Association of Vineyard Churches

The Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the

Association of Vineyard
Vineyard Movement, is an international neocharismatic
evangelical Christian association of churches.[1] Churches

The Vineyard Movement is rooted in the charismatic renewal and

historic evangelicalism. Instead of the mainstream charismatic Vineyard Wordmark
label, however, the movement has preferred the term Empowered Classification Protestant
Evangelicals (a term coined by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson in
Orientation Neo-charismatic
their book of the same name) to reflect their roots in traditional
evangelicalism as opposed to classical Pentecostalism. Members Theology Evangelical
also sometimes describe themselves as the "radical middle" Region Claims 95
between evangelicals and Pentecostals, which is a reference to the countries
book The Quest for the Radical Middle, a historical survey of the
Vineyard by Bill Jackson. Origin 1982
Separated from Calvary Chapel
It has been associated with the "Signs and Wonders"
Separations Toronto Blessing
movement,[2]: 199 the Toronto blessing,[2]: 222 the Kansas City
Prophets[2]: 160 and a particular style of Christian worship Catch the
music.[2]: 212 Fire World

The Vineyard operates a publishing house, Vineyard International Congregations Claims 2,400
Publishing. Official website www.vineyard
.org (http://www.v
History ineyard.org)

The Vineyard has its origins in the founding of a Calvary Chapel church by Kenn Gulliksen and his wife
Joanie, members of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, in 1974, in Los Angeles in the United States.[3][4] In early
1975, thirteen groups met at the Beverly Hills Women's club.[5]: 80 These Bible studies, and others like
them, were attended by many popular actors/actresses and musicians including Bob Dylan.[5]: 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] In 1982, 8 churches founded the Association of Vineyard
Churches.[9]

Beginning in 1988, Wimber established relationships with leaders known for their prophetic ministry, 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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[6] In
October, 2011, Phil Strout was selected by the National Board of Directors to succeed Waggoner as
National Director in January 2013.[13] He served until October, 2021 when Jay Pathak was installed as the
National Director.

Statistics
According to a census published by the association in 2022, it had 2,400 churches in 95 countries.[14]

Beliefs and practices

Doctrinal statements

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[15] 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."[16]

LGBTQ+ position
In a 2020 letter to local church leaders, Vineyard Canada expressed its position that having a non-
heterosexual orientation is not itself 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 theology and policy matter that requires further
consideration.[17]

Branches

United States

The national headquarters of Vineyard USA is currently located in Stafford, 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 Jay Pathak. 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.[18]

United Kingdom and Ireland

Denmark

As of December 2022, there are seven Vineyard churches in Denmark. Those are located in Copenhagen,
Aarhus, Odense, Roskilde, Aalborg, Rønne (Bornholm), and Helsingør.[1] (https://vineyard.dk/#!/findachu
rch)

Vineyard Worship
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 Samuel Lane,
Brenton Brown,[19] Brian Doerksen, David Ruis, Cindy Rethmeier, Scott
Underwood, Andy Park, Kevin Prosch, Anabeth Morgan, Tim Brown, Joshua Miller,
Tina Colón Williams, Kyle Howard, Casey Corum, Ryan Delmore, Darren and Jessie
Clarke, Nigel Briggs, Nigel Hemming, Jeremy Riddle, Kathryn Scott,[20] and many
others.[21]

History

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.

Early discography
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 1: Hosanna (1985)
 Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 2: You Are Here (1985)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 3: Come Holy Spirit
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 4: Glory (1986)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 5: Draw Me Closer (1988)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 6: We Welcome You (1989)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 7: No One but You (1989)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 8: Give Him Praise (1990)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 9: I Want to Know You (1990)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 10: Refiner's Fire (1991)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 11: Bring Your Kingdom (1992)
Worship Songs Of The Vineyard 12: Lord Over All (1993)
Hungry (1999)

Controversies

The Toronto Blessing

In 1994, a Vineyard church in Toronto, Canada, was criticized by Christian leaders for promoting physical
manifestations of the Holy Spirit, such as laughter, weeping, and shaking.[22] Critics, such as Hank
Hanegraaff in his book, Counterfeit Revival, charged the Toronto Blessing (under Wimber's authority at the
time) with promoting heresy for three main reasons: first, claiming unusual experiences of the Holy Spirit
including physical responses, speaking in tongues, and prophesying; second, claiming that these
experiences of spiritual revelation were equal in importance to the Bible; and third, claiming that these
experiences were a sign that God was doing "something new." [23] Hanegraaff held that the Toronto
Blessing (and thus the Vineyard movement) was denying sola scriptura or the “sufficiency of Scripture”, a
doctrinal tenet to which the majority of Protestant churches adhere, by suggesting that all believers should
come to see what "new thing" God was doing in Toronto. To cessationist and conservative thinking, this
"new thing" felt dangerous and potentially cultist, putting the inerrant word of God on equal footing with
the expression of a spiritual gift or, in the Hanegraaff's position, undermining the Bible with false
teachings.[23] In 1995, the Toronto church was evicted from Vineyard for losing focus on the Bible.[24]

