Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, the flagship church founded by Chuck Smith and the birthplace of the Calvary Chapel movement, has announced that it will begin ordaining women as pastors — a decision that puts the influential California church at odds with the Calvary Chapel Association and its long-held ministry distinctives.

Lead Pastor Char Brodersen, the grandson of Chuck Smith, read a statement to the congregation during the church's Sunday service on November 1. In it, the church declared: “Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa 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 ministry and mission of Jesus in the church and in the world.”

The statement went on to say 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. Both men and women are essential in ministering 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 framed the question as a secondary matter on which faithful Christians disagree. “This is a topic that falls under the category of secondary issues. It's an open-handed issue that many faithful, Jesus-loving, biblically grounded and convicted people hold differing views on,” he said, adding, “as a community of Jesus people, we want to avoid judging those who think and interpret these things differently, seeing them as being less spiritual, less committed to the authority of scripture or anything like that.” He quoted the old maxim: “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, freedom, liberty. In all things, charity.”

The response from within the Calvary Chapel movement was swift. The Calvary Chapel Association's Heartland Regional Team released a statement saying the announcement “represents a significant departure from the biblical convictions that have historically shaped our Calvary Chapel family.” The team said the development was “especially grievous” given the legacy of Pastor Chuck Smith, through whose 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.”

“Although disagreement over these doctrines does not, in itself, determine a person's salvation, these are consequential matters of biblical interpretation, church order, and pastoral faithfulness,” the regional team wrote. “We do not affirm the ordination of women as elders or pastors as biblically sound or consistent with the Calvary Chapel distinctives upheld by the Calvary Chapel Association.”

Tension between Costa Mesa and the wider association is not new. After Brian Brodersen, Chuck Smith's son-in-law, took over the church, he resigned from the Calvary Chapel Association Council and launched a competing network, the Calvary Chapel Global Network — a split the association condemned, arguing the new network lacked commitment to the movement's core values and distinctives. The ordination announcement deepens a divide that has been widening for years.

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa is no ordinary congregation. Founded in 1965, it grew under Chuck Smith from a handful of people into one of the most influential evangelical churches in America, and its story was retold in the 2023 film Jesus Revolution. Whatever the church decides next, thousands of Calvary Chapel pastors and congregations will be watching — and measuring the decision against the Word of God, which is the only standard that finally settles the question.