Seeking Healthy Freedom Mindset, Kirk Cameron Moves Family from California

Hollywood star and evangelical family man Kirk Cameron is now a Volunteer, a Tennessee Volunteer, that is.

The 53-year-old father of six recently announced his family’s move from California to Tennessee, a decision that comes after years of frustration with the Golden State’s radical policies and increasing hostility to people of the Christian faith.

Kirk and Chelsea have been married for 33 years and are parents to Olivia Rose, Isabella, James Thomas, Luke and Jack.

“It’s pretty clear that California has been moving in a particular direction for a long time,” Cameron said recently. Citing “division” and a desire for a “healthy freedom mindset,” the Growing Pains star and his brood have happily settled into the South.

“Certainly there’s concern about politics and crime and the economy,” he told Fox & Friends. “But I’m finding California refugees all over Tennessee and Texas and Florida — there’s been a flood of talent and creatives who have left California, frustrated that their values haven’t been reflected in the projects they’re working on.”

He also added:

“If everything hits the fan and there’s some serious economic problems and division going on, they want to be around people who think like they think, who are all about God, family and country,” he recently said.

The Camerons aren’t alone. According to recent statistics, over 800,000 people exited California between 2021 and 2022. While not all of those left out of concern for the state’s moral and religious decline, a significant portion have fled in search of similar freedom.

On Monday, Kirk Cameron announced the upcoming release of his latest book: Born to be Brave, a nonfiction book he calls  a “guidebook for America’s spiritual comeback — a practical and inspiring look at how we can change our culture.”

You have to be brave to pick up and relocate when the Lord prompts you. That calling may not come on your timetable – and it might be a major inconvenience, too.

Bold and fearless, Kirk Cameron has repeatedly used his platform and his gifts to point people to the Lord. He’s done this through his films, books, and messages, among the many tools he has used.

“God has given us a birthright of courage — and if we choose to live in this bravery, the Army of Compassion will realign the nation with its Christian roots,” he said this weekend. “If we’re going to change the nation and the world, we need to move beyond paralyzed outrage and start acting with courage and confidence. God is always on the move — and we can keep up with Him because He has given us the ability to do so. We were born to be brave.”

Of course, being brave may look different to various people. Kirk Cameron has said God called him and his family out of California. Clearly, the Lord has called other people into it – and many others feel led to remain.

The late Dutch Christian missionary Brother Andrew once wrote, “God does not choose people because of their ability, but because of their availability.”

Whether in California or Tennessee, the Cameron family has remained available to the Lord – and He has used them in significant and meaningful ways. He wants to do the same with all of us.

“Vocation does not come from a voice out there calling me to be something I am not,” wrote Thomas Merton. “It comes from a voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be.”

Wrote the apostle Paul, “Each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches” (1 Cor. 7:17).

The Camerons are modeling this well.

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