Repost--Orange County: A New Burned-Over District?

Since things are slow around here for the next couple of weeks, I've re-posted the series I did last Summer on Christianity in Orange County.  Note:  Chuck Smith and Paul Crouch have died since this series was completed, and Robert Schuller lost his wife, and is in poor health.

You can start here at the beginning and follow the links to read the entire series.

I've been thinking about tackling this subject for some time.  But it was an article in Monday's Orange County Register (Click Here) which prompted me to begin this brief series.  In an article in the new "faith & values" section of the Register religion writer Jim Hinch observes . . .

The future of religious America lives in a two-story beige office building in downtown Fullerton, where homeless people and college graduates attend church together. The future also lives at a mosque in Mission Viejo. At an organic farm started by a megachurch. In downtown Santa Ana, where kids of many faiths feed the homeless. And in an Orange County church for hipsters where women, once excluded from ministry, now are pastors.

Hinch goes on to describe the biggest change of all to the Orange County religious landscape--Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is soon to become "Christ Cathedral," home to Rome's OC diocese.  Anyone who has been to the OC, knows that the Crystal Cathedral stands tall and is directly across the 5 freeway from the Honda Center (where the Ducks play hockey) and Anaheim Stadium (where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play baseball).  Christ Reformed is also nearby, but almost invisible until you are on top of it.

Hinch is right.  The change in ownership of the Cathedral is simply the latest and surely the most visible sign that much has changed.  The loud buzz long associated with the various Protestant, evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic megachurches of the OC, has, by and large, given way to the kind of low-key religious pluralism described above by Hinch. 

With all of the changes afoot in OC's religious climate, my question is simply this, "what happened to the OC of the 70s, 80s and 90s?"  An era in which a distinctly Christian "buzz" was everywhere, and a time when many of the religious trends and fads which drove American evangelicalism began in my own backyard.  Locals joked that based upon church attendance and Harvest Crusade responses, the population of the OC had been saved twice over.  You don't hear that quip anymore. 

I saw much of it, and participated in some of it.  I am now the pastor of a church in the OC where many of us (including me) came to faith in Christ (or to a new or deeper understanding of our faith in Christ) because of that "buzz."  My guess is that about 75% of the members of Christ Reformed were, at one time, actively involved in some aspect of OC's Christian buzz.  So, if all of that is true, why is it that the OC is now so different?  Why is the buzz gone?  Why is this a good thing? 

I'm not intending this series to be a scientific study of current religious trends (I'm not equipped to evaluate these trends in that manner, nor am I interested in such things).  Nor will this series be a nostalgic look back at a better time--granted, it had its moments.  I am doing nothing more than offering my observations on a time now gone, and looking for any lessons which might be learned. 

My take is that this era was more of like a super nova of a dying star, than it was the establishment of any sustained evangelical movement.  We know that to be true, based upon the observations of Hinch and others about the decline of the megachurches and the rise of a generic religious pluralism which has taken their place.  Granted, the megachurches are still here, but the buzz they generated is gone (or greatly diminished), as is the influence they exerted upon the religious life and the culture of the OC.  

There are several reasons why OC Christianity has changed so drastically.  The most obvious is that the OC itself has changed--drastically.  Thirty years ago, the OC was mostly white middle-class and Republican.  OC had the highest percentage of Republican voter registration in the country.  Most of those folks moved here after World War Two, attracted by good jobs and the great weather.  There were some Asians, and more Hispanics, but the county was predominantly WASP.  The economy was robust and virtually recession-proof, driven largely by aerospace (Hughes, Rockwell, Boeing, and others were here), hi-tech industries (i.e., Bechman Instruments, Fluor), and entertainment (Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland).  

Little of this is true anymore.  The local economy is not near as robust.  Aerospace and the hi-tech industry are leaving the state because of California's oppressive business climate--high paying jobs are going away and not coming back.  Immigrants now dominate many of the county's neighborhoods--including my own.  "Little Arabia" is two miles away from me, and Garden Grove has a substantial Vietnamese neighborhood ("Little Saigon").  The barrio of Santa Ana now extends into North Orange County (and is within a block of my home).  Right-winger Bob Dornan's old congressional seat is now held by the very progressive Linda Sanchez. 

As the county has changed, OC religion has become as diverse as the people who now live here.  Hardly a surprise.  But one thing which has come with the change is the virtual silencing of the Christian buzz which was quite loud and lasted some three decades.

The Christian buzz was a cacophony arising from the churches and ministries which were located here.  During this time, the OC was home to TBN and the nightly follies of Paul and Jan Crouch.  The Hour of Power was based here (the TV ministry of Robert Schuller), as well as Insight for Living (Chuck Swindoll's radio broadcast).  Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and John Wimber's Vineyard reached out to the Jesus people in the late 60's and seemed to get the whole "youth culture" thing rolling.  Maranatha music and "praise songs," anyone?  There were always concerts, and bible studies in these churches were usually packed to the rafters.  Meanwhile, Walter Martin fought back the "cults"--Walter's Saturday night live call-in radio broadcast of the "Bible Answer Man" always generated buzz at church on Sunday.  Walter gave many of us our first exposure to Christian theology (weak as it was).  There were a host of Word-Faith "ministries" here (like Gary Greenwald and the "Eagles Nest").  Meanwhile, good ole Rich Buhler comforted the neurotic, and KYMS (the local Christian radio station which now broadcasts in Vietnamese) had huge ratings.  Then Rick Warren showed up, along with Benny Hinn (for a time) . . .  I am sure I am missing many others.  There was a lot going on here in the OC.  And it generated a distinct Christian "buzz."  

We'll talk about all of this and more in this series.  Bear with me as we go, I'm doing this from memory, and I didn't think to take notes at the time!  A lot of water has gone under the bridge.  Thankfully, I have now so successfully isolated myself in the theological sanity and comfort of Reformed theology and church life, if there were still such a Christian buzz, I probably wouldn't hear it. 

We'll start next time with an attempt at a definition of a "burned over" district, and develop in a bit more detail what I mean by a Christian "buzz."  I'll also recount my own very small role in the OC religion.  Part One -- "The Buzz"

To whet your whistle a bit, did you know that both R.C. Sproul and Mike Horton were on TBN?  Stay tuned.

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part Six -- What Are the Lessons to be Learned?

What are we to make of the "Christian buzz" which once swept throughout Orange County?  As religion writer Jim Hinch points out in his Orange County Register article of June 24, 2013, "the future of religious America is all over Orange County.  And that future, like the county itself, is diverse, entrepreneurial, stratified by economic extremes, innovative and endlessly fascinating" (Hinch on OC Religion in 2013).  Hinch is certainly right about the endlessly fascinating part of the OC's religious future.  What comes next?  Only the Lord knows the answer to that question.  But to anyone who grew up in the OC, it is self-evident that the OC is not the same place in 2013 that it was in the 1960's-70's-80's-90's.  The Christian buzz which dominated the religious life of the OC during those bygone years has, for the most part, gone quiet.  This is not a bad thing in my estimation. 

The very fact that Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is now Christ Cathedral--home to Rome's OC diocese--points to a degree of change which is absolutely unfathomable to those of us who lived through this tumultuous and exciting time.  Robert Schuller--the great "possibility thinker"--didn't consider the possibility of bankruptcy and losing his beloved Cathedral.  For a time it looked like a smooth transition from father to son, and then  suddenly, everything blew up.  Now the Crystal Cathedral is "Christ Cathedral" and a Roman altar now stands obtrusively in the center of the Cathedral.

Paul and Jan Crouch and their TBN empire still does its thing, but TBN seems to me to reek of "same ole, same ole," which is the death rattle of Christian ministries built on flamboyant personalities, Christian celebrities (some real but mostly self-imagined), and the seemingly endless waves of the supposed "latest" move of the Holy Spirit.  Sadly, Chuck Smith is ill with stage IV lung cancer, and as we have seen, Calvary Chapel is now home to the Jesus People "all-growed up"--as they say in Texas.  Only the Lord knows what will happen to Calvary Chapel when Chuck Smith enters glory.  But it will never be the "buzz" maker it once was.

