Bob Coy’s journey to founding the nation's eighth largest church was an unlikely one.
At 21, Coy’s charisma and uncanny ability to pick hit songs made him an up-and-coming music industry executive, but his success soon dead-ended in alcohol, cocaine and promiscuity. Broken, Coy recognized his need for a Savior.
And that’s when his tune changed.
In his late 20s, he married Diane. Along with another couple, they moved from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to plant a church. That was 1985.
Today, about 20,000 people gather each weekend at the four campuses of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (CCFL). The church is much like its pastor — spirited and able to tackle its multicultural, liberal-minded city with pragmatic, Bible-based, can-do ingenuity.
"From evangelism to discipleship, they carefully and wisely engage the culture," said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council.
CitizenLink talked with Coy about his church and its latest project — online videos that encourage people to think twice before using God's name in vain.
1. Why tackle the misuse of God's name? Aren’t there more serious things to worry about?
I’ve been burdened by the misuse. People are using the name of God without respect, and that’s not a good thing to do. In the Ten Commandments, God tells us, “Don’t do that.”
We’re trying to educate the public of what you’re really saying when you use the phrase, and that when you truly call upon the one living true God, there are blessings attached. We hope to draw people to understanding that if you call Him in a righteous way, you can expect results.
The cool thing with this project is that we’ve discovered you don’t need TV or radio to get the word out. Because of the recessionary times, we had to rethink how we do what we do, so this project is part of our online efforts. These 30-second online spots are a lot less expensive than a 30-minute radio program, so it shows that ministries today can do things that are effective for change but, from a cost standpoint, are a more naturally grassrooted and without the big expense. That’s why, although we’ve been on TV for 15 years, we’re rethinking that and trying out simply putting five-minute snippets of Sunday service online and offering it in podcast format.
2. You encouraged your congregation to support Florida’s marriage amendment in notoriously liberal Broward County. Why is it important for Christians to get involved in issues like protecting marriage?
We encouraged voter registration and reminded folks how important it is to vote. Many of our twentysomethings got involved by going out to educate and create understanding. There was a lot of confusion in South Florida regarding what was the family-minded vote. We helped rectify the misinformation.
Every act of legislation has a moral foundation. Christians need to use the Word of God as our guide. You can be lawful but still break the heart of God. Take abortion, for example. Abortion is an immoral choice to take the life of child, and yet the Supreme Court says it is legal. When the courts say something is legal, but the Word of God says it is wrong, the church needs to stand up and help by letting the Body know there’s a difference between legal and right. Speaking truth is one way Christians can shine their light.
3. Your church does a great job of partnering with local government to help the community. Tell me about your efforts to help foster kids.
There’s a ministry called 4KIDS of South Florida that was birthed out of CCFL. We wanted to help eradicate the foster-care problem, because if every church was actively pursuing a solution with an open heart and open home, there would be no problem.
We soon realized the solution was something that looks a lot like God’s design — providing families and homes. 4KIDS started with a single house, and from there it grew to many houses, with many churches involved. People donated houses; we put house parents in them, and then children. The dream multiplied.
Today, 4KIDS takes in every child who is brought into the Broward County child welfare system. 4KIDS also has places for children that have aged out of foster care, and for unwed mothers. It’s important for Christians to adopt because the Word of God says pure religion is looking after orphans and widows. We have to be actively involved in some sort of relief if we are to say we have a relationship with God.
4. Your church also has reached out to South Florida’s large homeless population. Can you tell me about that?
For a long time, we had been trying to have homeless people visit our church, but realized they didn’t come because they didn’t feel comfortable. So we started a church downtown called The Refuge. The church grew so much, we launched a second location and started Deep Faith discipleship classes. They’re growing into greater faithfulness because we’ve esteemed and valued them where they are at.
We work with the city of Fort Lauderdale, and we’ve been a positive light to the city.
5. You’re an unlikely person for God to choose to head up this huge church that’s making such an impact in the community. Do you have any words of advice for other unlikely leaders?
I only went to high school, no college. I didn’t go to Bible college. All this is only by the grace of God, yet God has a reputation of choosing the least and last to confound the wise and educated. If you trust in the Lord and don’t lean on your own understanding, God will use you to do great things.
You don’t need a lot; just go out there and do God’s Word. For example, a great, grassroots thing has happened as a result of The Refuge. Volunteers became friends with the homeless people there and learned what they needed. They wanted to fill this need so they started Love Bags — a bag filled with a water bottle, granola bar, socks, tuna fish and a note. There are a lot of young people who carry Love Bags in their cars and just give them out.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Pastor Bob Coy shares his testimony in his book One Surrendered Life.
Learn more about Focus on the Family's Orphan Care Initiative.
Monica Schleicher is the manager of media and public relations at Focus on the Family Action. She attended Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale before coming to Focus two years ago.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
