Association of Vineyard Churches

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The Vineyard USA Logo
The Vineyard USA Logo

The Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement, is a Christian organization of over 1,500 churches worldwide.[1] External observers generally regard this to be a denomination. However, Vineyard Church leaders and most laity do not consider the Vineyard a denomination per se or refer to it as such, seeing denominational labels as divisive and discouraging them accordingly.

Contents

[edit] History

Historically, the Vineyard Movement has been rooted in both renewal and church planting. Instead of the mainstream charismatic label, Vineyard leaders and members over the years have 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 historic 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. Vineyard philosophy has also played a key role in the development of the transformationalism school of Christian thought.

John Wimber is considered a leading founder and evangelist of the movement, although the first Vineyard churches already existed before his Calvary Chapel church in Yorba Linda, CA, joined the movement in 1982[1]. The first Vineyard Church is claimed by many to have started as a bible study in the living room of singer/songwriter Larry Norman's house and have been attended by many popular actors/actresses and musicians including Bob Dylan.[2]

The Vineyard Movement suffered a visible leadership vacuum after Wimber's death on November 16, 1997.[3] 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.[4]

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 1,500 churches around the world, and this number continues to grow due to a strong priority placed on church-planting within the Vineyard mission.[1]

The Vineyard Statement of Faith is generally considered to be a Biblically-based Evangelical Christian profession of faith, with no mention of any issues that are considered to be controversial or divisive. In addition to the Statement of Faith (released in 1994), the church released a statement of "Theological and Philosophical Statements" penned by Bert Waggoner in 2004 to clarify the church's position on some issues that had been unclear from the Statements of Faith, including the church's priorities as it relates to worship and Bible study. The church also has published a 10-point "Vineyard Genetic Code," taught to a session of senior leadership by John Wimber in 1992, that outlines the 10 areas of ministry considered essential to any Vineyard church. Rich Nathan has described the Vineyard movement as part of a "Third Wave of the Holy Spirit" in America.

[edit] Criticism

The Vineyard was heavily criticized in the early years of the movement and accused many times of promoting heresy due to the sometimes-controversial teachings of John Wimber relating to spiritual gifts and the claims of unusual experiences of the Holy Spirit in the church, often referred to as "manifestations". Such manifestations of the Spirit included shaking. Evangelical, conservative, and fundamentalist leaders have contrasted Wimber’s teachings with the rest of mainstream Protestant evangelical belief, saying that Wimber claimed that experiential spiritual revelation was equally or more important than Biblically-based teachings[citation needed]. Thus, opponents reasoned, the Vineyard movement was denying sola Scriptura or “ the sufficiency of Scripture,” a doctrinal tenet that Protestant churches have held to be incontrovertibly true. Wimber, however constantly emphasized that clear, accurate teaching and knowledge of the scripture is critical for every Vineyard church, without expressly stating the scriptures to be the final and supreme authority in all matters of faith. These items are included in the "Vineyard Genetic Code" paper he released in 1992.

Throughout the early years of the Vineyard (1970's to 1992), Wimber avoided publicly responding to his critics. Instead, he invited his critics to meet with him personally to talk through their charges in accordance with his understanding of Scripture (Mat 18:15-17, Gal 6:1, 1 Tim 5:1). However, as the influence of the Vineyard broadened and certain misunderstandings were repeated from different sources, both outside the church and within, Wimber made the decision to respond publicly. The decision is detailed in Vineyard Position Paper #1 entitled "Why I respond to criticism" authored by John Wimber.[5]

This was followed by a number of other position papers from various sources within the national Vineyard leadership which sought to address the most serious and widespread of the criticisms leveled against the movement.[6]

One example often cited in criticism of the Vineyard church model is the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, formerly affiliated with the Vineyard. The phenomenon known as the Toronto Blessing originated in this church, and has been the source of much controversy. For a detailed treatment of this topic, refer to "The Quest For the Radical Middle" by Bill Jackson (see related books below).

Claims of heresy and apostasy against the Vineyard have waned in recent years, especially since the death of John Wimber in 1997.

[edit] Focus on worship

One of the most important aspects of the Vineyard church model is the strong emphasis on connecting with God through worship. Generally in regular gatherings, whether they are main Sunday services or small “homegroups” based in private homes, equal time is given to both worship and Bible study, and a significant amount of time is also devoted to prayer and one-on-one ministry. This focus on worship and connection with the Holy Spirit is one of the primary reasons (along with the active nature of spiritual gifts discussed previously) that John Wimber gave for breaking with the Calvary Chapel denomination. Worship in the Vineyard almost always is performed in a contemporary worship format, with a multi-piece band leading worship, but is not restricted to this style.

The unique nature of this contemporary worship music (especially unique in the 70’s and 80’s, when most mainstream denominations limited their worship to more traditional hymns) gained a lot of interest, and led to the formation of a special music ministry, later formed into a church-supported music recording and distribution company, Vineyard Music.

[edit] Clergy

Vineyard Church pastors and ministers are officially ordained after years of church service in the role of a lay leader, rather than after seminary education as in mainline Protestant denominations. Clergy in the Vineyard, like the membership and the church as a whole, are known for their “relaxed” style. More likely than not, clergy will be seen preaching on Sunday morning in jeans and a button-down shirt, and they almost never wear ceremonial vestments.

[edit] Membership

Many Vineyard Churches have no official membership procedures or membership records, and such a policy is not dictated by the national Vineyard Church. Instead, a community of believers is formed by those who attend Sunday or weekend services, weekday homegroups, and participate in various church ministries.

[edit] Famous clergy and/or members

[edit] Vineyard Music

Vineyard Music is the record label created by the Vineyard Church. It is considered one of the major record labels for worship music.

Well-known Vineyard musicians include: Carl Tuttle, Brenton Brown, Brian Doerksen, David Ruis, Andy Park, Jeremy Riddle, Scott Underwood, Johanna Blanding-Koskinen, Jeff Searles, Rita Springer, Kevin Prosch.

Vineyard Records is the UK record label created by the Vineyard Church.

UK musicians include: Kathryn Scott, Nigel Briggs, Samuel Lane, Marc James, Nigel Hemming.

[edit] Related books

  • The Way It Was by Carol Wimber ISBN 0340735392 - A biography of John & Carol Wimber's life before and during their time in the Vineyard.
  • Power Healing by John Wimber ISBN 0340390905 - John Wimber's teachings regarding healing
  • Power Evangelism by John Wimber ISBN 0340561270 - John Wimber's teachings regarding evangelism
  • The Quest For the Radical Middle by Bill Jackson ISBN 0620243198 - A summary of the Vineyard from an insider perspective.
  • Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren ISBN 978-0830745722 - Detailing the practice of "Servant Evangelism" embraced and employed by many of the churches within the Vineyard Movement in early 1990s to present as well as a large portion of evangelical churches outside the movement.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Vineyard official history page
  2. ^ Collector's Corner
  3. ^ Vineyard Boise, Introduction to The Quest For the Radical Middle by Bill Jackson
  4. ^ The Board of AVC selects new National Director
  5. ^ "Why I respond to criticism"
  6. ^ Vineyard position papers
  7. ^ Bob Dylan's Who's Who
  8. ^ World Magazine archives, August 19, 2006
  9. ^ Jackson, Bill (1999). The Quest for the Radical Middle. Vineyard International Publishing, 80-87. ISBN 0620243198. 
  10. ^ No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green, Chapter 5, Melody Green with David Hazard

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Vineyard_Churches"
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