Admittedly, I didn't and couldn't cover all that went on in the OC during the days of the "buzz"--in this brief series I devoted my time and attention to things with which I was familiar and can still remember.  The Vineyard, and the "signs and wonders" movement it spawned, certainly merits an entire post.  But the Vineyard won't get such mention here, because I know virtually nothing about it--other than where it is located, and that it was once very influential.  John Wimber was big news in the OC, but after his 1997 death, the Vineyard is just another OC megachurch, about which you hear very little. 

"Set Free" too could merit its own post, but it was around for such a short time in the early 1990's and its founding pastor (Phil Aguilar) became so notorious that all that remains of "Set Free" are a few biker half-way houses in an otherwise quiet Anaheim neighborhood.  But Set Free and the Vineyard did share one thing in common which characterizes much of OC religion--the ubiquitous concrete tilt-ups which dominate the OC's countless industrial and commercial areas.  Churches simply cannot afford to buy land and build here--which is a huge factor in the transient nature of the OC buzz.  Very few of the "buzz" makers could actually build permanent landmarks to themselves.  Those who didn't are gone and soon to be forgotten.  

Although Rick Warren is the latest OC mover and shaker to generate significant "buzz," the signs seem to indicate that he may be the last.  It will be very difficult for an evangelical megachurch entrepreneur like Warren to succeed in the OC in the future.  Coming at the tail-end of the buzz, Warren's "deeds over creeds" emphasis played well in an area where many people who participated in the "buzz" eventually wearied of the personality-driven hype and religious "hucksterism."  Such folk weary too of Warren's pandering to them with gimmicks like a "Hula" themed worship service, and sermons built around a quote from "Bartlett's" and not a biblical text.  And when these people leave the church, they leave angry, and they don't come back. 

  Warren arrived in the OC with a new message and energy, and through his stress upon "purpose-driven" churches which intentionally gut the content of Christian worship, preaching, and doctrine, with the stated goal to reach ever-larger audiences (so called "seeker sensitive worship"), Warren's Saddleback grew to a massive size, perhaps with even more people going through its doors each week than Calvary Chapel.  No doubt, Warren succeeded by building in the OC's wealthy suburbs (in "South County"--down the freeway a fair bit from north-central OC, where the buzz was first generated).  Yet, after hosting the Obama-John McCain presidential debate on faith, and after everyone grew weary from his Forty-Days of Purpose (a sort of Protestant knock-off of Ignatius Loyola's "spiritual exercises"), Warren still is in the national news a bit, but about all Saddleback can offer folk these days is a large menu of outreach programs--some of which are very successful and beneficial, but often lack any distinctly Christian content or emphases. 

The reality is that good deeds don't often generate buzz.  Warren is now old news here in the OC, suffering the fate of every "new" ministry when the "new" wears off.  "Now what do we do?"  "How do we keep it all going?"  I'd bet the farm that figuring out what strategic step to take next occupies the time and energy of the staffs and governing boards of the remaining evangelical megachurches.  Pity the poor staff person or board member who suggests going back to the basics of preaching the gospel!  These churches truly miss the "buzz" which built them, and would probably do just about anything to get it back.  But the buzz is long gone and chasing it is a fool's errand.

By its very nature such religious buzz cannot be sustained.  If everything is "new" and "radical," then nothing is really "new" and "radical."  The huge personalities which generated the buzz are passing from the scene, and old age doesn't play well on TV.  The buzz the celebrity preachers generated can only but die out when they do.  Ironically, the same Charles Finney who started it all, was largely right about the outcome--what worked in 1969 won't work in 2013.  You must always find something new and exciting to keep it all going, and at some point, people burn-out and then drop-out, never to darken the door of a church again.

And this is why the OC is now a "burned over" distinct.  People have seen too many staged miracles and fake healings.  They have been told too many times that Jesus is coming back any moment because some crisis in the Middle East pointed in that direction.  Too many times they've heard that God was doing a "radical" world-changing work through some preacher who then spent more time begging for more money to keep it all going than he did explaining how this radical new work might come about.  Because the buzz was generated by personalities and entertainment, should we really be surprised it has fallen silent?  No.  All that remains when the buzz ends are ugly concrete shells with smaller and smaller crowds on Sundays, and ministers seeking to be more "radical" and hipper than their predecessors.  It can only turn out badly in the end.  This is why it is good the buzz is falling silent.      

I suggest one very important lesson we can learn from this era comes from the example set by those faithful Reformed and Lutheran congregations who were here before the Christian buzz got going, and who remain now that it is gone.  I know of three Orthodox Presbyterian Churches (OPC) in the OC (or adjacent to it) which were established before the buzz began.  These churches are about the same size now as they were thirty years ago.  They have worship services and sermons which are little different than the day these churches were founded.  They think it far more important to be "biblical" and faithful to God's word and the Westminster Standards, than they do to be part of the "buzz." 

Some will chuckle at my stress upon the ordinary things which I think are the true indication of a church's faithfulness, but these churches went about their callings quietly, preaching Christ crucified, teaching the Christian (and Reformed) faith to several generations, comforting the grieving in their midst, counseling those with troubles, marrying and burying, and providing diaconal care for those among them in need.  Some will opine that this is small-mindedness, or nothing but risk-averse traditionalism.  OK, so be it.  Some of that is at work, granted.  But these churches did not need the "buzz," and could have cared less about it.  If they are truly concerned about being faithful to Scripture and their Confession of Faith, why concern themselves with the buzz?  God's blueprint for his church does not include the generation of "buzz"--but it does include the preached word and the sacraments.  I'm sure there are Lutheran Churches which did the same thing (I don't know the local Lutheran world as well), and we can throw in a CRC or two in the OC mix. 

Given the numerous additions to the Reformed and Presbyterian witness in the OC during this period of time (OPC, URCNA, PCA), I, for one, am pretty optimistic that Christ's churches in the OC have (for the most part) weathered the "Christian buzz" just like they made it through countless Santa Ana winds and brushfires, an earthquake or two, as well as the OC bankruptcy!  There were some faithful folk here before it started, and there are many more here after the buzz ended.  Yes, these churches could probably use some Round-Up on their weedy sidewalks, and perhaps a fresh coat of paint might be in order.  But these churches know that stuff (important as it is) is only cosmetic.

The critical question remains:  "Was the rise of the buzz, a genuine work of God?"  Based upon the fruit of so many people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, that answer can only be an unqualified "yes" (especially early-on).  But did the buzz go off the rails and end up doing great damage to the cause of Christ?  The answer to that question is another unqualified "yes."  If your church jettisoned its biblically-based liturgy for a praise band, and if your pastor stopped preaching expositionally, ditched his suit and tried to be "radical," then you've got the OC Christian "buzz" to thank! 

This was an amazing time, and I am thankful to have witnessed much of it.  But, I for one, am glad it is over, and perhaps now that it is, Christ's people will regain their love for God's word, seek to worship God in a way he commands, and seek to build Christ's church as he instructs us.  We can only pray that the age of entrepreneurial religious family businesses, or garish monuments to celebrity preachers is over.  The buzz which they generated certainly is.

Thanks much for reading!

Here's the introduction to this series:  Introduction

Here's part one, "the buzz":  The "Buzz"

Here's part two, "TBN":  TBN

Here's part three, "Calvary Chapel":   Calvary Chapel

Here's part four, "Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral":  Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral 

Here's part five, "The Bible Teachers":  The Bible Teachers

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part Five -- The Bible Teachers

If the Christian buzz in the OC was generated by larger than life personalities who promulgated a revivalist, dispensationalist, and charismatic evangelicalism, that buzz was surely sustained by a number of Bible teachers who faithfully taught the Scriptures and defended the faith.  While there are a number of men who labored to keep the faith during those years, two significant figures come to mind as we look back at that era.  The first is Charles R. Swindoll, pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton (or "E-V-Free" as it was known in the OC).  The second is Walter Martin, the original and authentic "Bible Answer Man."

