Calvary Chapel is distinct in its verse by verse, book by book exposition of the whole Bible and in its pastor led pattern of church government, often called the Moses model.
Calvary Chapel began in Costa Mesa, California, in 1965 under pastor Chuck Smith and grew rapidly during the Jesus movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, baptizing many young converts from the counterculture. Churches are affiliated rather than denominationally governed, and each local pastor holds primary authority. Chuck Smith's teaching ministry and the movement's contemporary worship music shaped evangelical practice well beyond its own churches.
Sources
Primary
- Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel Distinctives (2001)
Secondary
- Donald E. Miller, Reinventing American Protestantism: Christianity in the New Millennium (1997)