The Network

The Network is an international group of churches founded by Steve Morgan which broke away from the
Vineyard Association in 2006. The Network's methods and practices have been criticized for being
spiritually abusive,[25] controlling, manipulative,[26] and misogynistic.[27] Steve Morgan's qualifications as
a pastor have also been questioned because of his arrest in 1987 for allegedly committing aggravated
criminal sodomy against a teenager in November, 1986.[28] Former Vineyard officials who had contact
with Steve Morgan during the time of his ordination have denied knowledge of Steve Morgan's arrest.[29]
Steve Morgan had originally planted Vineyard Community Church of Carbondale, Illinois in 1995 after
hearing John Wimber speak at a conference. Vineyard Community Church of Carbondale, Illinois, changed
its name to Vine Church and left the Vineyard denomination in 2006, taking several midwest Vineyard
churches with it to form an independent church planting network, which they called a "No Name, No
Account Network."[30] Eventually, this name became shortened to "The Network."

See also
Christianity portal

Bible
Born again
Worship service (evangelicalism)
Jesus Christ
Believers' Church

Notes and references

1. Despite the fact that some might see denominational labels as divisive, the founder of the
movement John Wimber said "The Association of Vineyard Churches – for better or worse –
is a denomination." Nigel Scotland Charismatics and the New Millennium (Guildford: Eagle,
1995).
2. Nigel Scotland Charismatics and the New Millennium (Guildford: Eagle, 1995)
3. Drew Blankman, Todd Augustine, Pocket Dictionary of North American Denominations,
InterVarsity Press, USA, 2010, p. 22
4. Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition,
Baylor University Press, USA, 2004, p. 713
5. Jackson, Bill (1999). The Quest for the Radical Middle. Vineyard International Publishing.
ISBN 0-620-24319-8.
6. "History & Legacy" (http://www.vineyardusa.org/site/about/vineyard-history).
Vineyardusa.org. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
7. Jackson, Bill. "A Short History of the Association of Vineyard Churches" in Church, Identity,
and Change: Theology and Denominational Structures in Unsettled Times. David A.
Roozen and James R. Nieman, Editors. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2005. ISBN 0-8028-2819-1. p. 136.
8. Frisbee, Lonnie; Sachs, Roger (2012). Not By Might Nor By Power. Santa Maria, CA:
Freedom Publications. p. 127. ISBN 978-0978543310.
9. Peter Clarke, Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, Routledge, Abingdon-on-
Thames, 2004, p. 672
10. Jackson (2005), p. 137.
11. "The Quest for the Radical Middle" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060503021934/http://ww
w.vineyardboise.org/news_events/2000/radical_middle.htm). Archived from the original (htt
p://www.vineyardboise.org/news_events/2000/radical_middle.htm) on 2006-05-03.
Retrieved 2006-09-12.
12. "The Vineyard | A Community of Churches" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060910061734/h
ttp://www.vineyardusa.org/news/press.aspx). Archived from the original (http://www.vineyard
usa.org/news/press.aspx) on 2006-09-10. Retrieved 2006-09-22.
13. "Vineyard Distinctives" (http://www.vineyardusa.org/site/about-vineyard). Vineyardusa.org.
Retrieved 2016-07-25.
14. Association of Vineyard Churches, Our Global Family (https://vineyardusa.org/about/our-glo
bal-family/), vineyardusa.org, USA, retrieved November 5, 2022
15. "Foreword" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090206022856/http://vineyardusa.org/site/files/a
bout/statement-of-faith.pdf) (PDF). Vineyardusa.org. Archived from the original (http://www.vi
neyardusa.org/site/files/about/statement-of-faith.pdf) (PDF) on 2009-02-06. Retrieved
2016-07-25.
16. "Welcome to The Vineyard Church" (https://web.archive.org/web/20071025022921/http://ww
w.thevineyardchurch.us/aboutus/sof.htm). Thevineyardchurch.us. Archived from the original
(http://www.thevineyardchurch.us/aboutus/sof.htm) on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
17. "2020-02-05 National Vineyard Letter" (https://web.archive.org/web/20200220223011/http://
scvine.com/wp-content/themes/default/audio/20200205%20National%20Vineyard%20Lette
r.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://scvine.com/wp-content/themes/default/audio/2
0200205%20National%20Vineyard%20Letter.pdf) (PDF) on 2020-02-20. Retrieved
2020-02-20.
18. "Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches" (http://www.thearda.com/Denoms/D_1502.as
p). The National Council of Churches. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
19. "Ultimate Easter Worship Collection – CCM Magazine" (http://www.ccmmagazine.com/articl
e/ultimate-easter-worship-collection/). Ccmmagazine.com. 15 March 2014. Retrieved
2016-07-25.
20. "Kathryn Scott: Declaring His Goodness – CCM Magazine" (http://www.ccmmagazine.com/a
rticle/kathryn-scott-declaring-his-goodness/). Ccmmagazine.com. 15 November 2014.
Retrieved 2016-07-25.
21. "Sarah Brusco: 'The Woven Whisper' album review – CCM Magazine" (http://www.ccmmaga
zine.com/article/sarah-brusco-the-woven-whisper/). Ccmmagazine.com. March 2015.
Retrieved 2016-07-25.
22. Joe Maxwell, Is Laughing for the Lord Holy? (https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/octob
er24/4tc078.html), christianitytoday.com, USA, October 24, 1994
23. Hanegraaff, Hank Counterfeit Revival Word Publishing. 1997
24. James A. Beverley,Vineyard Severs Ties with 'Toronto Blessing' Church (https://www.christia
nitytoday.com/ct/1996/january8/6t1066.html), christianitytoday.com, USA, January 8, 1996
25. "Former members of Bloomington's High Rock Church allege spiritual abuse" (https://specia
ls.idsnews.com/members-allege-spiritual-abuse-high-rock-church-bloomington-network).
IDS News. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
26. Gutteridge @nico_gjc, Nicholas (2023-04-20). " 'I entered as a spiritual refugee and stayed
on as a prisoner' " (https://www.thebatt.com/news/christland-church-former-members-describ
e-alleged-abuse-manipulation-control/article_c5a560b0-dff0-11ed-be5b-ef0d045e9a29.htm
l). The Battalion. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
27. "Misogynistic content in Valley Springs Church's Instagram Post" (https://leavingthenetwork.
org/network-churches/sources/valley-springs-misogyny/). LEAVING THE NETWORK.
Retrieved 2023-05-18.
28. "Whistleblowers: Network Church Leader Hid 'Horrific' Sex Crime for 36 Yrs" (https://julieroy
s.com/whistleblowers-network-church-leader-hit-sex-crime-36-years/). The Roys Report.
2022-07-21. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
29. "Vineyard Officials Were Not Aware of Steve's Arrest for Sexual Assault Against a Minor" (htt
ps://leavingthenetwork.org/network-churches/sexual-abuse-allegations/vineyard-officials/).
LEAVING THE NETWORK. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
30. Morgan, Steve (November 2011). "Our Story and How We Do Church: A Training Resource
for Network Pastors" (https://leavingthenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Steve-Morg
an-Our-Story-and-How-We-Do-Church-Parts-1-and-2-2011-redacted.pdf) (PDF).