The Chuck Swindoll of the late 1970's was one of the best expository preachers I have ever heard.  When I first became aware of the buzz, and then finally settled the question as to whether or not I was going to be a Christian, the time came to find a church and join.  There was little question that my choice was going to be EV Free.  The preaching and teaching at Calvary Chapel was repetitive and weak, and places like Melodyland (and later the Vineyard) were just too wild to suit my tastes.  My family had attended the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton off and on back in the days when Wes Gustafson was still pastor, and when the church was still located on Woods Ave.  This was well before Chuck Swindoll arrived in the OC in 1971 from Irving, TX. 

Several of the ladies who worked in our bookstore still attended EV Free and were quick to give me cassette tapes of sermons from the new pastor, Charles R. Swindoll.  Swindoll's arrival coincided with the rise of the buzz throughout the OC.  The man could flat out preach.  If you know the Swindoll from the days before the rise of the radio preacher now known to listeners of Insight for Living, you'll recall him to be an exceptional expository preacher, surprisingly doctrinal, and an ardent defender of the traditional dispensationalism of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) where Swindoll had been a star pupil.  Swindoll was a common-sense man, a great communicator, taught the Bible clearly and thoughtfully, and was a tough ex-Marine.  He was a highly attractive figure to a young man like myself, who was always a bit nervous about the highly-subjective and emotive Christianity associated with much of the OC buzz.

EV Free Fullerton grew so fast, the congregation was forced to move from their medium size-church facility in Fullerton (which, interestingly enough, is now a Korean CRC) to its current expansive location in the next-door city of Brea.  Throughout this time, Swindoll produced a number of best-selling books (we sold cases of them in our bookstore), and his sermons were now being broadcast on radio (1977).  Swindoll's radio ministry quickly generated so much buzz (along with growing  notoriety), this led to the inevitable creation of Insight for Living--the radio "ministry" of Chuck Swindoll--several years later (1979).  As I look back at things, it was the success of Insight which eventually diminished Swindoll's more expositional and doctrinal style of preaching which had characterized his ministry before he became a radio preacher.

Like many of those who achieve success in Christian media, Swindoll took on a celebrity persona.  I have no doubt that Swindoll never sought the buzz which grew up around him, but over time such a persona came to characterize him.  I'll never forget the roll-out of one of Swindoll's new books at the annual Christian Bookseller's Convention.  Prominently featured at the Word Publishing mega-booth ("Word Inc." was the giant amongst a host of "mom and pop" Christian businesses) was a full size cut-out figure of Swindoll in black leather, with dark shades, seated on a Harley, identified in bold letters as the "Sermonator" (a playful attempt to ape Arnold's "Terminator").  Although the "Sermonator" image was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, it really wasn't.  Swindoll was no longer seen as a pastor, he was now a Christian celebrity, better known for his books and radio program than for his role as a shepherd to his congregation.  Others at EV Free were now taking care of the sheep.  

It was also painfully evident that his pulpit ministry was being driven by the needs of his growing radio empire.  The staff at Insight were hard at work transcribing sermons into books to "grow the ministry" and keep the coffers full (radio time was expensive in those days), and those writing the study guides and other "ministry support" elements have recounted to me how Insight for Living generated more than a fair bit of tension with Swindoll's day job as "senior pastor" at EV Free.

Swindoll left EV Free in 1994 to become president of DTS, and then founded another megachurch in the Dallas area in 1998 (Stonebriar).  EV Free is still huge, but has now totally embraced the megachurch "we've got something for everyone" model.  My friends who still attend often boast of the size of the highly specialized staff.  EV Free may have programs and pastors for every need and contingency, but the solid expository preaching of the 1970's and 80's at EV Free is long gone--a huge loss to the OC, because even though dispensational, Swindoll's preaching served as a doctrinal brake (and a sane alternative) to many of the excesses found elsewhere throughout the OC.  Sadly, I'll bet you don't see many folk at EV Free on Sundays these days with heavily underlined, highlighted, and well-worn NASBs--a commonplace sight before the days of the "Sermonator" and Swindoll's eventual departure.

Another notable figure in the history of the OC buzz was one Walter R. Martin, the author of the venerable Kingdom of the Cults, but best known in the OC as the host of the live radio call-in program, The Bible Answer Man.  Let me just say, there was no one else like Walter Martin.  He was fearless, tenacious, and always ready to defend the faith.  As my White Horse Inn compatriot Rod Rosenbladt once said of him, "Walter was like Tertullian [the famous church father].  He wasn't always right, but he always had a full head of steam."  Very true.

Walter Martin was an enigma.  He completed his Ph.D. course work at NYU (D. James Kennedy was a classmate), but never finished his dissertation, opting for a diploma mill degree upon arriving in CA--a huge mistake which gave much ammunition to his many enemies among the Latter Day "Saints."  Martin was not seminary trained, but studied under and was associated with a number of evangelical stalwarts, including Frank Gaebelein (headmaster of the Stony Brook school), apologist Wilbur Smith, and Donald Gray Barnhouse of Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia.  Martin never saw himself as a theologian, but as a counter-cult apologist whose primary calling was to pounce upon heretical non-Christian sects like the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, both of whom have a strong and visible presence in the OC.  And pounce he did!

Martin founded the Christian Research Institute (CRI) in 1960, eventually moving the entire operation to the OC in 1974.  He immediately became the most significant theological voice in the county.  A fierce debater, Martin took on everyone from the boisterous atheist Madalyn Murray-O'Hare, to the pandering Hugh Hefner.  Honing his debating skills on secular talk radio (Martin was a frequent guest on the Long John Nebel show in New York City before coming to the OC), Walter was one of the few evangelicals who could appear on secular radio or television and not be eaten alive.

Walter's influence upon the OC buzz was huge.  His live Saturday night radio program, The Bible Answer Man was a must-listen.  Everywhere you went in OC Christian circles, people talked about what was discussed on the previous Saturday night's Bible Answer Man.  Pity the poor Mormon, JW, or atheist who attempted to challenge him on air!  Walter was always fair with those who disagreed, but he was also a pit-bull who simply would not let go.  Walter answered Bible questions (not his strong suit), offered compelling arguments for the truth of Christianity, and constantly warned of aberrant teaching whenever anyone--no matter how popular they may be--departed from the faith. 

In addition to his radio program, Martin taught a regular and very popular Bible class at Melodyland (and then later at Newport-Mesa Christian Center).  He was also one of the first to exploit the new technology of cassette tape (yes, I am dating myself).  His tape series on Mormanism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others in the "kingdom of the cults" as he put it, were passed around in many a church and Bible study.  I can honestly say that my own interest in apologetics and theology probably began with Walter's Bible Answer Man and taped lectures (along with Donald Gray Barnhouse's sermons on Tulip).  A number of years ago I played one of Walter's lectures on Mormonism to my sons which prompted several hours of great theological discussion on a family vacation.  Walter Martin is always compelling--even on an old cassette.

I did not know Walter well, but I did have him for a professor at John Warwick Montgomery's new OC law school (the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, founded in 1980--now the Trinity Law School).  A new school with only six students in the apologetics program, our professors were Walter Martin, Lutheran theologian-apologist John Warwick Montgomery, and some young Lutheran theologian of whom I had never heard but soon came to love (one Rod Rosenbladt).  We had them all to ourselves.  It was a great time in my life. 

Nobody, but nobody, told better stories than Walter Martin.  Walter once crank-called cult leader "Father Divine" -- who unwittingly blew his claim to divinity when Walter called Father Divine and asked him if he knew who it was who was on the phone, only to have Father Divine sheepishly admit that he did not know to whom he was speaking!  Walter recounted how he got Hugh Hefner to admit he would not let his own daughter be a Playboy Bunny or pose nude in his magazine.  "So Mr. Hefner, you see nothing wrong with exploiting other men's daughters while you protect your own."  Then there was the time he showed up at the headquarters of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in New York and led the receptionist--whose first instinct was to hide behind the desk upon realizing who was in his reception area--to Christ.  Martin told us about sharing the gospel with the king of cool, Steve McQueen, who, at the time, was in Mexico seeking alternative treatment for his advanced cancer.  McQueen's current wife had requested that Martin (and other Christians whom McQueen respected) come and talk with her dying husband.  Walter related how McQueen subsequently came to faith in Christ, was visited by Billy Graham, and died shortly thereafter with an open Bible on his chest. 

