Unaccountability


Unaccountable Pastors

Typically a Calvary Chapel pastor will tell you that he is accountable. The real question is to whom? Since the ultimate leadership is at the very top, a local pastor cannot be removed by the congregation even if he were to slip into an extreme heresy. When questioned, the Calvary Chapel pastors will most likely tell you;

 

"If you don't like it, there's the door."

 

How are CC Pastors Removed?

 

For all practical purposes, the removal of a Senior Pastor can only come from Chuck Smith himself and typically takes one of two forms:

 

1. If Chuck holds the trust deed to the facilities, then he can "foreclose" and put the pastor out of a job. Chuck can then put someone else in his place.

2. As the holder of the Calvary Chapel "trademark", Chuck has control over how the "trademark" is used. If a church gets into more error that he will tolerate he can prohibit them from using the "trademark" Calvary Chapel name. This is basically what happened to John Wimber when he was pastor of CC Yorba Linda about 15 years ago.

 

A Process that Does not Work

The booklet, Church Incorporation - How to Incorporate as a Non-profit Tax Exempt Church Organization, lays out the process for removal of the pastor. The elders must have a 3/4 vote to remove the Senior Pastor. Then the membership must have a 2/3 vote to remove. In the end it is almost impossible to do that. Particularly if there is no membership lists (for all practical purposes). With the hand picked board, there is also little chance of it happening?