Our History
Over the Years
Chuck Smith began leading Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 1965, shaping it around verse-by-verse Bible teaching, a grace-centered message, and a welcoming approach to people who felt overlooked by traditional church culture.
As the Jesus Movement grew, Calvary Chapel became a key hub, and its impact spread through church planting. Instead of forming a centralized denomination, Calvary Chapel expanded as a relational network of largely independent churches, now found across the United States and in many countries around the world.
1961
Beginnings in Costa Mesa
A small, informal non-denominational gathering begins in Costa Mesa, California, meeting in a trailer court recreation room as the earliest roots of what becomes Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
1969
Calvary Chapel becomes a hub for the emerging “Jesus Movement”
Through connections with people like John Higgins and Lonnie Frisbee, Calvary Chapel becomes closely associated with the Jesus Movement’s evangelism and counterculture outreach.
1975
Calvary Chapel Bible School / Bible College launched
Calvary Chapel Bible School begins as an intensive Bible study and training program that helps equip pastors, missionaries, and leaders who go on to plant and serve churches worldwide.
2015
The start of Calvary Chapel Eastside
Pastor Josh Hueser, a former youth pastor at Calvary Chapel Antelope Valley, started Calvary Chapel Eastside on January 4, 2015, in Palmdale, CA, after feeling a strong calling to minister to the Eastside of the Antelope Valley area.
2022
Pastor Hauser passes leadership to Pastor Indy Sahi
Pastor Josh Hueser planted the church and served as senior pastor for seven years before passing leadership to Indy Sahi in 2022.
Current Day
Pastor Indy Sahi finds it such a joy to continue to watch God work in power in the lives of countless men and woman.