One of Walter Martin's most important but overlooked legacies, was establishing the ministry's magazine (originally called Forward and then later the CRI Journal).  CRI hired a staff of bright and capable theological researchers who tackled many of the doctrinal issues of the day.  In the days before blogging, the theologians didn't seem to have the time to address the issues actually facing the people in the pews.  The CRI Journal helped meet that need.  After Walter's death in 1989, many of these men went on to careers in counter-cult apologetics.  The list includes: Richard Abanes, Robert M. Bowman, Craig Hawkins, Elliot Miller, Ron Rhodes, Paul Carden, and C-Ref's own adult Sunday School teacher, Ken Samples.  A man who leaves behind a group of well-trained lieutenants is not only a person of vision, but extends his legacy for a generation or more to come.  One of Walter's last efforts in life was his contribution to Mike Horton's 1989 book, The Agony of Deceit.  Walter contributed a chapter on the errors of the Word-Faith movement, and Mike dedicated the book to Walter's memory.  

Walter's most unfortunate legacy in the OC was his ham-fisted attempt to reconcile the Calvinist-Arminian debate by coining the abominable phrase "Calminian" as applying to someone who accepted three or four of the five points of Calvinism, and who thought the Arminians were right about the others (Martin's personal view).  Thankfully, the "Calminian" hybrid was like a mule, and did not reproduce well, so you rarely hear the term used any more.  Like Dr. Rosenbladt said, Walter wasn't always right and when he wasn't, the consequence was usually a theological mess!

Chuck Swindoll and Walter Martin helped to generate much of the Christian buzz in the OC--but their most important role was to help keep things orthodox and from going off the rails before the buzz eventually grew silent, and the OC became the burned-over district that it now is.  When Swindoll left the OC for DTS, the OC lost its best known and most capable Bible expositor.  When Walter Martin died, the OC lost its best known and most capable apologist and, no doubt, there was rejoicing in Salt Lake City, as well as in the JW headquarters in New York upon hearing that news.

EV Free remains a megachurch, but you hear little about it in the OC these days.  In the days of Chuck Swindoll, the church was well-known as the place to go for good expository preaching.  Now EV Free is just another program-driven megachurch "recovery center" like several others in the county (i.e., Mariners, Eastside Christian, or Cottonwood). 

As for the current state and focus of CRI, well, that is another story which remains for someone else to tell.  But whatever you can say (good or ill) about the current head of CRI, Hank Hanegraaf, the fact of the matter is Hank did not, and indeed could not, take Walter Martin's place.  There was only one Walter Martin, and his big shoes remain empty.

Next time, we'll wrap up our series on the OC as a new burned over district as we look (briefly) at Rick Warren and Saddleback Community Church and the small Reformation witness (Lutheran and Reformed) which both preceded and survived the Christian buzz in the OC:  Lessons to Be Learned

Here's the introduction to this series:  Introduction

Here's part one, "the buzz":  The "Buzz"

Here's part two, "TBN":  TBN

Here's part three, "Calvary Chapel":   Calvary Chapel

Here's part four, "Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral":  Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral 

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part Four -- Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral

Calvary Chapel may have created most of the Christian "buzz" in the OC, but surely the OC's most famous church is Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral.  The sheer scale and grandeur of the Cathedral dominates the heart of the OC.  In an area with few tall buildings, the Crystal Cathedral is clearly visible from three of the freeways which pass through central Orange County.

In one sense, the Crystal Cathedral and Robert Schuller were not really part of the OC "buzz."  Schuller's message of "self-esteem," and the Cathedral's highbrow manner of worship, were much more typical of the Protestant mainline than the evangelical and charismatic churches which did generate local buzz.  But if you had family coming to town from the Midwest or the East Coast, they wanted to see the Crystal Cathedral and they knew all about Robert Schuller, even if they had never heard of the two "Chucks" (Smith or Swindoll) who were much more appreciated by the local evangelicals.

Robert Schuller first arrived in the OC shortly after I did (1955).  He came by car, I came by stork.  He began preaching to people in their cars from the roof of the snack bar of the Orange Drive-In theater.  The place was soon packed.  Schuller went on to build the Tower of Hope in 1968, and by 1970, Schuller's "Hour of Power" was the most popular religious broadcast in the United States.  In 1978, work began on the now world famous glass cathedral.  It was the perfect stage for Schuller's psychologized message.  I'll bet that the Hour of Power brought more people to Southern California than anything but the Rose Parade.  The Cathedral was the perfect OC showcase.  His was the perfect message for an affluent middle class growing tired of their local stucco church, boring sermons, and "Erma," the kindly but elderly organist attempting to play the offertory correctly just one time before going to glory.

Schuller's pulpit (or better "stage") was turned over to countless celebrities ranging from Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda to former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, all of whom were willing to endorse Schuller's non-gospel of "Possibility Thinking." 

The Cathedral was the stage for the elaborate pageants, "the Glory of Christmas" and the "Glory of Easter."  Ironically, it was the church's inability to pay the vendors and animal handlers which led to the local bankruptcy courts.  The Cathedral was also home to a magnificent 16,000 pipe Ruffatti organ capably manned for many years by Frederick Swann.  Famed pianist Roger Williams played there for thirty years.  The contrast between the worship services of the Crystal Cathedral and the CCM of Calvary Chapel could not be greater!  One local wag spoke of the difference between the two churches as the "Jesus People versus the Blue Hairs."  Maybe the real battle of style was more like OP versus Amway. 

Lest we forget, the Crystal Cathedral was also home to a congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church of America.  The consistory of the church was distinct from the Hour of Power which had its own governing board.  It was common to hear Schuller's church members defend him by arguing that the Hour of Power broadcast and was not representative of the life of the congregation, and that the church not only had many Bible studies, but the Heidelberg Catechism was taught and revered.  But, as we all know, the message you use to draw people in is what they want, and what keeps them attending.  The claim that the Hour of Power brought in seekers who were subsequently catechized rings hollow.  I do know of people, however, who did indeed study the Heidelberg Catechism there.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I attended the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton for several years, and even joined the church.  But I never actually met Chuck Swindoll.  I did shake his hand once at a wedding--but that doesn't really count.  I attended Calvary Chapel a number of times but never met Chuck Smith, or anyone else of note (like Lonnie Frisbee or Greg Laurie).  I have only been to the Crystal Cathedral one time (for my son's high school graduation), but have met and actually spoken with Robert Schuller on several occasions. 

The first time I met Dr. Schuller was at Mike Horton's home shortly before Schuller's infamous appearance on the White Horse Inn.  It was not a pleasant experience.  Dinner conversation was cordial enough, although the name dropping got old.  "I was talking with `Bev' the other day" he said, thinking we knew he was referring to opera singer Beverly Sills.  So far as I knew, he was talking about his secretary.  "Oh, and Norman called," referring to General Schwarzkopf.  At that point, our Lutheran compatriot, Rod Rosenbladt, made a comment which was very apropos, but which I cannot repeat.

During the live broadcast later that evening, Schuller became very offended by Mike's line of questioning, and stormed out of the studio, on air, only to awkwardly rejoin the broadcast a few mintues later (after his aide insisted that he do so).  From this point on, things were not quite so cordial.  If you've heard the broadcast, you know what I mean.  You should have seen the debate that went on off-air during the breaks!  (You can get the audio here if you are interested--Robert Schuller on the White Horse Inn)

I have also been in the presence of the Schuller family on the occasion of a family member's wedding (which I conducted, and Dr. Schuller read from the Scriptures).  Never thought I'd live to see that day!  I must say, that I found the Schullers to be a godly Christian family, friendly, and hospitable--even during the middle of the recent legal woes and the impending loss of the empire.  As is often the case with celebrities, the public figure is much different than the private person.  On this occasion, Dr. Schuller was simply "grandpa," enjoying an important day in the life of his family. 

