Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement and senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, and his family are evaluating treatment options for his lung cancer after doctors advised against surgery, his daughter wrote Monday on Facebook.
“As we talked things over yesterday, Dad and I agreed that we like closed doors just as much as open doors, because there is great peace in seeing God working to make sure that we stay exactly in His will,” Smith’s daughter, Janette Smith Manderson, wrote on the “Praying for Chuck Smith” Facebook page. “Please pray that He will show Dad which treatement He has chosen for the next weapon in the cancer battle.”
Smith announced to the Costa Mesa church on Jan. 1 that cancer had been found in his lungs. The Christian Post reported that radiation and chemotherapy treatment earlier this year have reduced the size of the tumor, but that it remains a health concern.
Manderson wrote Monday on Facebook that doctors advised against surgery after a lung capacity test on Friday led them to believe surgery could make breathing more difficult for the 84-year-old pastor.
Smith started his ministry at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 1965 with just 25 people. Today, more than10,000 attend the Costa Mesa church, and Calvary Chapel congregations have spread across the United States.
