The History of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara
1976-2026
Preface - The Jesus Revolution
In 1965, Pastor Chuck Smith began his ministry at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa with just 25 people. From the beginning, Pastor Chuck welcomed all, young and old, without judgment, placing his emphasis on the teaching of the Word of God. His simple, yet sound, biblical approach eventually drew 25,000 people weekly.
This amazing work of God came to be known as the Jesus Revolution, featured at the time on the cover of Time magazine and, in 2023, in a feature film by the same name. As the movement expanded, churches were planted throughout California and the West Coast, eventually spreading across the country and around the world, resulting is some 1,800 churches that became part of the fellowship of Calvary Chapel. The story of Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara is the story of one of those churches which God in His grace has used in wonderful ways.
This account was started by David Brown who, along with his wife, Jane, was one of the founding members at CCSB. The story has been expanded since Dave’s passing in 2021 with the help and input of many of those who have been part of the fellowship over the years. This history is not intended to be - in fact, could never be - exhaustive, but tries to hit the highlights and important milestones along our journey. It is not intended to be sugar coated nor to the praise of any man, and it likewise does not dwell on the challenges or problems that are common to men. Also, where accounts differ due to time, memory, or perspective, we’ve attempted to reflect the most common recollections. It our hope that it will provide a sense of history and continuity for the benefit of those who currently call CCSB home and those who will come along in the future, should the Lord tarry. And, in every instance, the intention is to focus on what God has done through imperfect men and women by His grace and for His glory.
1976 to 1980 - Founding & Formation, the Early Years
In the Fall of 1976, the ministry known as Calvary Chapel of Santa Barbara (CCSB) was planted. A few couples had the desire to see the ministry of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa extended to the Santa Barbara area and asked Pastor Chuck Smith if he would consider sending someone to lead the fellowship. Within a month the couples were contacted by a young man who felt called to plant a church here.
Bruce Danzara was raised Catholic but, by 1972, had become an emaciated and brain-addled drug dealer who had been arrested multiple times and was facing both State and Federal charges with the likelihood of multi-year prison sentences. However, before going to trial, he was approached by a friend in a restaurant who invited him to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa where Chuck Smith was teaching. The Lord used Revelation 3:20 (“Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”) to cause him to repent and surrender his life to Jesus. His testimony is that, “the blinders came off and my mind was completely restored” and, within one month, his entire family became born again. In answer to prayer both the State and Federal judges showed him mercy in response to the many letters they received about his changed life, and his sentences were reduced to just a few months in local jail and probation. While incarcerated his started a Bible study where he led Mike Byrd to the Lord, who later became his assistant pastor.
After his release, he got married, was invited by Chuck Smith to come on staff as a youth evangelist and leader, and studied theology and Bible at Southern California College (now Vanguard University), where he also shared classes with Gib Allen and many other CC Costa Mesa pastors and leaders.
As a young evangelist Bruce was sent to Santa Barbara and, in September 1976, he began the first evening Bible study in the home of Al and Fern Pfau in Montecito. The group was comprised of a handful of couples and a couple dozen college students. Week by week their numbers grew as each excited person shared their joy. Within six weeks they began holding Sunday morning worship services in a lecture hall on the Brooks Institute campus. In a few months’ time they grew from approximately 20 adults to approximately 135 adults.
In January of 1977 the church moved to the YMCA on Hitchcock Way, meeting initially in the Fireside Room, then the Multipurpose Room and, eventually, the gymnasium as the church grew. The church would continue at the YMCA until the summer of 1989. During this period the church had three different pastors…
After less than a year, Bruce left Santa Barbara and was subsequently called to CC Yuba City by Greg Meeks. He later moved to Carlsbad and started a home fellowship which became Calvary Chapel Orange where he served as senior pastor from 1980-1987. Bruce continued to serve the Lord in a variety of capacities and is now retired from ministry and is a wedding officiate in Orange County.