The remarkable irony of Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral is that he arrived here first (of all the famous OC preachers) and built one of the largest empires (TBN is bigger still).  The empire is now completely gone, going the way of "all flesh."  If Robert Schuller wasn't part of the "buzz" locally, nationally he was the best known pastor from the OC.  Now as an old man, he must watch from the outside as his beloved Cathedral becomes "Christ Cathedral," home to the OC's Catholic diocese.  But this is the likely outcome of any ministry built on personality, a passing fad ("possibility thinking"), and a glitz equal to any Hollywood production. 

As the Cathedral's problems increased, the Vatican, apparently, had also been engaged in their own version of "possibility thinking."  When the OC bankruptcy court dictated that the church property be sold to pay off the numerous creditors, Rome was ready, willing, and able, to cut the multi-million dollar check. 

The Hour of Power has given way to many hours of priestcraft and popery.  Seems that Schuller's "new Reformation" of self-esteem didn't turn out so well in the end.

Next time, we'll consider the Bible teachers and Apologists (people like Walter Martin) who contributed significantly to the OC "buzz."  Part Five: The Bible Teachers

Here's the introduction to this series:  Introduction

Here's part one, "the buzz":  The "Buzz"

Here's part two, "TBN":  TBN

Here's part three, "Calvary Chapel":   Calvary Chapel

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part Three -- Calvary Chapel

You simply cannot talk about the Christian "buzz" in the OC apart from Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel.  If there has been one dominant church in the development of the OC's evangelical subculture, it is Calvary Chapel.  Calvary Chapel made being a Christian "cool." 

In 1965, "Pastor Chuck" as he's affectionately known, wanted to reach young people, especially the throngs of hippies and surfers found throughout South-Central Orange County (the so-called Jesus People).  This was the era of free-love and Vietnam War protests, kids with long hair, tie-dyed jeans, girls in halter-tops, experimentation with drug use, and fascination with Eastern religions.  Those young adults were asking questions about life, the future, and especially about the Christianity in which they were raised.  Many of them found that the churches of their youth were not all that interested in them, or their questions.  Their churches wanted nothing from them but conformity.  Conformity, of course, was the one thing that was not going to happen.  The Jesus People had "dropped out" and "tuned in."  Why bother with them?

To his great credit, Chuck Smith did care about these young adults, and in a very short period time Chuck was preaching to vast numbers of them in a tent, and soon built the current Calvary Chapel very near the booming South Coast Plaza--emblematic of the OC's affluent middle class.  The history of Calvary Chapel and those pastors with ties to Chuck Smith (including Greg Laurie, Raul Ries, Mike MacIntosh, Skip Heitzig) is a remarkable story and you can read about it here. 

Chuck Smith's church background is in the mildly-Pentecostal Foursquare Church, the legacy of Aimee Semple McPherson (or "Sister" as Bob Godfrey calls her) and her Angelus Temple, once the largest church in Los Angeles.  Smith is clearly Foursquare in his theology, which emphasizes, "Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Healer, Jesus the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and Jesus the Soon-Coming King."  All of these are central to Calvary's theology and ethos.

Along with hundreds of others, and as the Newporters stared at us from their passing yachts, I was baptized during Easter vacation of 1977 at Pirate's Cove--the south side of the picturesque entrance into Newport Bay.  Don't ask me for my baptism certificate, because Calvary Chapel cared less about such things. 

While Calvary was never known as a healing ministry there was the anointing of the sick and speaking in tongues, both of which were confined to "afterglow" services, which often followed concerts and Bible studies.  I went to one once, largely at the insistence of the cute girl I was dating--the only reason I would even consider it.  I witnessed one of Chuck's assistants carefully explain that the gift of tongues was a supernatural gift of God, only to then give instructions as to how to do it.  You started by repeating "kitty-kitty-kitty" until the Holy Spirit supposedly took over with your new heavenly language.  I wasn't convinced.  My date was, and so that ended, thankfully.

Everyone in the OC, it seemed, went to Calvary Chapel's concerts and Bible studies, even if you went to church elsewhere on Sundays.  I often went to Greg Laurie's week night study--at the time he was well-tanned and had the same long hair and sideburns I did.  Ironic isn't it, since we are both now bald, and well into middle age.  The cool has long left me, and I won't presume to speak for Laurie. 

The influence of Calvary upon the religious life of the OC (and elsewhere) cannot be underestimated.  Traditional church music and hymns were out (although the few times I went to Calvary Chapel on a Sunday morning we sang hymns from a hymnal--if I recall correctly), as was any form of traditional church government and denominational emphasis.  Chuck Smith did not like denominations, refusing to call the thousands of Calvary Chapels which sprang from "big Calvary" a "denomination"--even though the Calvary Chapels clearly functioned as one. 

In the wake of the buzz generated by Calvary, many of the churches in the OC felt compelled to compete with them by imitating Calvary's "contemporary" worship, and by focusing almost exclusively upon youth culture.  Calvary Chapel always won that competition.  Have you ever seen a traditional CRC or LCMS congregation try to pull off "contemporary" worship?  There is nothing worse than an ethnic Dutch or German church trying to be relevant by mimicing what the church's youth had seen at Calvary. 

Maranatha Music soon became a force in the Christian sub-culture.  CCM rapidly pushed aside traditional worship and liturgy in many churches, replaced by something akin to what went on at Calvary's concerts and Bible studies.  Youth culture now dominated.  It generated buzz.  Unnoticed perhaps, is the embarrassing fact that as the Jesus People became older, married and had families, they hung on to their music and ways of doing things.  It is fair to say that "middle age" culture now dominates at places like Calvary.  Once you get on the youth culture treadmill, you'll soon fall far behind the new and hottest trend (as Calvary Chapel has).  The irony is that the Calvary Chapel of 2013 is now rather staid, if not down-right traditional.  They've been at this forty years and there is now a substantial history to preserve.  Rock Harbor and Mars Hill are the trendy churches in the OC now, but they sure don't generate the county-wide buzz Calvary once did.

One especially troubling distinctive of Calvary Chapel is the so-called "Moses model" of ministry.  The Moses model centers around the idea that God revealed his will to Chuck (supposedly), and then Chuck revealed that will to his underlings.  In a pamphlet on the subject, Smith counsels pastors to "fire" their boards if they will not go along with the pastor's God-given vision for his church.  Of course, none of this can be found anywhere in the elder-based ecclesiology (Presbyterian) of the New Testament.  Although Chuck Smith was anything but a cult leader, what Chuck said went (he was God's man after all) and it was common to hear Calvary folk call him "Pope Chuck" (often times facetiously, sometimes not).

Another troubling feature of Calvary is that Chuck's stress on the immediacy of the end-times which created several embarrassing situations in which he would come close to setting dates for the Lord's return--twice, during Calvary's New Years Eve services, I heard him say that this would be the last year because the Lord was coming soon.  This was not a prediction or calculation like Harold Camping would make, but more like a heart-felt prophecy implying that Chuck knew via some supernatural means the end was at hand, and he was trying to prepare us.

It is also clear to anyone who has been around Calvary Chapel, that any favorable mention of Calvinism is a no-no.  As I become more and more Reformed in my thinking, Calvary Chapel became more and more foreign to me.  Chuck Smith does not like Calvinism, and he is not shy about telling people to avoid it.  This is a touchy subject with my Calvary Chapel friends because in a church which has no formal membership and does not practice any form of church discipline, the surest way to receive the "left-foot" of fellowship is to start talking about Calvinism.

Chuck knew his Bible, but knew little about theology and church history.  I listened to his criticism of Calvinism, but quickly discovered that a straw man was being attacked, and the biblical passages which were used against the doctrines of grace, actually supported them.  Larry Taylor (who once taught at the Calvary Chapel Bible College) was the first to write in defense of Calvary's "balanced" approach to the Calvinism-Arminianism debate.  Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Taylor's defense was an affirmation of decisional regeneration without the doctrine of perseverance--an odd construction.  Calvary Chapel pastor, George Bryson, later produced two books defending Calvary Chapel's "balanced view" against the perceived evils of Calvinism (neither of Bryson's book are very compelling), and given the animosity still coming from Calvary Chapel towards all things Reformed, I'll bet the farm that Bryson's efforts have done little to stem the tide of Calvary Chapel folk becoming interested in the Reformation and Reformed theology.

