Pastor Joey Buran: From Surfer To Shepherd
Riding Waves, Sharing Jesus, Preaching Grace: The Journey of Joey Buran from Championship Surfer to Calvary Chapel Pastor
Photos courtesy of Joey Buran
Joey Buran, now pastor of Calvary Chapel affiliate Worship Generation Church in Fountain Valley, CA, trains for the 1998 Pipeline Masters on the North Shore of Oahu, HI. He hadn’t surfed professionally for 10 previous years while pastoring on the East Coast. Photo by Jeff Flindt
Joey Buran is known as a surfing world legend—“The California Kid”. World surfing champions know him as “Coach”. To the Calvary Chapel family, he is a faithful pastor.
Growing up in Southern California, surfing was a way of life for Joey, now senior pastor of Worship Generation Church in Fountain Valley, CA. “I was living my dream,” he exclaimed. He rose to fame as a teenager by winning or finishing well in competitions, including California Pro competitions and Pipeline Masters, where he made finals at age 17. At the pinnacle of his career, he won that competition in 1984.
Joey (center) and his assistant coach, Brandon Phillips (left), offer cheerful encouragement to a surfer. Brandon eventually became senior pastor of Headlands Calvary Chapel in Dana Point, CA.
Joey (second from left) teaches technical elements of upper body surfing to aspiring young USA National Junior Team surfers in 2018.
Catching a New Wave
In 1988 when Joey answered the call to serve in ministry, he hung up his surfboard, fully expecting to chase a new wave. “That was a big year,” Joey recalled. “I was called into ministry and married my wife, Jennifer.” He discovered that serving in ministry could be as exciting, unpredictable, and nerve-wracking as paddling out and going for a wave. But in all the unknowns, the greatest lesson he learned is that “you just have to paddle out and go for it.”
In Ecuador in 2008, Joey (center) joins in a cheer with his World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC) team.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
In the early 1990s, Joey and Jennifer packed their belongings and moved to the East Coast with their young daughter, Hannah. He was 30 years old and a regular guest on Pat Robertson’s 700 Club in Virginia because of his legendary surfing status. Looking back at that time, Joey admitted, “I was really proud and probably could have done a better job during those years.”
Feeling it was time to begin a ministry in a hard-to-reach area after serving in Virginia for five years, the Lord moved Joey and his growing family to Vermont. “It was tough,” Joey acknowledged. “Going from the Bible Belt to a place where everyone questions religion was very hard.” In 1996, after working in a hotel and trying to get a church planted, the Lord closed the door there. But He certainly had other plans for Joey, including dusting off his surfboard.
Back in the Water
The Burans moved back to Southern California, where Joey accepted many speaking engagements. The Lord used his surfing reputation to open doors and connect with young people. And rather than sharing Christ from the pulpit, he was sharing Christ from a surfboard. He recalled, “All the dudes in the water were saying Joey Buran was a Jesus freak now!”
The Lord had laid it on Joey’s heart to pursue surfing more intentionally, and in 1998 he was invited to compete again in the Association of Surfing Professionals World Masters event in Mexico. He won a decisive victory among competitors 35 years and older.
Worship Debuts Renowned Musicians
In 2000, a leader from Calvary Chapel Vista, CA, invited Joey to serve in a prison ministry. Here Joey met a gifted musician named Jeremy Camp who would help lead worship. The two worked well together. That same year, Pastor Chuck Smith invited Joey to host a Thursday night service—called “Worship Generation”.
Jeremy’s music career was about to take off, however, so they brought on a very talented 16-year-old musician to assist—Phil Wickham. Joey was ecstatic at what the Lord was doing. He noted that he received criticism for having such a young worship leader. A ministry leader from a different church asked him once, “Why do you have a 16-year-old leading worship?” Joey didn’t hesitate to respond, “Why don’t you have a 16-year-old leading worship?”
Joey (left) encourages Levi Slawson at the 2018 WJSC.
The ministry took off in those first five years. “It felt like we caught lightning in a bottle,” Joey marveled. In 2005, Worship Generation moved to Fountain Valley, CA, meeting at a local Baptist church where they still meet today.
“As You sent Me [Jesus] into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:18
Pastor-Coach
One morning in 2007, Joey felt the Lord lay surfing on his heart once again. Arriving at the office, a message from the USA Surfing president awaited him. He knew immediately it was from the Lord but was in awe of what was occurring. “I was a Calvary Chapel pastor, and they wanted me to coach the national team!”
The team did very well under Coach Joey, finishing in the top five in almost every competition. The role consumed a lot of Joey’s time and attention, so he stepped away after a couple of years to focus on his ministry and family as well as his movie, Beyond the Dream.
Brandon (right) discusses strategy with World Surf League’s 2024 world champion Caitlyn Simmers at the 2018 WJSC.
Returning to coaching again in 2017, Joey was chosen to prepare the U.S. team for the first-ever Olympic surfing competition held during the 2021 Tokyo summer games. His athletes continued to win gold in several other international competitions.
In 2018, however, Joey clearly felt the Lord calling him out of surfing work. He officially retired from surfing and coaching to pour his life into serving at Worship Generation where, in a different way, he still coaches. As anyone who has met Joey knows, he cares about building people up. “I want to do what the pastors before us have done, and that’s give back to this generation of Calvary Chapel pastors.”
Brandon coaches 2017 World Junior Champion Alyssa Spencer.
Joey (center, wearing cap) coaches East Coast kids at Cocoa Beach, FL.
Brandon writes scores and takes notes at a USA Surf Team training in 2018.
“I have learned that things have a way of working out just the way the Lord wants them to as we live by faith and remain faithful to His calling and character.”
In 1985, Joey surfs Pipeline, the most revered and feared wave in the world.
Worship Generation Church
Attendance at Worship Generation Church over its 20-year history has hovered around 120, according to Pastor Joey. “We have held our primary meetings on Saturday nights the entire time of our existence. The congregation has gotten older, but we see that as our strength as we intentionally seek to pour into the younger generations the wisdom we have gained from our life experiences.”
Joey follows lessons he learned from Pastor Chuck: “I continue to teach verse by verse through the Bible. If I err, I choose to err in grace. After 35 years of ministry, I have learned that things have a way of working out just the way the Lord wants them to as we live by faith and remain faithful to His calling and character.”
The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea. Psalm 93:4
Thank you for reading! If this story inspired you, we invite you to partner with us in continuing the ministry God started over 26 years ago. We appreciate your prayerful consideration in joining us to reach more souls for Jesus.
SPONSOR MESSAGE: The SoCal Men’s Conference is a place to rally the troops. For men of God to stand together and declare their faith and strengthen themselves in their walk with Jesus. Our hope is that those who come to the conferences will leave changed, with a desire to grow deeper in their walk with Jesus from this point on. We pray that you will be encouraged knowing who your Savior is and know that we can be strong and courageous because our God is with us wherever we go. God bless you.
© 2025 Calvary Chapel Magazine (CCM). All rights reserved. Articles or photographs may not be reproduced without the written permission of CCM. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.® Used by permission.
