Lonnie Frisbee
Lonnie Frisbee (d.
March 12,
1993) was a "
hippie" pentecostal
evangelist in the late
1960s and
1970's. He worked in conjunction with
Chuck Smith's
Calvary Chapel movement and he was the key figure in the
Jesus Movement.
He was a homosexual, and prominent
art student at the
San Francisco Art Academy when he was found by members of the
Haight-Ashbury's
Living Room mission. At the time, Lonnie talked about
UFOs and practiced
hypnotism. When the missionaries found him, they said he was talking about "
Jesus and flying saucers".
Lonnie soon
converted to
Christianity and quit the art academy to move to a Christian community in
Novato, California, along with his wife Connie. The community was soon dubbed
The House of Acts (named after the community of early Christians in the
Acts of the Apostles). Lonnie designed a sign to put outside the house, but was informed that if he gave it an official name, it would no longer be considered a mere guest house and would be subject to renovations. The small community could hardly afford this, so the sign came down.
Jesus movement, Calvary Chapel
Lonnie and his wife had left the commune of the House of Acts to go to Southern California.
Chuck Smith, meanwhile, had been making plans to build a chapel out of a surplus school building in the City of
Santa Ana, near
Costa Mesa when he met Lonnie Frisbee. Lonnie was soon to become one of the most important ministers in the church.
Lonnie's unkempt appearance (he greatly resembled the standard portraits of Jesus, a frail man with long hair and a beard) helped appeal the youth culture to his message, and Lonnie believed that the youth culture would play a prominent role in the Christian movement in the
United States. He cited
Joel the
prophet.
Lonnie's attachment to the
Pentecostal movement (so named after the events at
Pentecost in
Acts of the Apostles), however, caused some disagreement within the church, since Lonnie was focused more on gaining converts than on helping them learn sound
doctrine.
Chuck Smith, however, took up that job and the two worked greatly to bring hippies and young people to Jesus Christ. Under Lonnie Frisbee's ministry his most visible convert was evangelist
Greg Laurie.
Smith then asked Lonnie and Connie to depart to
San Francisco circa
1968. Smith had set up a community house there called the
House of Miracles which had been established in May 1968. Within a week, it had 35 new converts. Lonnie and Connie were to run it with John Higgins and his wife Jackie.
Lonnie to win fame
By
1971, the
Jesus Movement had broken in the media, and major media outlets such as
Life Magazine,
Newsweek and
Rolling Stone Magazine were covering it. Lonnie, due to his prominence in the movement, was frequently photographed and interviewed in the magazines.
It was also in 1971 that Lonnie and
Chuck Smith parted ways because their ideological differences had become too great. Smith discounted Pentecostalism, maintaining that
love was the greatest manifestation of the
Holy Spirit, while Lonnie was also strongly involved in theology centering on spiritual gifts. Lonnie announced that he would leave California altogether and go to a movement in
Florida. Led by Derek Prince and Bob Mumford which taught a pyramid sheparding style of leadership. Later coined as the "Sheparding Movement".
Lonnie and Connie divorced
In
1973, Lonnie and Connie divorced, and Connie later remarried. Lonnie left the organization.
In
1980, Lonnie was invited by
John Wimber to go to what was then a
Yorba Linda branch of the
Calvary Chapel movement, to preach. Since his early days at
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, he had made a shift in his emphasis from evangelism to the dramatic and demonstrative manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit. When Lonnie preached at Wimber's church on that
Mother's Day, people reported some unusual happenings. In the aftermath of the Mother's Day meeting, a number of reported
miraculous healings shortly thereafter.
After this time, Frisbee and Wimber began travelling the world, going to such places as
South Africa and
Europe. While there, they claimed to have performed many healings and miracles for people. As reported by many who were there, Frisbee was integral to the development of what would become Wimber's "Signs and Wonders theology".
Lonnie died in AIDS
Lonnie contracted
AIDS at some point in his life, and he died on
12 March 1993 from complications.
*
Calvary Chapel*
Jesus movement *
Pentecostalism*
Hippie* A
documentary of Lonnie's life has been put together by David Di Sabatino.
*
Video of Lonnie Frisbee at Tom Stipe's church.
*
Video of Lonnie Frisbee Memorial Service at Crystal Cathedral-Chuck Smith, Phil Aguilar and guests...
*
Lonnie Frisbee: Homosexuality, Marriage and Mumford*
Lonnie Frisbee Video (MPEG) Movie: The Life And Death Of a Hippie Preacher Frizbi
Frisbee: The Life And Death Of a Hippie Preacher Frizbi By Dennis Harvey A Jester Media production. Produced, directed by David Di Sabatino. Camera (color, DV), Di Sabatino; editor, Ron Zauneker; music, Larry Norman; sound, Zauneker. Reviewed at Mill Valley Film Festival, Oct. 16, 2005.
