So we moved recently and have been seeking a new church. Attended a Vineyard church last Sunday. Our previous church was not charismatic. I had heard Vineyard is, but from the service there was nothing to indicate that to be honest. So - anyone know how they compare in practice to other charismatic denominations? Also, does anyone know if they are generally public politically like many evangelical churches?
This might help understand.
Association of Vineyard Churches
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Association of Vineyard Churches
Vineyard Word Mark
Classification Protestant
Orientation Neo-charismatic
Theology Evangelical
Region Claims 95 countries
Origin 1974
Congregations Claims 2,400
Official website www.vineyard.org
The
Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the
Vineyard Movement, is a
neocharismatic evangelical Christian denomination.
[1]
The Vineyard Movement is rooted in the
charismatic renewal and historic evangelicalism. Instead of the mainstream charismatic label, however, the movement has preferred the term
Empowered Evangelicals (a term coined by
Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson in their book of the same name) to reflect their roots in traditional evangelicalism as opposed to classical
Pentecostalism. Members also sometimes describe themselves as the "radical middle" between evangelicals and Pentecostals, which is a reference to the book
The Quest for the Radical Middle, a historical survey of the Vineyard by Bill Jackson.
It has been associated with the "
Signs and Wonders" movement,
[2]: 199 the
Toronto blessing,
[2]: 222 the
Kansas City Prophets[2]: 160 and a particular style of
Christian worship music.
[2]: 212
The Vineyard operates a publishing house, Vineyard International Publishing.
Contents
History[edit]
The first local church started when Kenn Gulliksen brought together two Bible studies, both meeting at the houses of singer/songwriters:
Larry Norman and
Chuck Girard in 1974.
[3] In early 1975, thirteen groups met at the
Beverly Hills Women's club.
[4]: 80 These Bible studies, and others like them, were attended by many popular actors/actresses and musicians including
Bob Dylan.
[4]: 81 Gulliksen's Vineyard had spun off sister churches.
In 1977,
John Wimber, an evangelical pastor and teacher on church growth, founded a
Calvary Chapel in
Yorba Linda, California.
[5] Wimber's teaching on healing and the ministry of the
Holy Spirit led to conflict. In a meeting with Calvary Chapel leaders, it was suggested that Wimber's church stop using the Calvary name and affiliate with Gulliksen's Vineyard movement.
[6] In 1982, Wimber's church changed its name to the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Gulliksen turned over the churches under his oversight to Wimber, beginning his leadership of the Vineyard movement. Evangelist
Lonnie Frisbee credits Gulliksen as founder of the Vineyard movement.
[7]
Beginning in 1988, Wimber established relationships with prophetic figures such as
Paul Cain, Bob Jones, and
Mike Bickle who pastored Kansas City Fellowship, an independent church which would come under the Vineyard banner as Metro Vineyard (see
Kansas City Prophets). For a time, these men had considerable influence on Wimber and the Vineyard—according to Jackson, Wimber's son was delivered from drug addiction through a prophetic word from Jones.
[8] However, there were those in the Vineyard who were skeptical, and Wimber himself became disillusioned over the restorationist teaching and failed prophecies of these men. Around 1991, Wimber began to distance himself from the prophetic movement, leading the Vineyard back to a
church-planting direction, while Bickle's church withdrew and dropped the Vineyard label.
The Vineyard Movement suffered a visible leadership vacuum after Wimber's death on November 16, 1997.
[9] However,
Todd Hunter, who served as National Coordinator since February 1994 and as acting Director of the Vineyard at the time of Wimber's death, became the National Director in January 1998 and served in that capacity until he resigned in May 2000.
[10] After Hunter's resignation, the National Board of Directors named Bert Waggoner of
Sugar Land, Texas, as the new National Director. As of 2007, the Association of Vineyard Churches includes over 2400 churches around the world, and this number continues to grow due to a strong priority placed on church-planting within the Vineyard mission.
[5] In October, 2011, Phil Strout was selected by the National Board of Directors to succeed Waggoner as National Director in January 2013.
[11]
Statistics[edit]
On the union's website, they claim that in 2020 it had 2,400 churches in 95 countries.
[12]
Beliefs and practices[edit]
Doctrinal statements[edit]
For most of the early life of the Vineyard Movement, Vineyard churches had no official statement of faith. This is not to be interpreted as an absence of a common belief structure; rather, the primary reasons for the absence of such a declaration were:
- the demonstrative teaching of John Wimber, who effectively set the tone and doctrinal beliefs of the movement
- a desire to reflect the "low-key," "low-pressure" environment of the church that encouraged people to "come as you are"
- specifically, de-emphasizing any atmosphere or actions that could be considered overtly dogmatic.
According to text in the official Vineyard Statement of Faith
[13] released in 1994, an effort to create a common Statement of Faith had been underway since 1983, but took 10+ years to complete because: "On one hand, we felt obliged to set forth our biblical and historically orthodox beliefs, on the other hand, we wanted to describe the values and priorities that make the Vineyard unique within the context of Evangelicalism."
[14]
LGBTQ+ position[edit]
In a 2020 letter to local church leaders, Vineyard Canada expressed its position that having a non-heterosexual orientation is itself not sinful, however the church does not allow the officiating of same sex marriages or licensing people in same sex marriages for pastoral ministry. This letter also distinguished gender identity from sexual orientation as its own theological and policy matter that requires further consideration.
[15]
Branches[edit]
United States[edit]
The national headquarters of Vineyard USA is currently located in
Sugar Land, Texas. Vineyard USA is divided into eight regions, and each region has clusters of churches grouped together by location, facilitated by an Area Pastoral Care Leader (APCL). The APCL's work together with the Regional Overseer (RO) to provide leadership and encouragement to the region. The central governing body of the Vineyard in the U.S. is known as the Executive Team, and includes the National Director. Currently, the President and National Director is
Phil Strout. All major strategic decisions, including theological and doctrinal statements, are made by the National Board. In 2018, Vineyard USA is estimated to have approximately 200,000 members in 600 churches.
[16]
United Kingdom and Ireland[edit]
Main article:
Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland
Denmark[edit]
As of 2017, 5 new churches have started in Denmark. 3 of these churches within just one year. Locations are in Odense, Køge, Aalborg, Rønne (Bornholm), and Helsingør.
[17]
Vineyard Worship[edit]
Vineyard Worship is a record label created and used by the Association of Vineyard Churches. The organization uses it to release
worship albums. A UK branch of the record label exists, called
Vineyard Records. Its musicians include
Kathryn Scott,
[18] Nigel Briggs,
Samuel Lane,
Nigel Hemming,
Brenton Brown,
[19] Brian Doerksen,
Andy Park,
Jeremy Riddle,
Kevin Prosch, Marc James and Sara Brusco.
[20]
History[edit]
Vineyard Music was developed by the Vineyard church in 1985. The church began to write its own worship songs, so
John Wimber founded Mercy Records. This later became Vineyard Worship.
Discography
but it might be a "season" thing for the Holy Spirit.
