Pastor behind the psychedelic San Francisco church that collects 5 million. $ a year supplying mushrooms and weed to members, claims drug-fueled worship can save people from fentanyl

At the heart of America’s opioid crisis is America’s largest psychedelic church, which rakes in $5 million a year by supplying illegal drugs to members.

But its pastor, Dave Hodges, sees no problem setting up shop just a few blocks south of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, home to the nation’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 congregations get high on mushrooms and weed, 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 mushroom empire. Technically, he runs the largest megachurch in the US.

In five years, his Church of Ambrosia has amassed 106,000 members across its two locations in Oakland and San Francisco.

That’s 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 attend and $5 to enter the church afterward, giving them access to the church’s sacraments: cannabis, magic mushrooms and DMT, the active ingredient in Ayahuasca.

While weed is legal in California, psychedelics, including mushrooms 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, though it remains illegal in California.

But Hodges believes that taking these drugs is a deeply spiritual — even religious — experience — which is therefore protected by law.

It’s 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 believed that there are now between 200 and 2,000 psychedelic churches in the United States, from states with liberal drug laws such as California and Oregon, to resolutely conservative ones, including Utah and Alabama.

Hodges believes the ever-growing numbers, especially in areas awash with fentanyl, could help ease 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 are many reasons why people become addicted to drugs, but some of the main factors are not understanding why they are here, what to do with their lives,” Hodges told DailyMail.com.

‘When you take our sacraments, 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 become addicted to fentanyl.’

Psychedelics, including psilocybin, have been linked to the relief of opioid addiction.

However, the research is in its early stages, with a clinical trial underway at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

But Hodges claims he’s already seen anecdotal evidence of its effects. He says one of his members used psychedelics first to get off fentanyl before helping family members do the same.

The pastor emphasizes that Ambrosia Church is not run as a rehab center — and that those struggling with addiction should seek professional help — but he has big plans to add this to its pastoral functions in the future.

It’s one of several big ideas he has in store after an explosive growth that surprised everyone, including Hodges himself.

The church opened its first location in Oakland five years ago, but membership took a hit after an August 2020 raid in which police seized $200,000 worth of marijuana and mushrooms on the premises.

It has gained 70,000 new members since the bust, leading to 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 accommodating its ever-growing congregation.

Ambrosia’s two current locations have a capacity of just 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 all ages, we probably wouldn’t have mass shootings in the United States,” he says.

Those may be bold ambitions, but since the church makes about $5 million in membership contributions, they may not be delusional.

Hodges says about $3 million of that revenue is currently absorbed by legal fees (about $600 million a year), 24-hour security at both locations ($1.4 million) and rent (about $1 million).

The rest goes mainly to fixed operating costs, which include some of the members’ production of church sacraments.

Ambrosia offers a variety of mushroom strains, including Loving Teacher, Sun Temple, Baby Blues and Ghost Penis Envy, which can be purchased with monetary donations — an ounce can cost up to $260 — or volunteer work.

While it’s possible this could be construed as illegal drug dealing, Hodges argues that these transactions don’t count as sales because members sign an agreement that means they own everything in the church, including communion.

Therefore, says the priest, there is no transfer of ownership.

Hodges was not charged in the 2020 police raid and has maintained that the church is not breaking the law.

As for those who might argue that his church is not truly ‘religious’, the newly anointed Prophet of Shroom has some good advice.

“There are a lot of people out there who don’t believe our faith is real,” he says. ‘It’s really more of a reflection on them.

‘For me, the belief really comes from the experiences I’ve had with these groundbreaking doses of mushrooms.

“So where we have people who don’t believe we’re doing this for the right reason, my response is always, they need to make more mushrooms.”