Who ordained Chuck Smith and Aimee Semple McPherson?

©2022 Victor R. Claveau, MJ

Jesus Christ ordained the Apostles; they in turn ordained their successors, and Apostolic Succession has continued to this day.

Charles “Chuck” Ward Smith (1927 – 2013) was the founder of Calvary Chapel and was the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

He graduated from Life Pacific College and was ordained as a pastor for the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel was founded by Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944), a controversial female evangelist, in 1927. Los Angeles was her center of operations, and the Angelus Temple, seating 5,300 people, was opened there in 1923. McPherson was an outright celebrity participating in publicity events such as parades every Sunday through the streets of L.A., along with the mayor and movie stars, directly to Angelus Temple. She built the temple, and L. I. F. E. Bible College next door to it, on the northwest corner of the land that she owned in the middle of the city. Never ordained and thrice divorced, she died of an overdose of prescription barbiturates in 1944.

In the late 50’s Smith was the campaign manager and worship director for healing evangelist Paul Cain. After struggling as a pastor and being frustrated by church growth and recruitment techniques, he left his denomination and eventually established a church called Calvary Chapel in Santa Ana, California in December 1965. The church had begun with a small group of people in a mobile home park in 1962.

The church in Santa Ana grew; by 2006, 35,000 people attended. Over 1,000 churches have branched out from his church. Some of these churches are led by those who Smith discipled including Greg Laurie, Jon Courson, Mike MacIntosh, Raul Ries, and Skip Heitzig.

This is an apt example of the blind leading the blind.