Affiliation?

What does it mean that Calvary Chapel is an "affiliation"? How does that compare to being a "denomination"? Who is the pastor of a CC pastor? Who affiliates with whom? What causes disaffiliation?

Basic Definitions
The more basic question to start with is what is a "church"? Moving past the common misconception that church = building, in the root meaning the word "church" also means "assembly". That implies more than 1 person. The pastor is not the church. The pastor and all the people are the church. This point matters a great deal when discussing affiliation.

What does "Affiliation" Mean?
A Calvary Chapel is "affiliated" with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa which is affiliated with other like-minded local Calvary Chapels. But what does that mean? Surprisingly, it's not the church which is affiliated at all, but the pastor who is affiliated. And his affiliation is with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. And the head of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa is Chuck Smith (hence the BLOG title).

So when a pew warmer says "I go to Calvary Chapel of Tucson" for instance, what he is saying is that I fellowship together (I "church") with other people who are also pastored by a person who is in affiliation with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa which is headed by Chuck Smith.

See the distinction? To restate - it's not the church which is affiliated with Calvary Chapel, it's the pastor. This is why Calvary Chapel is NOT a denomination. Denomination affiliate the church with the larger group. Calvary Chapel pastors are all connected together since they are part of the same group.

Not a Denomination?
Seems strange? It is different than most other churches and similar at the same time. Other denominations have local church pastors and a denominational structure. The local church affiliates with the denomination and the pastor is a member of a separate group, often called the ministerium. His superintendent is his pastor.

Who is my pastor's pastor?
Look at it this way. Your CC pastor is a member of two churches. He is a member of the local church, just like you, and he is a member of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa through his affiliation with CCCM. Chuck Smith is his pastor in that relationship.

Don't expect your pastor's pastor to rope in your pastor if he gets out of control. Remember you are not being pastored by your pastor's pastor, only your pastor is pastored by Chuck Smith. With 1000 churches, Chuck Smith can't pastor all 1000 pastors. Calvary is trying to solve some of these issues by putting in place regional pastors. This is being resisted by the local pastors who don't want the accountability structures or resist the denominationalism that it implies to them.

That Sounds Catholic, not Protestant!
Yes, it does. The analogy is to the Roman Catholic church with a Pope and Cardinals. Chuck functions as the Pope and the regional pastors are his bishops/cardinals.

However there is an important difference. The Catholic Church has accountability which Calvary Chapel lacks. The local pastor is controlled by the Bishop not the local congregation. It takes an action by the Bishop to remove him. There is no way to remove a pastor of a Calvary Chapel since he's his own little Pope, just like Chuck. Look at it this way. CC is even worse than the Roman Catholic Church. All the problems with none of the avenues of justice to resolve them!

Disaffiliation?
That's a fairly simple question. All you need to do is become a net negative to the head boss and you will be punted to the curb. He did it to his own son, Chuck Jr, so don't expect less yourself.

Chuck Smith defines what Calvary Chapel means and what it will take to become disaffiliated. Today the list is 1> Pretrib is necessary, 2> Can't be Calvinist, 3> Don't emerge or be seeker sensitive...

What will be added to the list tomorrow?