Folks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the video I watched today, the one called “Why Did Calvary Chapel Split, The Truth About CCA vs CCGN.” It’s a helpful look at what happened after Pastor Chuck Smith went to be with the Lord, and it raises a practical question for many of us, especially here in the UK: when a church calls itself a Calvary Chapel, what should we expect to find?

The answer, for me, still comes back to the book Pastor Chuck wrote, Calvary Chapel Distinctives. You can still buy it online, and you can read it online at the Calvary Chapel Portsmouth website here: https://www.calvaryportsmouth.co.uk/history/calvary-chapel-distinctives/

Chris Quintana and Kyle Peart from Once Lost Ministries: https://www.youtube.com/live/g6jALsoMMg8?si=CF72Rb6So5UJaUsd. They discussed the distinctives in the video; you will see they weren’t intended to be a heavy rulebook. Rather, they describe the balance of Word and Spirit that characterised the movement’s early years—a balance the Association has sought to preserve.

The priority was always the Word of God taught verse by verse, chapter by chapter, through the whole Bible, so that the whole counsel of God was declared (Acts 20:27).

There was an openness to the Holy Spirit, but always with Scripture as the final authority and everything done decently and in order. Grace was real—grace that restores people when they fall, not a system that piles on extra burdens.

The pattern for church life was taken from Acts 2:42: the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. Leadership followed what has been called the Moses model—the senior pastor seeking the Lord for direction, with a board beside him, rather than committees or the congregation running everything.

Growth was expected to come through faithfulness and the work of the Spirit, not through hype or carnal, emotional methods. Jesus stayed at the centre, love was greater than the gifts, and the pre-tribulation rapture was taught as a consistent hope.

These things gave the name “Calvary Chapel” a recognisable meaning. In 2012 the Calvary Chapel Association was formed so that independent churches could stay connected around that same philosophy of ministry without turning into a denomination. Affiliation means a church has agreed to walk in those distinctives. That’s why the church locator on the Association website (calvarycca.org/churches/) is useful—it shows the fellowships that have actually made that commitment.

The Global Network took a different path. From the video and the public letters of November 2016, the differences are fairly clear. The Network was set up as a looser arrangement with no formal affiliation process, no regional overseers, and no real involvement if a local church begins to drift. The Association’s concern, stated in their response at the time, was that continuing to use the Calvary Chapel name without requiring the historic distinctives would eventually water them down and leave people confused about what the name means.

There were also questions about whether the teaching would remain the straightforward verse-by-verse exposition that had characterised the movement, and whether the long-standing emphasis on the Lord’s return would stay central.

One side continued as a fellowship of pastors holding the pattern together; the other moved under the direction of one man into something broader and less defined.

This isn’t a salvation issue, whether brothers in either group are saved. It’s about whether the name still points to a clear, shared ministry philosophy or whether it has become so elastic that you don’t know what you’re walking into.

For those of us in the UK, that practical distinction matters. There are faithful Calvary Chapel Association churches here; just a few days ago at Bridlington South Beach (Yorkshire), they were involved in a mass of 550 baptisms, and the ministry involved BibleLadUK is pointing people to Bible teaching churches.

Some places use the name but have moved away from its distinctive beliefs and practices. To find a church, the easiest place to start is the official church locator: https://calvarycca.org/churches/. The site also works in the UK if you put your postcode in.

When you visit a Calvary Chapel and haven’t had a chance to check out the website, take a moment to listen for consistent, verse-by-verse teaching that reflects the whole counsel of God, offers a balanced view of the Spirit, and extends grace that restores rather than crushes.

You can also check their website for a clear link to the Calvary Chapel Association.

Churches are free to change direction if they believe the Lord is leading them that way. If they do, though, it may be best to let go of the Calvary Chapel name once they’ve moved away from its distinctives.

The Lord is still building His church. Our part is to stay in the Word become Bible-Strong, love the people He’s given us, and be careful about the labels we use. The distinctives still describe a clear and biblical pattern, and the Association continues to hold to it.

For anyone looking for a fellowship that walks in that pattern, the church locator is a good place to start. “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13, NKJV).

Peter