Southern California megachurch pastor Chuck Smith was taken to the hospital over the weekend after having what doctors described as a “mini stroke.”
Pastor Dale Morgan
Southern California megachurch pastor Chuck Smith was taken to the
hospital over the weekend after having what doctors described as a “mini
stroke.”
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By Joshua A. Goldberg|Christian Post Reporter
Southern California megachurch pastor Chuck Smith was taken to the
hospital over the weekend after having what doctors described as a “mini
stroke.”
Close friend and fellow pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian
Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., reported Sunday that Smith, senior
pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa in Santa Ana, Calif., was taken
to the hospital late Saturday night and urged prayers for the
82-year-old minister.
“Please be in prayer for Pastor Chuck Smith,” Laurie announced Sunday
morning.
“[L]et’s remember this beloved man of God in prayer, that the Lord would
touch, bless and heal him,” he added.
Smith, who discipled church leaders such as Laurie and Skip Heitzig of
Calvary of Albuquerque in New Mexico, is a recognized speaker at pastors
conferences and has authored and co-authored several books.
Ordained as a pastor for the International Church of the Foursquare
Gospel, Smith started pastoring Calvary Chapel in 1965, when the
congregation was only 25-large.
Calvary Chapel has since grown to have a weekly attendance of 9,500,
making it the 67th largest church in America, according to the Hartford
Institute for Religion Research.
It has also been responsible for more than 1,500 church plants.
Pastor expected to fully recover
He’s been with Calvary Chapel since 1965. Family is grateful for
community support.
By Mona Shadia
Updated: Monday, December 28, 2009 10:25 PM PST
Chuck Smith, senior pastor of the Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and a
leading figure of the Jesus People movement in the 1960s, is expected to
fully recover after suffering a mild stroke Sunday morning, his
secretary said.
On Monday, Smith, 82, of Newport Beach, remained hospitalized
indefinitely at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
“We are just so thankful that it was just a mild stroke,” said Laura
Jackson, his secretary of 11 years. “We are thankful that his recovery
is going extremely well and the family is very thankful for the love,
the support and prayers from the church and the community.... It means a
lot to them.”
Smith has served as Calvary Chapel’s pastor since 1965. At the time,
Smith was a leader of the Jesus People movement in Southern California,
saving countless hippies by baptizing them on the beach in Corona del
Mar, Jackson said.
“In a short time, the church’s members went from 25 people to more than
20,000 believers,” she said.
Calvary Chapel is a nondenominational church with 1,500 affiliate
churches throughout the nation and the world, Jackson said.
Smith also was one of the first to give contemporary Christian music and
songs an audience. The bands Love Song, the Way and Mustard Seed Faith,
who are associated with the beginnings of Christian music, started their
careers at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, Jackson said.
“It really reached the young people at the time,” she said. “He loves
the old hymns. The old hymns are very much part of our tradition and we
sing them on Sunday, so we never forget the roots of our traditions as
Christians. But that music at the time was able to reach the young
population. It was Christian lyrics to a sound that young people really
related to.”