From: jfb@macsch.com (John Baskette)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: David Hocking
Date: 14 Oct 92 07:01:21 GMT
Organization: MacNeal-Schwendler Corp.


                                                                           
Someone has asked for information concerning David Hocking.

Here is information garnered from the Orange County Register in articles
from the Thursday Oct. 8th and Friday Oct. 9th issues.  (I am not
copying anything from the articles verbatim except for some quotes
from the personalities involved)

The Rev. David Hocking was pastor for 11 years at the 6,000 member 
Calvary Church in Santa Ana, California, a non-denominational 
independent church.  David Hocking was also host of the Solid Rock radio 
broadcast which ceased operations last Friday.

Last Wednesday, Oct 7, Hocking resigned as Senior Pastor of Calvary 
Church and resigned from the Radio broadcast.  This was after he 
confessed to "sexual sin" with a married woman in the congregation.  The 
woman informed the board of elders about the relationship the previous 
Monday.  

(an aside: Santa Ana is in Orange County, the conservative bastion just 
south of Los Angeles county and home to Disneyland and birth place of 
Richard Nixon.  It is also home to some other prominent evangelical 
ministries such as Bob Schuller's Crystal Cathedral, Chuck Smith and 
Calvary Chapel, Chuck Swindol who is pastor of the Evangelical Free 
Church in Fullerton, Paul and Jan Crouch's Trinity Broadcasting Network 
(TBN aka Totally Bizarre Network - Jim Baker started out with Paul and 
Jan at TBN before setting up shop in North Carolina), the Christian 
Research Institute (CRI), and John Wimber of Anaheim Vineyard (now moved 
to Yorba Linda) who "heads" the Vineyard churches.)

Solid Rock radio was heard on 170 stations around the country for the 
last 15 months.  Prior to that Hocking hosted the BIOLA Hour for 9 years.  
The BIOLA Hour is run by BIOLA university (Bible Institute of Los 
Angeles) in La Mirada on the LA-Orange county border.  Hocking wrote 
several popular Christian books.  He was a graduate of the Bob Jones 
university and received a Master's and Doctorate Degree from Grace 
Theological Seminary.  Theologically he is fundamental, dispensational,
and opposed to healing and tongues.  (I heard him speak once and have
listened to some of his radio broadcasts.  I was impressed with his
breadth of Bilblical knowledge.)

According to John Crandall, who is now the interim pastor, the relation 
"does not go back years.  It goes back to recent months -- within the 
last year, let's say."  He also said, "There is no chance of his ever 
returning to the pulpit.  He will never be senior pastor of this church 
again.  He understands the cost of his actions."

There were allegations by two women, but one women's allegations were 
discounted because they could not be corroborated.  On Tuesday Hocking is
quoted as saying, "There were a lot of accusations, but they weren't 
true at all."  (I do not know if Hocking was referring to one of the 
women's allegations, or the other's or both.)

On Thursday Hocking said that the relationship with the woman was 
improper, but "there was no sexual intercourse.  I'm just trying to be 
honest.  What I did was sad enough.  I'm not trying to defend myself or 
justify my actions at all.  But it's important that the truth be known."

Crandall said that there was "sexual involvement".  He would not 
elaborate further.  He also said, "I love him and I want to be his 
friend, but I am devastated by what I know now."  Hocking is said to 
have had a number of personal and family problems over the last year.  
Crandall said, "Obviously, as a man of God, something snaps when you 
make a decision like that."

Concerning his future Hocking said, "We're going to try to pick up the 
pieces now and figure out what to do next." 

Personally I am saddened by all of this.  If there was no sexual 
intercourse then perhaps the church is being too hard on Hocking.
On the other hand, I think that the way this has been handled is much
better than the way Jimmy Swaggert or Jim Baker's problems were handled.
If Baker had repented and resigned from PTL back in 81 instead of paying
off his victim in a private $286,000 out of court settlement then there
would not have been any PTL scandal later on.  The Assembly of God 
church tried to do the right thing with respect to Swaggert, but 
Swaggert didn't cooperate. 

John