After Bruce left, Steve Erven and other members of the board of elders oversaw the affairs of the church, including teaching and the search for a new pastor. In late 1977 Greg Meeks connected with Dave Brown and Steve Erven about possibly serving at CCSB. In those days it was an unspoken rule that an elder board and any associate pastors would resign when a new senior pastor came so that he could start with a fresh slate. The elders at CCSB did not want to follow that protocol and, as a result, other candidates such as Guy Gray and Jon Courson from the Calvary Chapel conference center did not choose to come. Being unaware of that procedure and therefore not encumbered by it, Greg Meeks became the new pastor in January of 1978 and served until January 1980. When Greg came CCSB was very well attended, having 250-300 adults attending Sunday mornings, even without having a senior pastor.
Although thriving, partially because of not having a church facility, people tended to leave after church services rather than staying to fellowship. Greg addressed that by doing two things. One, he would position himself at the door as the service ended so he could meet people. That allowed him to connect with the congregants, and also resulted in more people lingering as they were not able to “bolt” when the service ended. Also, seeing the need to have a place for midweek fellowship, Greg and his wife, Barbara, rented a restored 6-bedroom house on Bath St. where they would live and rent out the other rooms to various members of the congregation so it was self-sustaining. Much ministry took place there, including some salvations and some marriages! After about eight months, in early 1980, Greg and Barbara moved to Solvang to better serve a second Santa Barbara YMCA Al & Fern Pfau Greg & Barbara Meeks congregation that had started there. The Bath St. house was taken over for a time by Barry and Cathy Branaman who had been saved at CC Yuba City and had moved to Santa Barbara for a job at Westmont College. In total the house was active for about 12-18 months.
April 1980 to November 1989 - the Gib Allen Years
After two years, Greg Meeks left CCSB in January 1980 to pastor the new CC Solvang and the next several months, through April 1980, were a time of transition during which elders Mike Teplansky, Dave Brown, and Barry Branaman served the church and began looking for a new pastor. During this time Chuck Smith wanted the church to change its name and said that CCSB should no longer be a Calvary Chapel (“lose their blue dot”) which prompted Dave Brown and Mike Teplansky to go to Costa Mesa to ask him to reconsider and enlist his help finding a new pastor for the church. While waiting to meet with Chuck, they had a “chance” encounter with Gib Allen who was on staff at that time.
Gib Allen had graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in music and had several jobs as choir director at various churches. He and his wife, Linda, decided to go to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa one Sunday while the church was meeting in a large tent near their home and there they gave their lives to the Lord. They lived on a shoe string budget while Gib attended seminary and Linda worked at a bank. Gib would also do hospital visits as a volunteer several days a week. He made an appointment with Chuck to ask for leads with other pastors to try to get a job as a music director, but it turned out Chuck was aware of his service and invited him to come on staff. After about three years, he was ordained and served at Costa Mesa another two years. It was during this time that Gib met Dave Brown and Mike Teplansky in the hallway while they were waiting for Chuck and, shortly after that, Chuck recommended him for the position of senior pastor at CCSB.
Gib became pastor in the Spring of 1980 and served for approximately 10 years. By the time he arrived church attendance had dwindled and there was a lack of connection because of too few people in too large a space. Also, because of what had happened with the previous two pastors leaving and the church going so long without a senior pastor, there was some apprehension about Gib when he arrived. Very quickly he started a Sunday evening service, again meeting in the Fireside Room, and things began to take off. Shortly after this, Johnny Mullen moved to Santa Barbara with his wife, Kim, after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and started to lead worship for both the morning and evening services.
During the 10 years Gib led the fellowship the church consistently grew as he faithfully taught the Word of God verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, book-by-book. Two of the highlights of his teaching ministry were a ninemonth study through the Book of Revelation, and a one-year series on the Holy Spirit titled, “The Confessions of a Pastor,” which was prompted by his own seeking for understanding about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church. This was a very exciting time for the church with many powerful works of the Holy Spirit being manifested and a shared sense of excitement throughout the congregation. By 1988 there were approximately 800-1,000 adults calling Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara their home church, along with about 100-150 children attending Sunday school. After maximizing three Sunday morning services in the YMCA Multipurpose Room, the church moved into the gymnasium with two services, in addition to the Sunday evening service.
