Rapture Before the End of 1981
Chuck Smith Was 'Convinced' of a Rapture Before the End of 1981; the New Year's Eve Service Ran Past Midnight
The founder of Calvary Chapel wrote that a generation is 40 years and the church would be gone before 1981 was out: 'all my plans are predicated upon that belief.'
What was said
“convinced that the Lord [would come] for His Church before the end of 1981”
— Chuck Smith (founder, Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa; book Future Survival) · said 1980 · due By the end of 1981 (New Year's Eve)
The 1981 New Year's Eve service ran past midnight, and the congregation drove home into 1982.
The Story
The quote is from Smith's book Future Survival (first published 1978, updated 1980, p. 20), as quoted by The American Vision: he was 'convinced that the Lord [would come] for His Church before the end of 1981.'
Hedge at the time, same sentence: he 'could be wrong' but 'it's a deep conviction in my heart, and all my plans are predicated upon that belief.' The arithmetic: Israel 1948, plus a 40-year biblical generation, minus a seven-year tribulation.
OC Weekly reports people came to the 1981 New Year's Eve service not expecting to go home. Other generation-of-1948 entries: whisenant-1988, beshore-rapture-2021, lindsey-1980s.
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
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