The Episcopacy at Calvary Chapel

CC operates in sort of a weird spot when it comes to church government. In spite of their claims to the contrary, most Calvary Chapels have what amounts to an Episcopalian form of church governance. Episcopalian government in the church is where the church is ruled by a hierarchy of bishops. These bishops place pastors into local churches.

But, CC has no bishops!
At the larger CCs, the board obstensively picks the next pastor and the board is largely picked from other CC pastors. Often these are prominent pastors in CC who are friends of the current pastor. Such an example is Calvary Chapel of Albquerque where the board consists of only one person from inside the local church. The rest of the board members are friends of the former pastor, They are mostly pastors of other Calvary Chapels.

The Congregational Form in contrast to CC
Calvary Chapel rejects the congregational form of government where the people of the church elect the board members. In such a church, when a pastor leaves an search committee is formed inside the church. The search committee is often elected by the congregation to represent their interests. That way the search committee reflects the local church situation.

Where does CC draw it's model from?
Calvary Chapel is modeled most closely to the Roman Catholic form of church government. It is true that there is no formal heirarchy of bishops at Calvary Chapel. However, there is an informal heirarch of bishops in CC. They have the superstars at the top in this multi-tiered system. The Superstars function as bishops.

So How does it work at CC?
If a new pastor is needed the board of the Calvary Chapel picks the new pastor. The board is made up of people that are hand picked by the previous pastor. As noted, often times they are pastors from other Calvary Chapels. Thus, Calvary Chapel has an episcopal form of governance when it comes to pastoral succession. The superstar pastors in the denomination all serve on each other's boards. When one of them leaves, the other chooses his successor. That way they protect their own jobs by stopping hostile takeovers within the local church.