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JESUS PEOPLE MOVEMENT Participants were called "Jesus People," "Street Christians,” “Psychedelic Evangelists,” and “Jesus Freaks.” Common Characteristics – Theological Common Characteristics – Social and Religious 1967 Jesus People Movement began with the establishment of the “Living Room,” a “missionary crash pad” in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco. 1968 Arthur Blessit, a Southern Baptist minister and the self-proclaimed minister of Sunset Strip, opens His Place as a twenty-four hour teenage ministry. Blessit goes on carry a twelve-foot cross across the country and around the world. Other groups associated with the movement 1971 TIME article on Jesus People. 1972 Explo 72 in Dallas sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. 1974 Jesus Movement has largely disintegrated. Most participants moved back into established Protestant or Catholic denominations. Four denominations grew out of the movement As a youth Smith was very athletic and planned to become a doctor. He had a radical change of direction after attending a Christian youth camp. 1946 – Smith graduated from Lighthouse of International Foursquare Evangelism (L.I.F.E.), a Foursquare Gospel ministerial training center. Smith began his ministry in the Foursquare Gospel Church where he pastored in a number of churches, with varying degrees of success, for 17 years. He was never comfortable in the Foursquare Gospel left as he found the denominational structure rigid and confining. 1965 - Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California began as a Bible study for shut-ins at a trailer park. The group was struggling, with only 25 members. Smith was invited to pastor the group. 1967 – Calvary Chapel had grown to 2,000. 1968 – Lonnie and Connie Frisbee joined the staff of Calvary Chapel at Smith’s invitation. Lonnie Frisbee was the major force in attracting Jesus Freaks to Community Chapel. 1971 - Frisbee and Smith parted ways because their ideological differences had become too great. Frisbee affiliated with John Wimber, pastor of another Calvary Chapel who was more inclined than Smith toward spiritual gifts and conversions. Chuck Smith estimated that during the Frisbee period the church had baptized 8,000 and converted 20,000. Lonnie Frisbee 1950 – Lonnie Frisbee was born in Costa Mesa, California. 1965 – Frisbee could not get along with his stepfather and left home. Frisbee married Connie Bremer, who had previously dabbled in drugs and prostitution. 1968 – Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee meet and Frisbee began evangelizing. 1968 – After members began moving into Smith’s home, Calvary Chapel opened its first “House of Miracles” a communal "crash pad" for hippies who had "accepted the Lord." Subsequently over 20 “community houses” were established. 1973 - Lonnie and Connie Frisbee divorced in 1973 after Connie had an adulterous relationship with their pastor. 1978 - Frisbee joined with John Wimber, who also was committed to Pentecostalism and at the time was pastoring a small Calvary Chapel church in Yorba Linda. Frisbee had the same kind of impact on the growth of Wimber's church. Frisbee personally struggled with homosexuality, although he preached that it was evil and sinful. Both Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard ministries later distanced themselves from him because of his homosexuality. 1993 – Frisbee died of AIDS after spending the last two years of his life with Set Free Ministries. Calvary Chapel adhered to most evangelical Christian doctrine: • The Bible is understood to be the inspired and inerrant word of God. There was also an element of apocalypticism in early Calvary Chapel doctrine. Smith stated his expectation that the generation born starting in 1948 would be the world's last generation, and he expected that the world would end no later than 1981. The purpose of worship services at Calvary Chapel is to express love, praise, and thankfulness to God. There is a general structure to the services, although individual churches vary considerably, that includes segments on greeting, praise and worship, message, and payer. Worship services are flexible and open so that they may be guided by the Holy Spirit and encourage the opening of worshipers’ hearts. Therefore, worshipers are not instructed on when to sit, stand, read, or recite. A significant portion of the service involves music because Calvary Chapel teaches that worship should be inspirational. Calvary Chapel practices baptism and communion. Baptism is not believed to be essential for spiritual salvation but rather is regarded as emblematic of an inner transformation that has occurred. Calvary Chapel's encourages the exercise of the gifts "decently and in good order," which translates into personal rather than public devotions or expression in "after glow" services.
Chuck Smith founded and has led Calvary Chapel church network since its inception in 1965. Calvary Chapel grew into a network of several hundred affiliated churches around the country and 1,500 The Costa Mesa church moved several time in response to membership growth before building a chapel on 11 acres in Costa Mesa to accommodate the 25,000 members. The main church in Costa Mesa ultimately reached a membership of over 30,000. Churches generally follow what is termed the " Moses Model” of leadership in which God is the ultimate leader, and each pastor plays the role of Moses, serving directly under godly authority and responsible to God. Pastors of churches are not required to possess a seminary degree. Smith has ordained those who told him that they had received a call to the ministry and who were dedicated to Smith's ministerial philosophy. In addition to its network of churches, Calvary Chapel established the Calvary Chapel Bible College (which is not accredited), the Harvest Crusades (combination of a Christian rock concert and platform for testimonies), Maranatha Music (a recording label), and a radio network. CONTROVERSIES Calvary Chapel has moved toward the mainstream as numerous other churches adopted its emphasis on informality and music.
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