Nestled in the heart of America’s opioid crisis is the largest psychedelic church in the United States, raking in $5 million a year by supplying illegal drugs to its members.
But its pastor, Dave Hodges, sees no problem setting up shop a few blocks south of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, home to the nation’s most notorious open-air drug market.
In fact, the computer enthusiast turned psychedelic preacher believes that if there were more churches like his, where worshipers get high on shrooms and pot, there would be fewer opioid addicts overdosing at his church. door.
“The sacraments we use help people get off drugs,” he says.
Hodges, 42, has built an extraordinary mushroom empire. Technically, he leads the largest megachurch in the United States.
Pastor Dave Hodges of Ambrosia Church believes psychedelic worship could help alleviate the fentanyl crisis in San Francisco, where his institution is based.
Members pay $10 to join and $5 to enter the church, which gives them access to the sacraments of the church: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.
Drug addict commits suicide in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, where Ambrosia Church opened its second location last year
In five years, his Ambrosia Church has gathered 106,000 members across its two locations in Oakland and San Francisco.
That’s more than the Life Church of Oklahoma, which has 85,000 members, and more than double the Lakewood Church of Texas, led by evangelist Joel Osteen.
Ambrosia members pay $10 to join and $5 to enter the church, which gives them access to the sacraments of the church: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca .
Although weed is legal in California, psychedelics, including shrooms and DMT, are not.
San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2022 making adult use of psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms — a low priority for law enforcement, although it is still illegal in California.
But Hodges believes that consuming these substances is a deeply spiritual – even religious – experience that is therefore protected by law.
It’s all part of a global boom of people turning to hallucinogenic drugs in search of spiritual enlightenment, including NFL star Aaron Rodgers, actor Will Smith and Prince Harry.
It is estimated that there are between 200 and 2,000 psychedelic churches in the United States today, from states with liberal drug laws like California and Oregon to staunchly conservative states like Utah and Oregon. ‘Alabama.
Hodges believes these ever-growing numbers, especially in areas flooded with fentanyl, can help alleviate the crippling opioid crisis in the United States.
There were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2023, primarily due to fentanyl, breaking the previous record of 726 in 2020.
“There are many reasons why people become addicted to drugs, but some of the biggest factors are not understanding why they are here, what they are supposed to do with their lives,” Hodges told DailyMail.com.
“When you take our sacraments and do this deep work and get in touch with your soul, it can help you understand these things. Your soul did not come here to be addicted to fentanyl.
Hodges, a 42-year-old former computer technician, presides over what is technically America’s largest megachurch, with Ambrosia attracting 106,000 members.
Ambrosia Church’s original Oakland location has an inconspicuous appearance, but is guarded by 24-hour security that protects its considerable supply of illegal drugs.
The church opened its second location (above) in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood on April 15 of last year, just blocks from the fentanyl-ravaged Tenderloin neighborhood.
There were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2023, primarily due to fentanyl, breaking the previous record of 726 in 2020.
Psychedelics, including psilocybin, have been linked to reducing opioid dependence.
The research is in its early stages, with a clinical trial underway at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But Hodges says he’s already seen anecdotal evidence of its effects. He says one of his members first used psychedelics to wean himself off fentanyl, before helping his family members do the same.
The pastor stresses that Ambrosia Church is not run as a rehabilitation center – and that people suffering from addiction should seek professional help – but he has big plans to add that to his pastoral functions in the future.
It’s one of many big ideas he has in store, following explosive growth that has surprised everyone, including Hodges himself.
The church opened its first location in Oakland five years ago, but members were shot in the arm following an August 2020 raid, in which police seized $200,000 worth of cannabis and mushrooms on the premises.
It has gained 70,000 new members since the bankruptcy, leading to the opening of its second location in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood on April 15 of last year.
Now celebrating its first anniversary, Hodges aims to open a third – a megachurch capable of accommodating its ever-growing congregation.
The two current Ambrosia sites have a capacity of just over 100 people.
The pastor, who has a two-year-old son, also wants to create his own independent K-12 education system that emphasizes mental health and drug education.
“If our current education system offered weekly classes on mental health for all age levels, we probably wouldn’t have mass shootings in the United States,” he says.
These ambitions may be bold, but since the Church earns about $5 million from its members’ contributions, they may not be illusory.
Hodges says that currently, about $3 million of that revenue is eaten up by legal fees (about $600 million a year), 24-hour security at both sites ($1.4 million), and rent (around $1 million).
The remainder is largely used for fixed operating costs, which include the production of the church’s sacraments by some of its members.
An infusion of mushroom tea comes out naturally blue. The Church of Ambrosia packages its own homogenized mushroom powder in a tea bag before steeping it in boiling water.
Ambrosia offers a variety of mushroom strains, including Loving Teacher, Sun Temple, Baby Blues, and Ghost Penis Envy, which can be purchased through monetary contributions—an ounce can cost up to $260—or through volunteer labor.
Although it is possible that this would be considered illegal drug dealing, Hodges argues that these transactions do not count as sales because the members sign an agreement that means they own everything in the store. church, including the sacrament.
Therefore, the pastor said, there is no transfer of ownership.
Hodges was not charged after the 2020 police raid and maintained that the church was not breaking the law.
As for those who might argue that his church isn’t really “religious,” the new Mushroom Prophet has some advice.
“There are a lot of people who don’t believe our faith is real,” he said. “It’s really more of a reflection on them.
“For me, faith really comes from the experiences I had with these revolutionary doses of mushrooms.
“So where we have people who don’t believe we’re doing this for the right reason, my answer is always they need to produce more mushrooms.”
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