Lawsuit in Costa Mesa, California, Alleges Calvary Chapel Founder Chuck Smith Was Denied Medical Help Before His Death

The founding pastor of Calvary Chapel, Chuck Smith, led the Costa Mesa, California, church for more than four decades. According to the reports, the congregation began in 1965 with 25 people and later planted more than 1,600 churches worldwide. Smith died in 2013 at age 86, after a battle with lung cancer.

In November 2013, a vote officially appointed Brian Brodersen as Smith’s successor. Brodersen is Calvary Chapel’s president and chairman of its board of directors. One report spells his name Broderson, and the spelling is inconsistent across the two accounts.

A lawsuit now challenges the circumstances of Smith’s death and the church’s leadership. Janette Manderson, a daughter of Smith, filed the suit, and one report says his widow, Kay Smith, joined her. The lawsuit alleges that the church board and Smith’s son-in-law hastened the pastor’s death and took control of the ministry. The suit also alleges that the board selected a nurse loyal to Brodersen, and that the nurse refused to call paramedics on the night Smith died. The lawsuit’s claims have not been proven in court.

According to the lawsuit, paramedics arrived after delays of about an hour and said they might have saved Smith or eased his pain had the family called earlier. The second report describes the claim differently, saying the suit alleges that Smith’s illness and death were worsened by the negligent care of a nurse chosen by Brodersen. That account frames the dispute as one of negligent care rather than a refusal to call for help. Protecting a dying man from neglect is at the heart of the claim, a matter of protecting the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

Chuck Smith Jr. responded in a Facebook statement. He said his father was in hospice care at home and that the caregiver did not call 911 because the pastor was not in pain. He called the suit “groundless” and “deplorable.” The suit seeks unspecified damages. Roger Wing, a board member named in the suit, declined to comment.

The second report also says the suit claims Brodersen and other board members used Smith’s failing health to take control of the church. Neither Brodersen nor the other board members named in the suit could be reached for comment.