Lonnie Ray Frisbee (June 6, 1949 – March 12, 1993) was an American Charismatic evangelist in the late 1960s and in the 1970s; he was a self-described "seeing prophet". He was known for his hippie appearance.Annette Cloutier, Præy To God: A Tasteful Trip Through Faith: Volume One, , , p. 437. He was notable as a minister and evangelist in the Jesus movement.
Eyewitness accounts of his ministry, documented in the 2007 documentary Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher portray Frisbee; he became a charismatic spark igniting the rise of Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard Movement. They are two worldwide denominations and among the largest evangelical denominations beginning at that time.Glen G. Scorgie, A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality: Three Dimensions of Life with God, Chapter 8-"An Integrated Spirituality", Zondervan, 2009, , . Reportedly, "he was not one of the hippie preachers, but rather that "there was one—Frisbee". His brand of ministry was named power evangelism'. Later he was harshly criticized for his great focus and concentrating heavily on the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit, often by individuals in the same churches which he co-founded.John Crowder, Miracle workers, reformers and the new mystics, Destiny Image Publishers, 2006, , , pp. 103–6.
Frisbee influenced prophetic evangelists including Jonathan Land, Marc Dupont, Jill Austin and several others. Frisbee co-founded the House of Miracles commune and found many converts. The House of Miracles grew into nineteen communal houses; they later moved to Oregon to form Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, the largest and one of the longest-lasting Jesus People communal groups.
Frisbee had an evangelical ministry while privately socializing as a homosexual man, before and during his evangelism career, although in interviews he said that he never believed homosexuality was anything other than sin in the eyes of God. Both denominations he helped found prohibited homosexual behavior, and he was later excommunicated by the denominations because of his active sexual life. They first removed him from leadership positions, and later fired him. He is portrayed by Jonathan Roumie in the 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which highlights his ministry with Chuck Smith and the impact he had on Greg Laurie's evangelism.
Early life and career Frisbee was mostly raised in a single-parent home and was exposed to "sketchy, dangerous characters" as a child. While researching his documentary, Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, filmmaker David di Sabatino stated Frisbee's brother claimed Lonnie was raped at the age of eight. Also revealed in the film was that Frisbee ran away frequently and entered into Laguna Beach's homosexual underground scene with a friend when he was 15. Di Sabatino further commented that an incident such as the alleged rape, "fragments your identity", and that he saw Frisbee's homosexuality as a flaw. During his childhood, Frisbee's father ended up leaving their home, and the boy, fatherless. His mother later tracked down and married the former husband of the woman Frisbee's father became involved with.
Lonnie Frisbee showed intense interest in the arts and cooking. He won awards for his paintings and even appeared as a featured dancer on Casey Kasem's mid-60s TV show Shebang. He exhibited a "bohemian" streak and regularly ran away from home. As a teen he became involved in the drug culture as part of his spiritual quest, and at fifteen he entered Laguna Beach's homosexual underground scene with a friend. His spotty high school education left him barely able to read and write. At 18 he joined thousands of other flower children and hippies for the Summer of Love in San Francisco in 1967.Don Lattin, Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge, HarperCollins, 2008, , , pp. 31–3. He described himself as a "nudist-vegetarian-hippie".
Frisbee's unofficial evangelism career began as a part of a soul-searching LSD acid-trip as part of a regular "turn on, tune in, drop out" session of getting high. He would often read the Bible while on a trip. On a pilgrimage with friends to Tahquitz Canyon outside Palm Springs, instead of looking for meaning again in mysticism and the occult, Frisbee started reading the Gospel of John to the group, eventually leading the group to Tahquitz Falls and baptizing them. A later acid-trip in the same area produced "a vision of a vast sea of people crying out to the Lord for salvation, with Frisbee in front preaching the gospel." His "grand vision of spreading Christianity to the masses" alienated his family and friends.David W. Stowe, No Sympathy for the Devil: Christian Pop Music and the Transformation of American Evangelicalism, UNC Press Books, 2011, , , pp. 23–9. Frisbee moved to San Francisco where he had won a fellowship to the San Francisco Art Academy. He soon met members of Haight-Ashbury's Living Room mission. At the time he talked about UFOs, practiced hypnotism, and talked about dabbling in occultism and mysticism. When Steve and Sandi Heefner and Ted and Connie Wise first met him, they said he was talking about "Jesus and flying saucers". Frisbee converted to Christianity and joined their first street Christian community, The Living Room, a storefront coffeehouse commune of four couples in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco started in 1967.Stephen J. Nichols. Jesus Made in America: A Cultural History from the Puritans to the Passion of the Christ, InterVarsity Press, 2008, , , pp. 124–5. He quit the art academy and moved to Novato, California, where the Heefners and Wises set up a commune and later reconnected with his former girlfriend Connie Bremer, whom he then married. The community was soon dubbed The House of Acts after the community of early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. Frisbee 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 community took the sign down to avoid the financial obligation. Frisbee continued painting detailed oils including several of missions.
