Nestled in the heart of America’s opioid crisis lies America’s biggest psychedelic church, raking in $5million a year supplying illegal drugs to members.
But its pastor, Dave Hodges, sees no issue in setting up shop just a few blocks south of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, home to the country’s most notorious open air drug market.
In fact, the computer geek turned psychedelic preacher believes that if there were more churches like his, where congregants get high on shrooms and cannabis, there would be fewer opioid addicts overdosing on his doorstep.
‘The sacraments we use help people get off drugs,’ he claims.
Hodges, 42, has built an extraordinary empire of shrooms. Technically, he runs the largest megachurch in the US.
Pastor Dave Hodges, of the Church of Ambrosia, believes psychedelic worship could help alleviate San Francisco’s fentanyl crisis, where his institution is based
Members pay $10 to join and $5 to enter the church thereon, granting them access to church sacraments: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca
A drug addict shoots up in the SoMa district of San Francisco where the Church of Ambrosia opened its second location last year
In five years, his Church of Ambrosia has amassed 106,000 members across its two locations in Oakland and San Francisco.
That is more than Oklahoma’s Life Church, which has 85,000 members, and more than double Texas’ Lakewood Church, led by evangelist Joel Osteen.
Ambrosia members pay $10 to join and $5 to enter the church thereon, granting them access to church sacraments: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.
While weed is legal in California, psychedelics, including shrooms and DMT, are not.
San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2022 making the adult-use of psilocybin – the active ingredient in magic mushroom gummies mushrooms – a low priority for law enforcement, although it is still illegal in California.
But Hodges believes that taking these substances is a deeply spiritual – even religious – experience – that is therefore protected in law.
It is all part of a global boom in people turning to hallucinogenic drugs in search of spiritual enlightenment, including NFL star Aaron Rodgers, actor Will Smith and Prince Harry.
It is thought there are now anywhere between 200 and 2,000 psychedelic churches in the US from states with liberal drug laws such as California and Oregon, to resolutely conservative ones including Utah and Alabama.
Hodges believes the ever-growing number, particularly in areas flooded with fentanyl, can help alleviate America’s crippling opioid crisis.
There were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2023, mostly due to fentanyl, breaking the previous record of 726 in 2020.
‘There’s a lot of reasons why people get addicted to drugs, but some of the major factors are not understanding why they’re here, what they’re supposed to do with their life,’ Hodges tells DailyMail.com.
‘When you take our sacraments, do this deep work and get in touch with your soul, it can help you understand those things. Your soul did not come here to be addicted to fentanyl.’
Hodges, a 42-year-old former IT technician, presides over what is technically the largest megachurch in America, with Ambrosia attracting 106,000 members
The Church of Ambrosia’s original location in Oakland has an inconspicuous appearance, but is guarded by 24-hour security who protect its considerable supply of illegal drugs
The church opened its second location (above) in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco on April 15 last year, just a few blocks away from the Tenderloin district – ravaged by fentanyl
There were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2023, mostly due to fentanyl, breaking the previous record of 726 in 2020
Psychedelics including psilocybin have been linked to the alleviation of opioid addiction.
Research is in its early stages, however, with a clinical trial underway at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But Hodges claims he has already seen anecdotal evidence of its effects. He says one of his members used psychedelics first to wean himself off fentanyl, before helping family members do the same.
The pastor stresses that the Church of Ambrosia is not run as an rehab center – and that those struggling with addiction should seek professional help – but he has grand designs on adding this to its pastoral functions in the future.
It is one of several big ideas he has in store, following an explosive growth that took everyone by surprise, including Hodges himself.
The church opened its first location in Oakland five years ago, but membership received a shot in the arm following a raid in August 2020, in which police seized $200,000 worth of cannabis and mushrooms from the premises.
It has gained 70,000 new members since the bust, prompting the opening of its second location in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco on April 15 last year.
With it now celebrating its one year anniversary, Hodges has his eyes set on opening a third – a megachurch capable of accommodating its ever-growing congregation.
Ambrosia’s two current locations have a capacity of little over 100.
The pastor, who has a two-year-old son, also wants to establish his own, independent K-12 education system that emphasizes mental health and drug education.
‘If our current education system had weekly mental health classes through every age level, we probably wouldn’t have mass shootings in the US,’ he says.
Bold ambitions these may be, but with the church making around $5million from member contributions, they may not be delusional.
Hodges says that currently around $3million of this revenue is swallowed up by legal fees (at around $600million a year), 24-hour security at both locations ($1.4million), and rent (around $1million).
The rest goes largely to fixed running costs, which includes the production of church sacraments by some of its members.
A brew of mushroom tea comes out naturally blue. The Church of Ambrosia packs its own homogenized mushroom powder into a teabag before leaving it to soak in boiling water
Ambrosia offers a variety of mushroom strains, including Loving Teacher, Sun Temple, Baby Blues, and Ghost Penis Envy, which can be bought with monetary contributions – an ounce can cost up to $260 – or volunteer work.
While it is possible this could be viewed as illegal drug dealing, Hodges argues these transactions do not count as sales because members sign an agreement which means they own everything within the church, including the sacrament.
Therefore, the pastor says, there is no transfer of ownership.
Hodges was not charged after the police raid in 2020 and has maintained that the church was not breaking the law.
As for those who may argue that his church is not truly ‘religious’, the newly-anointed Prophet of Shroom has some words of advice.
‘There are a lot of people out there who don’t believe that our faith is real,’ he says. ‘That’s really more of a reflection on them.
‘For me, the faith really comes from the experiences that I’ve had on these breakthrough doses of mushrooms.
‘So where we do have people that don’t believe that we’re doing this for the right reason, my response is always that they need to do more mushrooms.’
California