Once the White Horse Inn went on the air in So Cal, and Reformed churches like Christ Reformed began sprouting up, it was soon obvious that the vast majority of those interested in the five "solas" of the Reformation and Reformed theology had, at one time, gone through the doors of Calvary Chapel.  Many more we encountered were still attending Calvary, but looking to leave.  Chuck Smith gave many of them their first exposure to serious Bible study.  But it was all too apparent that his views on church government, end times, worship, and soteriology, were not the plain sense of Scripture.  And he was not about to change his mind.

My overall take on Calvary Chapel is mixed.  Based upon the testimonies of many people who now attend Christ Reformed, there can be no doubt that what they heard at Calvary Chapel was instrumental in their coming to faith in Christ.  Yet, these same people also testify that the teaching was shallow, repetitive, and did not withstand the test put to it by Reformed theology and practice.  Regrettably, I do not see Calvary Chapel as a true church.  Calvary does not have church membership--hence they have no church discipline (one of the three marks of a true church).  Calvary does not baptize the covenant children of believers, nor understand the Lord's Supper as a true means of grace (another of the marks of a true church).  The gospel is often preached there because the Bible is open and exposited.  Yet, what truth is taught is often obscured by Chuck's odd doctrine of "abiding," his trichotomist view of human nature, his dispensational hermeneutic, and his charismatic emphases (especially in regards to subjective and emotive worship, and the lack of emphasis on the sacraments/means of grace).

That said, I also have no doubt that Calvary Chapel is filled with true believers in Jesus Christ--people who possess the marks of a true Christian (according to the Belgic Confession, Art 29).  I also need to point out the obvious--throughout the years Calvary Chapel has done a remarkable job of reaching out to the unchurched.  Calvary Chapel folk joyfully accept people as they are, where they are.  Unchurched people don't feel judged (or like they need to be a theologian) when they visit a Calvary Chapel.  Sadly, that is not the case with many Reformed and Presbyterian churches.  There's a huge lesson for us here. 

Yet, often times such outreach comes with a high price tag--church life and worship uncritically reflect pop culture, as does the theology and content of the preaching.  Do people attend (and feel comfortable) because they identify with a particular style of doing things (which also happens to be quite compatible with a charismatic form of evangelical Christianity) and which suits their personal tastes?  No one, it seems, thinks to ask "is this what the Scriptures teach about worship, preaching, and sacraments?"  

There is another pressing question which needs to be raised.  Because Calvary Chapel does not have church membership, how many who enter through the front door, quietly slip out the back?  What happens to these folk?  Undoubtedly, many of them make up the new "burned over" district which is the OC, and who, having witnessed the unhappy marriage of pop culture and Christianity, find the latter no more meaningful to their lives than the former. 

I think the case can be made that Calvary Chapel has thrived precisely because it actually reflects the conservative values of OC, while at the same time appearing to be "contemporary," if not counter-cultural.  There is a lesson to be learned here too.  Perhaps the time has come for Reformed folk to think about creative ways to present our distinctive theology and manner of worship as bucking the secular tide.  Certainly, our goal is to be biblical in all that we do, which is why we trust in the proclamation of Christ crucified as the divinely approved manner by which God truly extends his kingdom.  This is why we are not terribly interested in making our church services look and feel like the trends and fads around us.  Dare I say it?  The time may have come when it might be "cool" to not be cool. 

When all is said and done, no single church has exercised a greater influence upon the evangelical subculture and religious buzz in the OC than has Calvary Chapel.  Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel have cast a huge shadow in the OC--certainly wider than anyone else's. 

In the next installment of our series on the OC as a new burned over district, we'll take up what is perhaps the OC's most famous church, Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral (Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral).

Here's the introduction to this series:  Introduction

Here's part one, "the buzz":  The "Buzz"

Here's part two, "TBN":  TBN

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part Two -- TBN

TBN Intro from Heath Nelson on Vimeo.

There was a time when much of the Christian "buzz" in the OC centered around the nightly doings of Paul and Jan Crouch and their must-see "Praise The Lord" program.  "Praise the Lord" is still broadcast live each evening (Monday through Friday) and the world-wide and gigantic TBN empire remains a force.  But the local buzz TBN once generated is now long gone. 

In my circle, the "Praise the Lord" program was known as the "Pentecostal follies."  Of course, most Pentecostals I know felt about TBN the way in which I feel about former CRC elder Harold Camping--the guy is a crackpot.  We felt bad laughing at Paul and Jan at first, but then you realized that these people were broadcasting this stuff into my home because they wanted me to watch them.  And frankly, much of what they did was funny--even if it shouldn't have been.  If some of us were taken aback by Paul and Jan, many more just lapped this stuff up.

TBN hit the airwaves in 1973 and before long, people were fascinated with the nightly doings on "Praise the Lord."  No one had seen anything like it.  Jan Crouch was not quite as flamboyant as her east coast rival Tammy Faye Bakker, but every bit her equal as a TV personality.  "Praise the Lord's" panel format with musical interludes was modeled on the old Mike Douglas and Phil Donahue programs, unlike the Jimmy and Tammy show, which was more a variety show format. 

You could find all sort of Christian celebrities and entertainers on "Praise the Lord."  Many of these folks were Hollywood "has beens" who, by going on TBN, could still get before a live TV camera and find adoring fans if only they had an interesting "testimony" (or, as we called it, "test of money").  TBN could even boast of having their own rock star (Jeff Fenholt), who was billed as the former front man for Black Sabbath.  Upon closer inspection it turned out that he actually knew a guy who once went to high school with someone whose cousin lived next door to some guy who was once in Black Sabbath.  Or something like that.  He had a set of pipes, but his actual Heavy Metal "front man" resume was pretty thin.

TBN's regulars included Oral Roberts (a nationally known faith-healer) and "Praise the Lord" probably established backwater Word-Faith types like Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Fred Price as household names. 

Then there was the "young buck"--a Lebanese faith-healer and evangelist with a pronounced Middle-Eastern accent and the wildest comb-over anyone had ever seen--Tofik Benedictus (AKA Benny Hinn).  This was the same Benny Hinn who announced live on TBN that there were nine members of the Holy Trinity because each of the three persons of the Godhead were body, soul, and spirit. 

I had never seen people speak in tongues until I saw it occur live on the TBN stage.  I had never seen people flippantly claim that God had spoken to them (sometimes audibly) and then glibly recount what God supposedly had told them like advice given by Dear Abby.  I saw all kinds of things on TBN I had never seen before, and Lord willing, will never see again.  It got to the point, if there was nothing good on TV, we'd turn on TBN, just to see what they were up to now--and we were rarely disappointed.  It was "Reality TV" before anyone identified the genre as such.

The TBN set was also graced by the presence of those televangelists, pastors, and "ministry" leaders (more like CEOs) whose programming was broadcast by Paul and Jan.  Robert Schuller was a semi-regular, as were Chuck Smith, Jack Hayford, E. V. Hill., Hal Lindsey, Bill Bright, and even D. James Kennedy, of all people.  I can only wonder if the latter felt sufficiently embarrassed by appearing on the same set with Paul and Jan while trying to engage them in conversation.

But people in the OC talked about "Praise the Lord"--virtually non-stop.  How could you be a Christian and not talk about it?  Everything we saw on TBN was either controversial, just plain weird, or worse, heretical.  I saw people "slain in the Spirit."  I saw people "laugh in the Spirit."  I heard Jan Crouch describe how, when she was a small girl, the Lord resurrected her dead pet chicken after anointing it with Crisco Oil (because she had no "anointing oil") while Benny Hinn and the participants in the annual telethon cracked-up in the background.  Even Benny Hinn couldn't believe what he was hearing.  I saw all kinds of things which I cannot forget, and which take up permanent space in my long term memory.  