In December of 1988 the congregation experienced division as some became disenchanted with the style of leadership in the operation of the church, coming to a head in January 1989 when a number of church leaders walked out in protest during a special Sunday evening meeting. This was a very disheartening turn of events as it seemed the enemy had successfully sowed discontent and division among the sheep. This led to a significant drop Gib Allen in attendance from approximately 800-1,000 adults to approximately 200-300 adults. This was a most challenging time for the ministry.
No longer needing such a large space, and being asked by the YMCA to leave after 12 years, which was two years past the original 10-year agreement, a search was begun for a new facility, led in part by associate pastor Tim Anderson. A small church at 150 Pebble Hill Road in Goleta was purchased and, in the summer of 1989, and during his final year as CCSB senior pastor pastor, Gib Allen led the congregation in a move to the new facility. It was the perfect place for the smaller congregation and came with the added joy of not having to set up and tear down after every service, along with providing a place for ministry during the week. Although the church was much smaller than it had been, this was actually a very refreshing and encouraging time as those who were discontented had left and there was a real family feeling among those who remained
Towards the latter half of 1989 Gib was contacted by Malcolm Wilde, a musician and pastor from the UK whom Gib had befriended while they were both on staff at Costa Mesa. Malcolm was the senior pastor of a Calvary Chapel in Merritt Island, FL and he asked Gib to consider taking over a Bible study Malcolm had started in Orlando. After visiting the Bible study and seeking the Lord, Gib and Linda felt called to go and, at the end of November 1989, Gib left CCSB to pastor this modest sized congregation in Orlando, FL which included a large number of musicians and performers employed at Disneyworld. After his departure, assistant pastor Tim Anderson served as the interim pastor, and worship leader, as the search began for a new senior pastor.
November 1989 to March 1990 - the Tim Anderson Interim Period
Tim Anderson first came to CCSB in the Spring of 1982 while he was a sophomore engineering student at UCSB and he started serving in the church almost immediately. After graduation in 1984 he worked as an electrical engineer at local companies, but then came on staff as an associate pastor/pastor-in-training, eventually serving as the mission pastor and was also instrumental in securing the Pebble Hill property after an extensive search.
After Gib Allen announced his plans to move to Florida, board members Jim Harmon, Glenn Ornee, Eric Kruzel, and Bob Wageneck conducted the search for candidates and in March 1990, at the encouragement of Chuck Smith, Ricky Ryan and his wife, Linda, moved to Santa Barbara from Kumulani Chapel on Maui, HI and became the new senior pastor, with Tim continuing on until God called him and his wife, Laura, to the mission field. After a period of preparation at the YWAM Discipleship Training School in Hawaii, Tim and Laura served first at “the Castle” that Chuck had purchased in Millstadt, Austria as a ministry launching point into the newly opened countries behind the Iron Curtain. He and Laura then spent five years ministering in Hungary, and later served at the International Church in Prague, the Czech Republic, before eventually returning to California to plant and pastor Calvary Chapel Burbank in 2001, where they continue to serve.
March 1990 to March 2010 - the Ricky Ryan Years
Ricky Ryan brought fresh new vision to the ministry and God began to add to the church as He saw fit. One very important part of this vision was Ricky’s strong belief that the saints be given the encouragement and freedom to do the “work of the ministry.” Ricky also strongly encouraged outreach and evangelism and the church began to do short-term international mission trips and a variety of outreach activities to reach the Santa Barbara community. In August 1992 the church held its first “Luau” and baptism at Leadbetter Beach and, in October, the first “Harvest Festival” (later “Light the Night”) Halloween alternative at Pebble Hill. In subsequent years the event was moved to the Earl Warren Showgrounds and featured motocross demonstrations and performances by major Christiaan recording artists such as Jeremy Camp and the Supertones.
