The Association
of Vineyard Churches is one of the fastest growing church-planting movements in
the world. The Vineyard story is about ordinary people who worship and serve an
extraordinary God. The Vineyard is simply one thread in the rich tapestry of the
historic and global Church of Jesus Christ. But it is a thread of God’s weaving.
From
the beginning, Vineyard pastors and leaders have sought to hold in tension the
biblical doctrines of the Christian faith with an ardent pursuit of the present
day work of the Spirit of God. Maintaining that balance is never easy in the midst
of rapid growth and renewal.
John
Wimber was a founding leader of the Vineyard. His influence profoundly shaped
the theology and practice of Vineyard churches from their earliest days until
his death in November 1997. When John was conscripted by God he was, in the words
of Christianity Today, a "beer-guzzling, drug-abusing pop musician, who was
converted at the age of 29 while chain-smoking his way through a Quaker-led Bible
study" (Christianity Today, editorial, Feb. 9 1998).
In
John's first decade as a Christian he led hundreds of people to Christ. By 1970
he was leading 11 Bible studies that involved more than 500 people. Under God’s
grace, John became so fruitful as an evangelical pastor he was asked to lead the
Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth. He also later became
an adjunct instructor at Fuller Theological Seminary where his classes set attendance
records. In 1977, John reentered pastoral ministry to plant Calvary Chapel of
Yorba Linda.
Throughout this time,
John’s conservative evangelical paradigm for understanding the ministry of
the church began to grow. George Eldon Ladd’s theological writings on the
Kingdom of God convinced John intellectually that the all the biblical gifts of
the Holy Spirit should be active in the church. Encounters with Fuller missiologists
Donald McGavaran and C. Peter Wagner and being seasoned with missionaries and with international
students gave him credible evidence for combining evangelism with healing and
prophecy. As he became more convinced of God's desire to be active in the world
through all the biblical gifts of the Spirit, John began to teach and train his
church to imitate Jesus’ full-orbed kingdom ministry. He began to ‘do
the stuff’ of the Bible that he had formerly only read about.
As
John and his congregation sought God in intimate worship, they experienced empowerment
by the Holy Spirit, significant renewal in the gifts, and conversion growth. It
became clear that the church’s emphasis on the experience of the Holy Spirit
was not shared by some leaders in the Calvary Chapel movement. In 1982, John's
church left Calvary Chapel and joined a small group of Vineyard churches. Vineyard
was a name chosen by Kenn Gulliksen, a prolific church planter affiliated with
Calvary Chapel, for a church he planted in Los Angeles in 1974. Pastors and leaders
from the handful of Vineyard churches began looking to John for direction. And
the Vineyard movement was born.
Twenty
years later, there are more than 850 Vineyard churches worldwide, an international
church planting movement, a publishing house and a music production company. Vineyard
worship songs have helped thousands of churches experience intimacy with God.
Many churches have been equipped to continue Jesus' ministry of proclaiming the
kingdom, healing the sick, casting out demons and training disciples.
The
Vineyard's journey has not been a straight path. It winds through many trials
and triumphs. If you are interested in more information, we recommend Bill Jackson's
book, "The Quest for the Radical Middle." This readable history explores
the events, issues and people who shaped the Vineyard in its first two decades.