Eventually TBN moved from their headquarters in a Tustin industrial complex (near the famous "blimp hangers" if you know the OC) to the former Full-Gospel Businessmen's headquarters in Costa Mesa (right off the 405 Fwy and across from the OC's most famous shopping complex, South Coast Plaza).  It is easily the ugliest building in the entire county.  I am told TBN's influence now is primarily in the third world, but after numerous scandals, ill-health, and the unglamorous effects of old age, the OC, it seems, has largely forgotten Paul and Jan.  They rarely appear in "Praise the Lord" anymore, and the live program is often broadcast from many places other than the OC.

A couple of other things of interest. . .  Mike Horton was on TBN with one of their daytime hosts, Jim McClellen.  Mike was all of twenty at the time, still at Biola, and living with the Riddlebargers.  They discussed Mike's new book, Mission Accomplished (which later became Putting Amazing back Into Grace).  This has to be the only time the five "solas" of the Reformation were ever mentioned on TBN.  Incidentally, Paul and Jan actually gave away a gazillion copies of the Heidelberg Catechism as a "love offering" (that even sounds wrong) but stopped immediately when someone told them it taught infant baptism.

R. C. Sproul was once on "Praise the Lord" to promote his newest book, Reasons to Believe (1982).  I still have the VHS tape of this somewhere in a box in my attic, but I wasn't going to dig it out and hook up the VHS player just to confirm.  R.C. had no idea about Paul and Jan, and so when live on the air, Jan asked Dr. "Sprowal" if he believed that miracles still occurred today, R. C. gave the standard Reformed answer, that miracles were tied to the office of apostle and served to confirm the truth of Scripture.  Paul Crouch was a bit miffed and said to R. C., "what if I told you that when my father was preaching a man's funeral sermon (in Egypt), the dead man came back to life?"  You could just see R. C. waiting for the punch-line from Crouch which never came.  After a long and pregnant pause, R. C. sheepishly quipped, "well, it only takes one of those to prove me wrong."

All of this should be a reminder to us that the medium profoundly changes the message.  Noted apologist E. J. Carnell raised this Postman-like point back in the 1950s, but no one listened.  Evangelicals jumped at the chance to use television to preach the gospel to the masses.  That is what Paul and Jan thought they were doing, without realizing that their theology, personal antics, and the very nature of the medium they were championing, turned whatever meager Christian content there was in their programming into pure entertainment. 

Some thought TBN offered a good alternative to secular TV.  But those of us who live in the OC are still sweeping up after the horses now that the TBN parade looks to be over.

Next time, we'll turn to Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel--another distinctly OC phenomenon Part Three--Calvary Chapel).

Here's the introduction to this series:  Introduction

Here's part one, "the buzz":  The "Buzz"

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District? Part One -- The "Buzz"

I am certain that my family owned and operated the only Christian Bookstore in an amusement park (Knott's Berry Farm).  The photo above is of my dad (Clayton) and was taken when our bookstore was newly remodeled in 1967.  If you ever visited Knott's back in the day, and can recall the displays of the California missions in what was then Fiesta Village, you'll understand why our store looked like a California mission.  It was a California history thing, not a papal thing. 

I grew up in this strange world of Christian retail, and I have long since repented of supplying too many families and churches with Warner Sallman's awful "Head of Christ" painting.  If your grandma lived in Southern California (or visited Knott's), and had on her wall the picture of the old man praying over his bread, or the gleaners in the field giving thanks for the harvest, chances are she bought it from us.

I begin with our family's bookstore (the Inspiration House), because the first time I encountered the Christian "buzz" so typical of the OC in the late 60's through the mid 90's was the first "Maranatha Night" at Knott's.  I don't remember the year (1971?), but my dad had died in 1969 of a sudden heart attack at age 50, and my mom took over the business.  Darrell Anderson (one of the younger and hipper members of the Knott family) had recently become a Christian while attending a "Jesus People" church, which I later came to know as Calvary Chapel. 

Anderson had what he thought was a great idea--to have a special "Christian themed" event at Knott's.  It was arranged for some of the new bands which played at Calvary Chapel and elsewhere (Love Song, Children of the Day, and then later on Mustard Seed Faith, Sweet Comfort, etc.) to play the various music venues throughout Knott's.  Better still, our family's bookstore could sell their records (the fledgling Maranatha music label was just getting started, and generated a buzz far greater than folks like George Beverly Shea or the Gaithers) along with the accouterments which the Jesus People just loved--leather Bible covers (with the ichthus or Maranatha dove), Christian tee-shirts (with Bible verses or clever "witnessing" slogans), and all sorts of religious trinkets. 

Knott's first "Love Song" festival packed out with some 25,000 mostly young people who loved Jesus and were truly excited about their faith.  Our shelves were soon empty, and we found the Jesus People to be a breath of fresh-air, compared to the stodgy blue-hairs and matronly Sunday School teachers who usually shopped in Christian bookstores.  After the first "Maranatha Night," sheet music and greeting cards were no longer among our best-selling items.  Bibles, praise music, and tee-shirt sales were off the chart.  But we also sold many more commentaries and theology texts (we carried a few--mostly dispensational stuff).

I recall my mom telling me how this caught her completely off-guard.  These freaky Jesus People were truly excited about their faith in Christ.  They knew their Bibles.  They were kind and patient while waiting in line despite the fact our small store couldn't handle them all.  Many had remarkable testimonies about deliverance from all kinds of drug addiction and their previous fascination with the Eastern religions which dominated hippy culture.  I'm not big on the term "revival" because of my understanding of the Bible's stress on the ordinary means of grace (word and sacrament).  But this was a remarkable time however you attempt to understand it.  I'm still not sure what to think of it, or what to call it.

Maranatha Night was my first real encounter with the new Christian "buzz" spreading all over the OC.  I had been raised in the Grace Brethren and then the Evangelical Free Church--if you know anything about Orange County, you know how much influence Chuck Swindoll and the Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton exercised upon the OC's evangelicals--it was huge. 

But the influx of the Jesus People changed everything.  Everywhere you went, it seemed, people were talking about the Christian faith.  Before long, it was not just the Jesus People, it was successful businessmen (like Darrell Anderson of the Knott family), it was people in line in the grocery store, there were Christian bumper stickers on countless cars (many purchased from us), and there was the rise of a Christian media (radio at first), along with a distinct Christian sub-culture.  You couldn't escape it.  My non-Christian friends (among the few who were not converted during this time) hated it. 

In Christian circles and Bible studies, people debated among themselves the role of the gifts of the Spirit, and the ill (or good, depending upon which side you were on) effects of the charismatic movement.  It really mattered whether you were "pre-trib" or "post."  Hal Lindsey was must reading.  But so was Josh McDowell's Evidence that Demands a Verdict.  And as things progressed, it became increasingly important to identify yourself with one (or more) of the various elements (not yet "factions") within the evangelical subculture.  If you were Charismatic or Pentecostal, you went to Melodyland (the theater in the round, turned church, across from Disneyland).  If you preferred the new "praise music" to traditional hymns, and if you liked the laid-back Jesus People atmosphere, you went to Calvary Chapel.  If you wanted the Calvary Chapel style but with a focus on signs and wonders, you went to the Vineyard (a 1977 offshoot of Calvary).  If you wanted serious Bible teaching you went to Chuck Swindoll's church, or even to one of Calvary Chapel's mid-week studies.  And you just had to listen to the "Bible Answer Man" on Saturday night, because you knew that Walter Martin's clobbering an LDS stake president or some poor JW attempting to defend Arianism was going to be discussed at church the next morning.

This is what I mean by the Christian buzz. 

But beneath the surface, the same ills plaguing the Corinthians in the mid-fifties of the first century, were beginning to manifest themselves.  Christians were drawn to Christian celebrities and celebrity preachers, and to a distinctly evangelical sub-culture which was able to provide them with every style of music, clothing, image and self-identity you can imagine.  Christian bookstores (like Maranatha Village) popped up everywhere, selling the various badges and symbols of the subculture, and a few books as well.  It became "cool" to be a Christian and identify with the buzz.  As Ken Myers so aptly put it, you were of the world (because you baptized worldly methods), but you were no longer "in the world" because you had your own Christian sub-culture.  The seeds of the buzz's destruction were already sown.