As part of our outreach efforts, and to accommodate the growing congregation, in 1992 CCSB did its first public Easter celebration, this time partnering with other local churches for a joint sunrise service at the Santa Barbara County Bowl (although it was completely foggy that day). Over the following years Easter was celebrated on the lawn at UCSB, at Santa Barbara City College, at the Santa Barbara Zoo, and once at the Arlington Theater. In 1997 the church held a Good Friday service at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and, in 1998 CCSB was able to secure the Courthouse lawn and Sunken Garden to celebrate a community-wide Easter service. And in 2026, CCSB celebrated their 28th year at that location (less 2020 for Covid and getting rained out one year). At its peak, the Easter celebration at the Courthouse drew as many as 5,000 people from throughout the community, often including civic leaders and well-known Christian worship artists.
The church grew rapidly and over the first several years after Ricky came had grown to three Sunday morning services and a Saturday evening service, in addition to a Wednesday night mid-week Bible study. In 1991 a developer built a model home on the land immediately adjacent to the church property which the church was able to rent and use as offices and for various ministry activities. Although more space was needed for the church itself, the neighbors resisted efforts to expand or replace the sanctuary with a larger building, so a search was initiated to locate a larger facility in which to meet.
The elder board at this time included Eric Kruzel, Teale Manning, Jim Harmon, Bob Wageneck, Glenn Ornee, and David Brown. In March 1992 a separate “Board of Directors” was selected for the church’s 501(c)(3) which included Jim Reed, Joseph “TJ” Natale, Jack Duncan, Ricky Ryan, Dave Newton, and Katie Clause. -The separate elder board remained in place.
Due to the continued growth of the church and the inability to build or expand the facilities at Pebble Hill, the Board started looking at other options including sharing another church’s existing facility (afternoon services), buying land and building a facility, or leasing commercial space anywhere from a Carpinteria business park, the Josten’s factory on Ortega Ridge Road, and various warehouses in Santa Barbara and Goleta, including the vacated Steven’s Aviation hangar at the Santa Barbara airport.
The search eventually led to the 209,000 sq. ft. Vercal (or “Salsa”) Building, a large commercial warehouse at 1 N. Salsipuedes St. in what’s known as the “Funk Zone,” the industrial area of Santa Barbara between the freeway and the railroad tracks, just a few blocks from the beachfront area. It is the largest enclosed space in Santa Barbara County and had originally been used as a lemon packing plant, but also happened to be zoned in such a way that it could to be used as a church. The church signed a lease for a relatively small portion at one end of the building of approximately 37,500 square feet which had previously been used as a school bus depot, and began the process of developing plans and applying for building and Conditional Use permits. To help pay for this project, the Pebble Hill building was sold to Harvest Chapel (under the leadership of former CCSB elder Mike Teplansky) and the church offices vacated the “Chapel House” on the adjacent property and were moved into what later became the children’s area at the new location.
To have a place to meet while the new facility was developed, the church signed a lease agreement with the Arlington Theater in downtown Santa Barbara, along with some nearby office space to use for youth and children’s ministry. CCSB ultimately met at the Arlington for nearly three years, from August 8, 1993 to September 1, 1996, while going through the permitting and building process.
As is often the case, the permitting and construction at the Salsa Building took much longer than expected. One of the challenges was discovering that previous tenants &/or owners had put four new asphalt roofs on the building without removing the previously existing layers. It wasn’t possible to remove the old roofing, so the engineers required a massive retrofit of interior beams, joints, trusses and supports which pushed the planned Fall 1994 move-in to October 1995.
As a testimony to God’s providence during seasons of trial, during this time, in January and March 1995, Santa Barbara experienced two “500-year storms.” This caused massive flooding throughout the lower Santa Barbara area, including the Salsa building. This resulted in the church’s new office space being flooded, ruining all of the office furniture and computer equipment which had recently been moved in. In God’s Providence this resulted in insurance payments which allowed the purchase all new equipment and, because the church had not yet moved in, even more potential damage was avoided. However, to remediate the water damage, all drywall had to be removed up to 4 feet from the floor, lots of electrical wiring, switches, and plugs had to be redone, and all flooring had to be replaced. (Note: the same thing happened again in January 2023, only this time just after a new kids climbing structure had been completed, and just a few years after a major “Refresh” throughout the building. However, God was again faithful and He brought the whole church together in the repair efforts while the church spent three Sundays back at the Arlington Theater). And, it happened again less than a year later which required yet another “refresh.
