To Ray: That is a troubling statement coming from someone whom I suspect has no first hand knowledge of what Calvary Chapel really is.

BTW, ANY church has flaws- the worshippers, the staff and the pastors still remain all sinners saved by grace. If the biblical teaching is sound-That’s good enough for me and I can make my own discerning decidions regarding all the other stuff.

Hi Lynn,
I posted this some time back, so I reread what I wrote. I do not see any reference to pedophile allegations in my post. Can you explain your question so we are on the same page? You bring in an accusation that I did not make, and then want me to defend that accusation. huh?

Concerning “putting the pastor on a pedestal”, let me just say a few things. I am a pastor of 30+ years, so I am not speaking from ignorance or from having a gripe against any pastor. I have “been my own pastor,” taking that responsibility since about 1986. While I am conscious of the responsibilities that fall to us as pastors, I am not ignorant of abuses of my fellow pastors. These abuses come with the territory, and EVERY pastor has to contend with the desire and temptation to become overbearing as his people are fed by the Word of God at his hand, and he has the opportunity to become overbearing for evil. I am going to try to be precise with my words here.

Every ministry is a factor or function of the people leading it, and to a degree those in that movement or ministry, as lay people. They pay the bills mostly. There is a tendency to exalt “YOUR” pastor over all others. I understand that. That would be “normal” to me, because why would you go to that church if across town there is a better church, better preaching, better pastor, etc. I also understand that not everybody is the same (thank God for that) and some people are rubbed raw with some types of things while others love it. If you don’t believe me, just go to a good country church one Sunday, and then a high society and sophisticated church in the city the next and you will wonder why those people are there (hard to justify in our minds extreme opposites it would seem). Okay.

But there are signs of a wolf, and signs of a shepherd. A wolf controls everything and everybody. A good pastor understands the priesthood of every believer (and teaches that and allows that in his ministry), and that right and privilege that God endows every believer to make the final decisions in his own life. The wolf would shy away from that and tend to teach and create an atmosphere of control and checking everything with “your spiritual authority” or your spiritual leaders. (Watchman Nee wrote a whole book on the submission of laypeople to their pastor, what a topic for a wolf pastor!) We are to teach the flock to do the work of God, so having taught the biblical principles, we simply let them go and do their thing. It is like livestock. The farmer or rancher doesn’t micromanage their reproduction. He just lets them do their own thing, and they will reproduce naturally. If they are sick and weak, he treats that and again, let them do their thing afterwards. Salvation works. We muck up things.

Somehow some pastors that have a tendency towards being a wolf or super controlling wants to micro-manage the lives of his members. This is bad. We need to teach our members to compare everything in their spiritual lives and church life to Scripture, and recognize and reject what is not biblical. That is my position.

I have seen people in the Calvary movement. And as with a lot of groups that are not the best (I am still looking for the best and cannot find it) there are good people in there. So I am not denying that. But you must look at tendencies, and be aware and beware when these tendencies go extreme. Like a frog in a kettle of cold water over the fire, you never see it coming until you are boiled! So mark the signs, and meditate on them. That is my point.

I went to Bob Coys church. He taught us to NOT put the pastor on a pedestal. I never heard of any pedophile allegations. Your evidence please?