Pastors react after Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa says it ordains women pastors
Pastors in the Calvary Chapel movement reacted with public statements opposing Char Brodersen’s announcement that Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, once the movement's flagship church, ordains women as pastors.
The Calvary Chapel Association (CCA) said through its Heartland Regional Team, which oversees affiliated churches in its region, that it sees no sound biblical basis for ordaining women to serve as elders and pastors and that the practice conflicts with the association’s distinctives.
In a statement, Pastor Josh Blevins & the CCA Heartland Regional Team called Calvary Chapel's Costa Mesa decision a "significant departure from the biblical convictions that have historically shaped our Calvary Chapel family."
Blevins wrote that the news grieved them because Jesus Movement figure Chuck Smith, who founded the Costa Mesa church, had deeply influenced them, and that the church has departed from convictions Smith taught.
"Through his leadership, Calvary Chapel became a central part of the Jesus Movement and established a strong example of teaching God’s Word simply, depending on the Holy Spirit, and eagerly awaiting Christ’s return. Costa Mesa’s present direction departs from important convictions Pastor Chuck faithfully taught and modeled," Blevins wrote.
"These concerns did not arise overnight. Brian Brodersen’s departure from the Calvary Chapel Association’s leadership and the subsequent formation of Calvary Global Network marked a separation in ministry direction. As a regional team, we have serious concerns about the direction Costa Mesa has taken."
Char Brodersen, a grandson of Smith, read a statement during the Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa service on Nov. 1, saying the church “believes and practices the ordination of both men and women to pastoral ministry as a recognition of the priesthood of all believers and the unique gifting of individuals by the Holy Spirit to continue the mission and ministry of Jesus in the Church and in the world.”
"We believe that both men and women are created by God, made in His image and are called by God from the beginning of creation to partner with Him in building for His Kingdom," Brodersen said. "Both men and women are essential ... to God and to one another in the work of partnering with God in His redemption through Jesus Christ, serving and ministering to the Church, to the home and to the world."
Brodersen said the congregation has been "practicing these things here for almost a decade" and women are already leading and serving in "every echelon" of ministry.
"We aren't changing anything in our current practice, but simply want to clarify our biblical position and our conviction," he said.
Women serving as pastors is a "secondary issue" on which faithful Christians who hold firmly to Scripture disagree, sometimes strongly, Brodersen said. The church, he added, wants to avoid judging people who read the Bible differently as less spiritual or less committed to its authority.
He cited a saying he credited to “one wise Christian,” which calls for unity in essentials, liberty in nonessentials and charity in all things.
The division at Costa Mesa began years earlier. Brian Brodersen, Smith’s son-in-law, took over the Costa Mesa church after Smith’s death and later resigned from the CCA’s council. In 2016, he then started a competing body, the Calvary Global Network, which split the movement.
The CCA condemned the new network, saying it lacked commitment to Calvary Chapel's core values and would weaken the movement’s identity. The Costa Mesa church also controls the website calvarychapel.com.
On Thursday, Char Brodersen posted on X lyrics from Simon & Garfunkel’s 1970 song “Keep the Customer Satisfied,” in which the singer complains of being slandered and libeled wherever he goes and of hearing words he never heard in the Bible.
Calvary Chapel Liberty, a church in Liberty, Missouri, that remains affiliated with the CCA, rejected the ordination of women as elders or pastors in a statement signed by Senior Pastor Scott Gurwell. The church will keep using the Calvary Chapel name, and its concerns about Costa Mesa began well before the announcement.
"Because Calvary Chapel Liberty bears the Calvary Chapel name, we believe it is important to clearly communicate where our church stands," Gurwell wrote. "We believe this decision represents a significant departure from the biblical convictions and ministry principles that historically shaped the Calvary Chapel movement."
Gurwell’s statement affirmed the work of women in the Church but reserved the offices of pastor and elder for biblically qualified men, citing passages in chapters 2 and 3 of 1 Timothy and chapter 1 of Titus. It also declared the church loyal to Jesus Christ and bound by the authority of the Bible.
In his statement addressed to fellow pastors, Blevins, who leads the Heartland team and is lead pastor of Grace Calvary Chapel in St. Joseph, Missouri, urged churches in the region to keep the Calvary Chapel name and continue teaching and caring for their congregations.
He shared graphics and draft wording for pastors who wish to post public statements, and left the choice to each pastor.
Blevins asked pastors to pray for the pastors and congregation in Costa Mesa and to respond accurately, with conviction and with grace.
Alan Disbrow, pastor of Calvary Chapel Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, wrote on Facebook that his church cut ties with Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa after Smith died in 2013. The church also kept its distance from the Calvary Global Network, first under Brian Brodersen and then under Char Brodersen, and its position has not changed, he added.
Lloyd Pulley, pastor of Calvary Old Bridge in New Jersey, wrote that the announcement did not surprise him at all. He had watched Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, once the movement’s flagship, "decline" steadily since Smith’s death.
"Dragging Calvary Chapel into confusion by refusing to change their name, website, and who they now are shows a lack of integrity and troubles many Calvary Chapel pastors, even to the point that many have felt the need to change their name," Pulley wrote.
"Yet, despite the painful split shortly after Chuck's passing and the splinter groups that have arisen since, a strong, sweet fellowship remains among those laboring in the Word of God and prayer, longing for the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not about living in the past, honoring Chuck Smith’s memory, or even protecting a brand. It is about being faithful to the Word of God, which Chuck indeed did model."
He warned that doctrines labeled “non-essential” can open the way to compromise, and that some people twist Scripture while claiming to have found what the Church overlooked for 1,800 years.
In September, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit by a former staff member, a single mother of four, who accused Jacob Harman, a former pastor, missionary and wrestling coach at the church, of raping her several times.
