 Stevens moved to the Los Angeles area in 1946 and later became pastor of an Assemblies of God church in Lynwood, California.Around 1950 he was dismissed from that position and the Four Square Gospel and Assemblies of God denominations after propounding unorthodox beliefs, which he said were based on divine revelations.In 1951 he established his own church in South Gate, California, and by 1955 he had expanded his ministry into a new movement, initially called the Church of the Living Word and later called The Living Word Fellowship.