Jesus movement, Calvary Chapel Chuck Smith 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 Frisbee. Smith's daughter's boyfriend John Nicholson was a former addict who had turned to Christianity. When Smith said he wanted to meet a hippie, John brought home Frisbee (who was hitch-hiking), so he could meet people to talk about Jesus and salvation.Greg Laurie, Ellen Vaughn, Lost Boy: My Story , Gospel Light, 2008, , , pp. 81–3, 85–9, 106. Frisbee and his wife Connie joined the fledgling Calvary Chapel congregation and Smith was struck by Frisbee's charisma. Smith said, "I was not at all prepared for the love that this young man would radiate." Frisbee became one of the most important ministers in the church when on May 17, 1968, Smith put the young couple in charge of the Costa Mesa rehab house called "The House of Miracles" with John Higgins and his wife Jackie. Within a week it had 35 new converts. Bunk beds were built in the garage to house the new converts. Frisbee led the Wednesday night Bible study, which soon became the central night for the church attracting thousands. Frisbee's attachment to the charismatic Pentecostal style caused some disagreement within the church, since he seemed focused more on gaining converts and experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit than on teaching newer converts Biblical doctrine. Chuck Smith took over teaching and welcomed Frisbee into his church. Frisbee's appearance helped appeal to hippies and those interested in youth culture, and he believed that the youth culture would play a prominent role in the Christian movement in the United States. He cited Joel the prophet and remained upbeat despite what the young couple saw as unbalanced treatment, as Frisbee was never paid for his work and another person was hired full-time as Smith's assistant.
The country was being swept with a youth movement with California as an epicenter.W. K. McNeil, Encyclopedia of American gospel music, Psychology Press, 2005, , , p. 59. The counterculture of hippies and surfers hung around the beaches; music and dancing to the music was the main form of communication. Frisbee walked on the beaches during the day to convert the young people; he brought them to church for the nightly services.
The House of Miracles grew into a series of nineteen communal houses that later migrated to Oregon to form Shiloh Youth Revival Centers, the largest and one of the longest lasting of the Jesus People communal groups which had 100,000 members and 175 communal houses spread across North America. This may have been the largest Christian communal group in U.S. history.
From 1968 to 1971, Frisbee was a leader in the Jesus movement, bringing in thousands of new converts and influencing Calvary Chapel leaders including Mike MacIntosh and Greg Laurie, whom he mentored.
Fame "Jesus Freaks", or "Jesus People" as they were often called, were documented in media including the Kathryn Kuhlman I Believe In Miracles show; Frisbee was a featured guest on the show talking about Jesus, the prophets, and quoting scripture. By 1971, the Jesus Movement was covered in the media with major media outlets like Life, Newsweek and Rolling Stone reporting on it. Frisbee, due to his prominence in the movement, was often photographed and interviewed. Also in 1971 Frisbee and Smith parted ways because their theological differences had become too great. Smith discounted Pentecostalism, maintaining that love was the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit, while Frisbee was strongly involved in theology which centered on spiritual gifts and New Testament experiences. Frisbee 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 shepherding style of leadership and was later referred to as the Shepherding Movement.
In 1973, the Frisbees divorced because Frisbee's pastor had an affair with his wife. Frisbee mentioned that in a sermon he gave at the Vineyard Church in Denver a few years before he died. Connie later remarried and Lonnie left the organization.
Vineyard movement Meanwhile in May 1977, John Wimber laid the groundwork for what would become the Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement. He witnessed the explosive growth of Calvary Chapel and wanted to build a church which embraced the healings and miracles that he had previously been taught were no longer a part of Christian life. He began teaching and preaching about spiritual gifts and healings, but Wimber held that it wasn't until May 1979, when Frisbee gave his testimony during an evening service at what was then the Yorba Linda branch of the Calvary Chapel movement (later the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship), that the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit took hold of the church.
Since his early days at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Frisbee shifted in his emphasis from evangelism to the dramatic and demonstrative manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit. After speaking Frisbee invited all the young people 25 and under to come forward; he invited the Holy Spirit to bring God's power into their lives. Witnesses say it looked like a battlefield as young people fell and began to shake and speak in tongues. The young kids, many in junior high and high school, were so "filled with the Spirit" that they soon started baptizing friends in hot tubs and swimming pools around town.