The plan was to build out the Vercal Building space in phases: first the sanctuary, then the children’s area, and finally the offices and youth areas. Regular Wednesday night work parties were started to allow the congregation to participate in building the physical church as they were simultaneously being built into the spiritual house of God. The interior space was given an “exterior” waterfront theme, and one of the signature features were the benches to be used as “pews” which were hand-built by the congregation in an assembly line fashion during the Wednesday night work parties.
The first phase included finishing about two thirds of the planned final sanctuary, with space next to it being used for Children’s ministry. During this time, cloth partitions suspended on PVC tube frames was all that separated one class from another which caused the entire space to be filled with a “joyful noise” on Sunday mornings. High The Arlington Theater School and Jr. High ministries met in unfinished portions of the space and church offices were set up in portable buildings in the parking lot.
Phase I was completed and the first Sunday service in the new facility took place on Sunday, September 1, 1996, three years after CCSB had started meeting at the Arlington, and almost exactly 20 years after the church had been founded. Shortly thereafter, Pastor Chuck Smith came to do a building dedication which was preceded by a one-week reading through the entire Bible out loud in the Sanctuary.
Phase II saw completion of the children’s area and classrooms, including the “Boat Room” in which a sailboat from the harbor was re-purposed as a much-loved play structure. And, with the children’s area completed, the sanctuary was expanded to it’s current size.
Phase III finished the High School and Jr. High School rooms and the church offices and was completed in January, 2002.
Over the following years the church continued to grow rapidly, to the point where it once again had to go to three Sunday morning services, with an adult congregation of about 2,000-3,000 along with about 500 children and teenagers.
Ministries begun during the 20 years that Ricky Ryan served the church included, but are not limited to:
• Married Couples
• Home Groups
• Reality Young Adults (which later became Reality Church)
• Mission trips and Missionary support
• Community-wide outreach events including neighborhood clean-ups, Easter at the Courthouse and Light the Night at Earl Warren Showgrounds.
In addition to the above, in 2003 Brit Merrick launched Reality Carpinteria with the core group being those who had been part of the Reality young adult ministry, which was originally started by Waxer Tipton and led by Brit after Waxer left to plant a new church on Molokai (and later Honolulu), HI. Reality has since expanded to multiple campuses in the US and UK.
Also, in September 2007 Rick Soto launched the Ranch Church in Santa Ynez. They subsequently purchased a vineyard just outside of Buellton, leasing out the vineyard to professional vintners and leasing out the existing tasting room to a local winery, while meeting on the property initially under a tent and, currently, in “The Barn,” an open-sided steel structure.
Other church plants included Calvary Chapel of The Woodlands, TX (Bruce Hollen, 2003), and the IV (Isla Vista) Church (Jacob Reeves).
Just after Thanksgiving in 2009, Ricky called all the current and prior board members and elders together and announced that he’d be leaving in March 2010 to resume the leadership of Kumulani Chapel on Maui, 20 years since Chuck had encouraged him to become the senior pastor of CCSB.
In January 2010 Ricky announced that he was leaving to the church staff, and shortly thereafter to the congregation. A pastor search committee was formed which included current and prior board members. They interviewed Rob McCoy (CC Thousand Oaks), Tommy Schneider (CC Vail Valley), a young Latino pastor from CC Gilroy, and Dave Guzik (Director of the CC Bible College in Siegen, Germany, and former pastor of CC Oxnard and CC Simi Valley). The decision was made to invite David Guzik who, as it turned out, was already planning to return to California after his seven years in Siegen directing the CC Bible College.
In March 2010 a special farewell service was held on a Sunday evening to say good-bye to Ricky & Linda Ryan. Attendance at that time was reported to be about 2,300 adults, based on the number of communion cups used at the three Sunday morning services.