If you wanted in on the buzz, you had to identify with these sub-groups.  As exciting and attractive as it was, none of this evangelical sub-culture was connected to the historic creeds and confessions of the church, the church's liturgy and sacraments, or to the responsibilities of church membership and discipline.  Those who participated in the buzz were consumers (not churchmen), eager, ready, and willing to go wherever you could find the buzz.  The buzz was always tied to the newest celebrity convert, doctrinal controversy, or the latest "move of the Spirit."  You could keep up with the buzz, but still never be connected to a church.  I joined EV-Free (as the Fullerton EFCA was known), attended faithfully for several years, but never once actually met or talked to Pastor Swindoll.  The church was too big and the reality was Swindoll did need to be protected from both groupies and kooks--the reason for his isolation from people on Sundays.  I didn't expect anything else, and didn't see this as out of the ordinary. 

The very nature of the this sub-culture is the reason why the buzz is now gone.  Ironically, it was one Charles Grandison Finney who first spoke of a "burned over district."  Finney was speaking of a region in the state of New York in which previous and repeated revivals had left the people cold-hearted and disinterested in religion.  In other words, his "new methods" no longer worked there.  The region was "burned over." 

While the changing demographics of the OC (as discussed in my previous post--Click Here) provide the most obvious reason for the decline in the Christian buzz, it is also true that such a buzz inevitably runs its course and then finally peters out.  In many ways, the OC is nothing but a new burned-over district.  The buzz cannot be sustained.  The Christian bookstores are gone.  CCM has run its course.  The Christian-themed events are gone--with the notable exception of Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade (which is now a kind of a family reunion for Calvary Chapel folk).  The megachurches are still here, but the buzz they once generated is long gone.  There can only be so many "new" ministries, celebrities, and passing fads before the whole thing becomes wearisome if not old hat.  Rick Warren's "deeds not creeds" plays much better in such a burned-over place, than does "creeds and then deeds."  Although he is the latest in this long line of buzz generators, Warren is also quite likely the last.

Next time, we'll take up the "Pentecostal follies" which occurred nightly on TBN.  Love `em or not, Paul and Jan created quite a buzz, and you cannot talk about the evangelical sub-culture in the OC without discussing the "Praise the Lord" television program--an OC staple (Click Here).

The OC -- A New Burned-Over District?

I've been thinking about tackling this subject for some time.  But it was an article in Monday's Orange County Register (Click Here) which prompted me to begin this brief series.  In an article in the new "faith & values" section of the Register religion writer Jim Hinch observes . . .

The future of religious America lives in a two-story beige office building in downtown Fullerton, where homeless people and college graduates attend church together. The future also lives at a mosque in Mission Viejo. At an organic farm started by a megachurch. In downtown Santa Ana, where kids of many faiths feed the homeless. And in an Orange County church for hipsters where women, once excluded from ministry, now are pastors.

Hinch goes on to describe the biggest change of all to the Orange County religious landscape--Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is soon to become "Christ Cathedral," home to Rome's OC diocese.  Anyone who has been to the OC, knows that the Crystal Cathedral stands tall and is directly across the 5 freeway from the Honda Center (where the Ducks play hockey) and Anaheim Stadium (where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play baseball).  Christ Reformed is also nearby, but almost invisible until you are on top of it.

Hinch is right.  The change in ownership of the Cathedral is simply the latest and surely the most visible sign that much has changed.  The loud buzz long associated with the various Protestant, evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic megachurches of the OC, has, by and large, given way to the kind of low-key religious pluralism described above by Hinch. 

With all of the changes afoot in OC's religious climate, my question is simply this, "what happened to the OC of the 70s, 80s and 90s?"  An era in which a distinctly Christian "buzz" was everywhere, and a time when many of the religious trends and fads which drove American evangelicalism began in my own backyard.  Locals joked that based upon church attendance and Harvest Crusade responses, the population of the OC had been saved twice over.  You don't hear that quip anymore. 

I saw much of it, and participated in some of it.  I am now the pastor of a church in the OC where many of us (including me) came to faith in Christ (or to a new or deeper understanding of our faith in Christ) because of that "buzz."  My guess is that about 75% of the members of Christ Reformed were, at one time, actively involved in some aspect of OC's Christian buzz.  So, if all of that is true, why is it that the OC is now so different?  Why is the buzz gone?  Why is this a good thing? 

I'm not intending this series to be a scientific study of current religious trends (I'm not equipped to evaluate these trends in that manner, nor am I interested in such things).  Nor will this series be a nostalgic look back at a better time--granted, it had its moments.  I am doing nothing more than offering my observations on a time now gone, and looking for any lessons which might be learned. 

My take is that this era was more of like a super nova of a dying star, than it was the establishment of any sustained evangelical movement.  We know that to be true, based upon the observations of Hinch and others about the decline of the megachurches and the rise of a generic religious pluralism which has taken their place.  Granted, the megachurches are still here, but the buzz they generated is gone (or greatly diminished), as is the influence they exerted upon the religious life and the culture of the OC.  

There are several reasons why OC Christianity has changed so drastically.  The most obvious is that the OC itself has changed--drastically.  Thirty years ago, the OC was mostly white middle-class and Republican.  OC had the highest percentage of Republican voter registration in the country.  Most of those folks moved here after World War Two, attracted by good jobs and the great weather.  There were some Asians, and more Hispanics, but the county was predominantly WASP.  The economy was robust and virtually recession-proof, driven largely by aerospace (Hughes, Rockwell, Boeing, and others were here), hi-tech industries (i.e., Bechman Instruments, Fluor), and entertainment (Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland).  

Little of this is true anymore.  The local economy is not near as robust.  Aerospace and the hi-tech industry are leaving the state because of California's oppressive business climate--high paying jobs are going away and not coming back.  Immigrants now dominate many of the county's neighborhoods--including my own.  "Little Arabia" is two miles away from me, and Garden Grove has a substantial Vietnamese neighborhood ("Little Saigon").  The barrio of Santa Ana now extends into North Orange County (and is within a block of my home).  Right-winger Bob Dornan's old congressional seat is now held by the very progressive Linda Sanchez. 

As the county has changed, OC religion has become as diverse as the people who now live here.  Hardly a surprise.  But one thing which has come with the change is the virtual silencing of the Christian buzz which was quite loud and lasted some three decades.

The Christian buzz was a cacophony arising from the churches and ministries which were located here.  During this time, the OC was home to TBN and the nightly follies of Paul and Jan Crouch.  The Hour of Power was based here (the TV ministry of Robert Schuller), as well as Insight for Living (Chuck Swindoll's radio broadcast).  Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and John Wimber's Vineyard reached out to the Jesus people in the late 60's and seemed to get the whole "youth culture" thing rolling.  Maranatha music and "praise songs," anyone?  There were always concerts, and bible studies in these churches were usually packed to the rafters.  Meanwhile, Walter Martin fought back the "cults"--Walter's Saturday night live call-in radio broadcast of the "Bible Answer Man" always generated buzz at church on Sunday.  Walter gave many of us our first exposure to Christian theology (weak as it was).  There were a host of Word-Faith "ministries" here (like Gary Greenwald and the "Eagles Nest").  Meanwhile, good ole Rich Buhler comforted the neurotic, and KYMS (the local Christian radio station which now broadcasts in Vietnamese) had huge ratings.  Then Rick Warren showed up, along with Benny Hinn (for a time) . . .  I am sure I am missing many others.  There was a lot going on here in the OC.  And it generated a distinct Christian "buzz."  

We'll talk about all of this and more in this series.  Bear with me as we go, I'm doing this from memory, and I didn't think to take notes at the time!  A lot of water has gone under the bridge.  Thankfully, I have now so successfully isolated myself in the theological sanity and comfort of Reformed theology and church life, if there were still such a Christian buzz, I probably wouldn't hear it. 

We'll start next time with an attempt at a definition of a "burned over" district, and develop in a bit more detail what I mean by a Christian "buzz."  I'll also recount my own very small role in the OC religion.  Part One -- "The Buzz"

To whet your whistle a bit, did you know that both R.C. Sproul and Mike Horton were on TBN?  Stay tuned.