You'll remember last year we brought ustedes the story of Alex Grenier, whose stepfather is the pastor at Calvary Chapel Visalia and whom Grenier says physically abused him repeatedly as a child. Since then, Grenier has become a hero to the many, many people burned by Calvary Chapel over the years through his blog, Calvary Chapel Abuse, where Grenier does the work reporters don't want to do in exposing the seamier side of Calvary Chapel and its head, Chuck Smith.
Grenier's blog is so explosive that Smith took the extraordinary measure of arranging a meeting with him earlier this month, one to which Grenier was asked to keep quiet for two weeks until they figured out what to do with him. Those two weeks are up, and boy, does Grenier have a story to tell!
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Everyone should read Calvary Chapel Abuse, so I'll direct everyone to Grenier's entertaining, passionate recounting of the meeting. Essentially, Grenier wants his stepfather removed from his position, and for Calvary Chapel to adopt guidelines to ensure child abuse doesn't happen at the mega-movement. Smith generally agreed to the latter, but claimed he had no authority over the former, which everyone knows is a crock of lies.
What's most interesting, however, is Grenier's account that Smith and his lawyer called his blog “a bunch of lies,” a “refuse collector” and that Grenier is “”tearing down a work of the Lord” by allowing his blog to be a harbor for those burned by Smith. REAL sympathetic there, Chuckie! Calvary Chapel Pacific Hills (in Aliso Viejo) pastor Dave Rolph sat in on the meeting and disputed Grenier's version: it wasn't Smith who lambasted Grenier, Rolph, claims, it was his attorney. To which Grenier laughed.
Godspeed, Alex, and keep up the good fight…