April 2010 to June 2017 - the David Guzik Years
David Guzik grew up in Rialto, CA in a nominally Catholic family. At his brother’s encouragement, he started attending Sunday night concerts at Calvary Chapel Riverside under Greg Laurie in their original building and was saved there at age 13. At age 15 his family moved to Ventura, and he and his twin sister, Diane, started attending the Ventura Missionary Church, and then later Ventura Faith Calvary Chapel that had been planted out of CC Thousand Oaks under Pastor Kim Vander Linden. When he was 16, in 1978, Pastor Vander Linden asked David to teach a Bible study in Ojai, which he did for about a year until he started attending Calvary Chapel Bible School in Twin Peaks (where he met his future wife, Inga-Lill). In about 1981 he started attending Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara under Pastor Gib Allen, and then he and Lance Ralston co-founded Calvary Chapel Oxnard in September 1982 by combining the two Bible studies they each were leading at the time. He then left CC Oxnard to plant and pastor CC Simi Valley in early 1990 until 2003 when he answered the call to start the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Siegen, Germany under Pastor Nick Long.
David and Inga-Lill had started making plans to return to California in early 2010 when he received a call to come to Santa Barbara to interview, and ultimately accept, the Senior Pastor position following the departure of Ricky Ryan. Easter 2010 was David Guzik’s first official Sunday as CCSB’s new senior pastor, although it would take a few months for them to complete their move to Santa Barbara from Germany.
Pastor Guzik continued and strengthened CCSB’s ministry in Santa Barbara. In addition, he brought a deepening commitment to discipleship and leadership development through the CCSB Bible College under the leadership of his former Siegen Bible College assistant director, Keith Fortenberry, and the Joshua Project internship program.
Some of the other highlights of Pastor Guzik’s tenure were the outreach to Franklin Elementary School and three Christmas Eve outreaches at the Granada Theater, along with the continuation of Easter at the Sunken Gardens and Light the Night.
While all this was going on, Pastor Guzik’s Bible commentary ministry, Enduring Word, continued to grow rapidly as did David’s conference and training ministry around the world. While these were a great blessing to the Body of Christ, they continued to take up more and more of David’s time and energy. In 2017, with the encouragement of the board of elders, David made the decision to step aside as Senior Pastor so that CCSB could have a full-time senior pastor and so David Guzik Granada Theater David could take advantage of the many open doors outside of the church. After interviewing several other qualified candidates, the Board invited Pastor Tommy Schneider of Calvary Chapel Vail Valley to come back from Colorado to be the new senior Pastor, starting in June, 2017.
(It should be noted that since 2017, Enduring Word has grown over 15X (from 10 million page views a year to more than 150 million. From 2017 through 2026 it has reached an estimated 800 million page views on its combined platforms and has continued to grow. It is currently available in many languages including Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Romana, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Tamil, Russian, Uzbek, Dutch, and Kiswahili.)
June 2017 to Present - The Tommy Schneider Years
Tommy Schneider grew up in Santa Barbara and was saved at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara after being invited by a friend to attend the Wednesday morning Men’s Prayer Breakfast and the following Sunday services at Pebble Hill. Growing in his newfound faith and desiring to serve, Tommy came to work at CCSB as the janitor and eventually became the much-loved children’s pastor under Ricky Ryan and associate pastor Rick Soto.
In 1997 Tommy was sent to plant Calvary Chapel Vail Valley in Eagle, Colorado. Although being a challenging environment of part-time residents and seasonal resort workers, Tommy pastored the church faithfully and grew it significantly for 20 years, planting numerous other churches and sending numerous missionaries along the way. Although he agreed to be interviewed by the CCSB board in 2010 when Ricky announced he was leaving, Tommy and his wife, Debi, did not really feel called to Santa Barbara at that time, believing they still had much work to accomplish in Colorado. However, when the board reached out to him again in 2017, they both felt that God was calling them to return to their home town and their home church to take over the senior pastor position.
Since that time Tommy has brought new life and vitality to the church, although it has not been without many challenges. The first challenge came when associate pastor Nate Wagner felt that he had been passed over for a position he had been led to believe would be his. As a result, Nate and assistant pastor Lars Linton launched Anthem Chapel in nearby Goleta in the fall of 2017 with the support of CCSB.