Founder of Calvary Chapel Movement Visits Creation Museum

Pastor Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel network of international churches, spoke to the staff at Answers in Genesis and toured the Creation Museum on Tuesday.

“Pastor Chuck” (as he is known) started his ministry in the 1960s in southern California. Today in America, there are now over 1,000 Calvary Chapels as well as Christian schools and Bible colleges linked to the Calvary Chapel movement. There are also dozens of congregations in the UK (I have spoken at the London church a couple of times), plus Calvary Chapels in other nations. It’s not a denomination but an association of churches. Pastor Chuck was also considered one of the fathers of the so-called “Jesus People” movement, which played a large part in reaching young people (and many adults) with the gospel in the 1960s and 70s.

The original Calvary Chapel is the one in Costa Mesa, California. I have spoken at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa a few times since the 1980s. Pastor Chuck is still the pastor at age 85; though he’s had some serious health challenges in the past few years.

Below are a number of pictures of Pastor Chuck’s visit, including the interview I had with him during our staff meeting. They include two photos of a plaque of recognition that we gave to this Christian pioneer.

Here is a photo taken of Pastor Chuck meeting with an AiG supporter at the museum. She’s the wife of a pastor of a Calvary Chapel church in Ohio who just happened to be in the museum that day.

After I personally guided him through the museum (along with leaders at his church), Pastor Chuck couldn’t say enough about how impressed he was with the quality and the message. Pastor Chuck told me he wished he could bring every one of his Christian school students to the Creation Museum.

As well as touring the Creation Museum, Pastor Chuck visited our design studios down the road, and he had a sneak peak at some of the new exhibits being constructed for the museum (a world-class insect display and dragon exhibit). He also spoke with our Noah’s Ark design team and then visited the property where our full-size Ark is going to be built. See www.ArkEncounter.com for more information.

I encourage you to watch the fascinating interview I had with Pastor Chuck in front of the AiG staff. He speaks about the history of the Calvary Chapel movement—including some of the struggles and the blessings of a movement that has now spread around the world. I urge you to watch the video below:

Update on Christian School Being Besieged

I have an update on a Christian school in South Carolina that came under a massive attack because it teaches biblical creation. A quiz given to a fourth grade class that incorporated AiG’s teachings on dinosaurs got posted to the web and went viral. The atheists went ballistic.

Here is a good summary of the attack on the school—as broadcast by a TV station in the state last night.

You can also read my blog post on this subject.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying
Ken