rest in peace, servant of God ... but I wish you hadn't helped wreck traditional worship. Still, God's will be done.
God rest his soul. I agree with your assessment, FRiend.
A good and godly man - thanks for your faithfulness sir.
That was the pipeline that brought Greg Laurie to the Lord. God Bless you Pastor Smith. I heard many a great sermon from you and Greg Laurie.
He obeyed God. It resulted in much fruit. Wonderful man who made you smile just by being around him. God is good!
I wouldn’t say Chuck Smith single-handedly “wrecked traditional worship”. Because all he did in that respect was act as ONE of the visionaries to incorporate Contemporary music into services for Contemporary worshipers...this would have occurred without him anyway, because it always has.
Music changed radically in the 1960’s so the transition was more of a shock to traditionalists in the Church then. A lot of nonsense about certain types of music being “of the Devil” was foolishly published.
I’m sure there are still churches around that will serve the needs of those who only want traditional hymns in the services, but don’t knock Pastor Chuck in this respect because he reached the youth and the lost were saved in a mighty way.
I am very grateful that Chuck Smith had ears to hear.
We have several Calvary Community Chapels here in Minnesota, including one nearby in Saint Cloud. We’ve been looking at going to a Sunday service soon, I think we will.
Rest in peace, servant of God ... but I wish you hadn’t helped wreck traditional worship. Still, God’s will be done.
...amen to that...I know the fellow had a godly heart, but the concept of ‘seeker-sensitive congregations’ has led to a lax laity more concerned with its own comfort than with worship...summer masses in a typical suburban Catholic Church are filled with people who appear headed to the beach for a day of fun...
I can count on one hand the men who gained my ultimate trust. Chuck Smith was one of them.
A great man.
Pastor Greg Laurie was brought to the Lord under his ministry.
Thank you for this post. I get that God shouldn't be put in a box, but I miss reverence. I miss the majesty of worship and I miss God being first in some congregations I once attended.
R.I.P. and well done! We will miss you Pastor Chuck.
but I wish you hadn’t helped wreck traditional worship. Still, God’s will be done.
Lou Graham of Foreigner is part of Calvary Chapel.
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