Further reading
Worshiping with the Anaheim Vineyard: The Emergence of Contemporary Worship by Andy
Park, Lester Ruth, and Cindy Rethmeier ISBN 978-0-8028-7397-2
The Quest for the Radical Middle: A History of the Vineyard by Bill Jackson ISBN 0-620-
24319-8 – A look at the history of the Vineyard through 1999.
The Way It Was by Carol Wimber ISBN 0-340-73539-2 – A biography of John & Carol
Wimber's life before and during their time in the Vineyard.
Power Healing by John Wimber ISBN 0-340-39090-5 – John Wimber's teachings regarding
healing
Power Evangelism by John Wimber ISBN 0-340-56127-0 – John Wimber's teachings
regarding evangelism
Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson ISBN 0-89283-929-5
Who Is My Enemy by Rich Nathan ISBN 0-310-23882-X
Jesus Brand Spirituality by Ken Wilson ISBN 0-8499-2053-1
Saving God's Green Earth: Rediscovering the Church's Responsibility to Environmental
Stewardship by Tri Robinson ISBN 0-9748825-8-5
Small Footprint, Big Handprint: How to Live Simply and Love Extravagantly by Tri Robinson
ISBN 0-9786394-8-0
Naturally Supernatural by Gary Best ISBN 0-620-34814-3
Conspiracy of Kindness by Steve Sjogren ISBN 978-0-8307-4572-2 – 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.
Not The Religious Type by Dave Schmelzer ISBN 1-4143-1583-X – A perspective on faith in
Jesus from a former atheist-turned-Vineyard pastor.
Breakthrough by Dr. Derek Morphew, Academic Dean of Vineyard Institute. A perspective of
the Gospel as a proclamation of the Kingdom of God. ISBN 1-86823-039-2

External links
Vineyard International Consortium (http://www.vineyard.org/)

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