Jack Hibbs

Jack Hibbs has been married to Lisa Hibbs since 1978. They began their ministry partnership before Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was established, and Lisa was part of the original home fellowship that became the church.

The couple co-authored Turn Around At Home: Giving a Stronger Spiritual Legacy Than You Received in 2013. They have two daughters and grandchildren, and their family life has informed Hibbs's teaching about Christian family relationships.

Hibbs grew up in a working-class household in Southern California and experienced a severe stutter during childhood. He has described being teased and mistreated because of it, as well as feeling rejected by his father. He later connected these experiences with his Christian testimony, saying that his stuttering was healed after his conversion.

On June 20, 1977, while in his twenties, Hibbs entered Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa after seeing young people go into the building. Greg Laurie was teaching that evening, and Hibbs said that hearing the Gospel led him to give his life to Jesus Christ.

Before entering ministry, Hibbs worked as a highway maintenance worker for Caltrans. He did not attend a formal seminary or Bible college. His theological education developed through independent Bible study, mentorship, and practical ministry experience within the Calvary Chapel tradition.

In August 1990, Jack and Lisa Hibbs began a Monday night home fellowship in Chino Hills with six people. The meetings were held in a private home, where furniture was moved out of the living room each week to make space for additional chairs. As attendance increased, video lines were used so people in other rooms could follow the teaching.

The fellowship later moved to a rented industrial complex in Chino. Attendance grew from about 100 adults to more than 2,000, and in 2000 the church purchased the land where its permanent campus was built.

Calvary Chapel Chino Hills has grown into a large congregation that ministers to more than 10,000 people on campus each week. Hibbs remains its founder and senior pastor. He was ordained through Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, the church associated with Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith.

Hibbs launched Real Life with Jack Hibbs as a radio and television ministry in the 2000s. The program expanded to hundreds of stations in the United States and international audiences in regions including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Central and South America.

His media work later expanded to YouTube, podcasts, and multilingual subtitles. The channel distributes full sermons, Bible teaching, and the cultural commentary program Happening Now. He also hosts The Jack Hibbs Podcast and The Jack Hibbs Show, a radio program designed for secular radio markets.

On May 28, 2023, Hibbs launched the Real Life Network, a video-streaming platform featuring Bible teaching, films and documentaries, children’s programming, prophecy content, podcasts, legacy teaching, and live events. The platform includes archival teaching associated with Chuck Smith and content from other Christian presenters, including Amir Tsarfati.

Hibbs is associated with verse-by-verse expositional preaching, a teaching method strongly identified with the Calvary Chapel movement. He works through complete books of the Bible and emphasizes the meaning of passages in their surrounding context. His teaching has focused particularly on biblical prophecy, Israel, abortion, family life, and Christian engagement with cultural issues.

He wrote Daze of Deception: How to Discern Truth from Culture’s Lies and co-authored Turn Around At Home with Lisa Hibbs. He has also published study materials connected with his sermon series.

Hibbs regularly discusses Israel and prophecy with Amir Tsarfati, who has appeared on Happening Now episodes and at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills events. Hibbs also serves on national executive committees and boards, including the Family Research Council.

On January 30, 2024, Hibbs delivered the opening prayer for the United States House of Representatives after being invited by Speaker Mike Johnson. His prayer called for humility and repentance. Twenty-six Democratic members of Congress later criticized him in a letter to Johnson, describing his preaching and political views as objectionable.

Hibbs has also spoken against the Johnson Amendment, which restricts political candidate endorsements by tax-exempt organizations. In February 2024, he encouraged his congregation from the pulpit to vote for U.S. Senate candidate Steve Garvey, prompting watchdog groups to file a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS did not confirm or deny whether an investigation was underway.

During California’s COVID-19 restrictions, Hibbs reopened Calvary Chapel Chino Hills for in-person services on Pentecost Sunday in 2020. He presented the decision as a matter of religious conviction and the priority of church gatherings.

Hibbs has publicly described himself as an abortion survivor. He wrote that his mother attempted to end her pregnancy in 1957 while his father was away working in Alaska, but the attempt failed. He was born on January 15, 1958, in Chino Hills, California.

He has connected this experience with his pro-life preaching and advocacy. In his testimony, he also described learning about the attempted abortion while he was a junior in high school and later interpreting his survival and conversion through biblical passages about purpose and calling.