Located at the heart of America’s opioid crisis is America’s largest psychedelic church, which rakes in $5 million a year supplying illegal drugs to its members.
But its pastor, Dave Hodges, sees no problem in settling just a few blocks south of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, home of the country’s most famous open-air drug market.
In fact, the computer expert turned psychedelic preacher believes that if there were more churches like his, where parishioners get high on mushrooms and cannabis, there would be fewer opioid addicts overdosing on his doorstep.
“The sacraments we use help people quit drugs,” he says.
Hodges, 42, has built an extraordinary mushroom empire. Technically, he runs 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 grants them access to the church’s sacraments: cannabis, magic mushrooms, and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.
Drug addict shoots himself in San Francisco’s SoMa district, where Ambrosia Church opened its second location last year
In five years, his Ambrosia Church has amassed 106,000 members at its two locations in Oakland and San Francisco.
That’s more than Oklahoma’s Life Church, which has 85,000 members, and more than twice as many as Texas’ Lakewood Church, led by evangelist Joel Osteen.
Ambrosia members pay $10 to join and $5 to enter the church, which grants them access to the church’s sacraments: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.
While marijuana is legal in California, psychedelics, including mushrooms and DMT, are not.
San Francisco passed an ordinance in 2022 that makes adult use of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, a low priority for authorities, although it is still illegal in California.
But Hodges believes that taking these substances is a deeply spiritual and even religious experience and is therefore protected by law.
It’s all part of a global surge of people turning to hallucinogenic drugs in search of spiritual enlightenment, including NFL star Aaron Rodgers, actor Will Smith and Prince Harry.
There are now believed to be between 200 and 2,000 psychedelic churches in the United States, ranging from states with liberal drug laws, such as California and Oregon, to decidedly conservative states, such as Utah and Alabama.
Hodges believes the growing numbers, particularly in areas inundated with fentanyl, can help alleviate America’s crippling opioid crisis.
In 2023 there were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco, primarily due to fentanyl, surpassing the previous record of 726 in 2020.
“There are many reasons why people become addicted to drugs, but some of the main factors are not understanding why they are here, what they are 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 didn’t come here to be addicted to fentanyl.
Hodges, a 42-year-old former IT technician, presides over what is technically the largest megachurch in the United States, with Ambrosia attracting 106,000 members.
Ambrosia Church’s original Oakland location has an inconspicuous appearance, but is guarded by 24-hour security protecting 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 district.
There were 806 overdose deaths in San Francisco in 2023, mostly due to fentanyl, surpassing the previous record of 726 in 2020.
Psychedelics, including psilocybin, have been linked to easing opioid addiction.
However, the research is in its early stages and a clinical trial is 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 get off fentanyl, before helping his family members do the same.
The pastor emphasizes that Ambrosia Church does not operate as a rehabilitation center – and that those struggling with addiction should seek professional help – but he has big plans to add this to his pastoral duties in the future.
It’s one of several big ideas he has in store, after explosive growth that took everyone by surprise, including Hodges himself.
The church opened its first location in Oakland five years ago, but members were shot in the arm following a raid in August 2020, in which police seized $200,000 worth of cannabis and mushrooms at the facility.
It has gained 70,000 new members since bankruptcy, prompting the opening of its second location in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood on April 15 of last year.
Now celebrating its one-year anniversary, Hodges has his eyes set on opening a third: a megachurch capable of housing his ever-growing congregation.
Ambrosia’s two current locations have a capacity of just over 100 people.
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 for all age levels, we probably wouldn’t have mass shootings in the United States,” he says.
They may be bold ambitions, but given that the church makes about $5 million from member contributions, they may not be delusional.
Hodges says that currently about $3 million of this revenue is absorbed in legal fees (about $600 million a year), 24-hour security at both locations ($1.4 million) and rent (about $1 a million dollars).
The remainder goes largely to fixed operating costs, which include the production of the church’s sacraments by some of its members.
A mushroom tea infusion turns 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 varieties, including Loving Teacher, Sun Temple, Baby Blues, and Ghost Penis Envy, which can be purchased with monetary contributions (an ounce can cost up to $260) or volunteer work.
While this may be considered illegal drug trafficking, Hodges argues that these transactions do not count as sales because members sign an agreement that means they own everything within the church, including the sacrament.
Therefore, says the pastor, there is no transfer of ownership.
Hodges was not charged after the 2020 police raid and has maintained that the church was not breaking the law.
As for those who might argue that their church is not truly “religious,” the newly anointed Prophet of Shroom has some advice.
“There are a lot of people who don’t believe our faith is real,” he says. ‘That’s more of a reflection on them.
‘For me, faith really comes from the experiences I’ve had with these innovative mushroom doses.
“So when we have people who don’t believe we’re doing this for the right reason, my response is always that they need to grow more mushrooms.”