Christianity: Details about 'Vineyard Movement'
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The Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement, is an organization of over 850 churches worldwide, and due to its size is generally considered to be a Christian denomination. Church leaders and most laity, however, do not typically consider the Vineyard to be a denomination or refer to it as such. This is most likely due to the culture within most Vineyard churches that discourages the use of denominational labels that are seen as divisive.
OrganizationThe Vineyard has a highly decentralized organizational structure, reflecting the church's belief that local and regionally-based management, ministries and outreach are more effective than a highly centralized structure. The international headquarters of the Vineyard is currently located in Sugarland, Texas, though few, if any, major decisions are solely made there. In the United States, the Vineyard is divided into eight regions: Eastern, Southeast, Great Lakes, Midwest, Southwest, Greater Rocky Mountain, Western, and Northwest. Each region has clusters of churches grouped together by relationship and 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 individual Vineyard Churches. The RO for each of the eight regions is automatically granted a seat on the Vineyard National Board. The Central Governing Body of the Vineyard is a 12-member board of directors. The board is made up of the eight regional overseers of the church plus 4 additional leadership members, including the National Director. Currently, the National Director of the Vineyard is Bert Waggoner. All major strategic decisions, including all major theological and doctrinal statements, are made by the board of directors. The current makeup of the National Board of Directors is:
BeliefsStatement of FaithFor most of the early life of the Vineyard Movement, Vineyard churches had no official statement of faith. This should not be interpreted, however, as an absence of a common belief structure. Rather, the primary reasons such a statement of faith was absent were the demonstrative teaching of primary founder John Wimber, who effectively set the tone and doctrinal beliefs of the Movement, and a desire to reflect the "low-key," "low-pressure" environment of the church that emphasized people to "come as you are," and specifically tried to de-emphasize any atmosphere or actions that could be considered patently dogmatic. According to text in the official Vineyard Statement of Faith 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." The Vineyard Statement of Faith is generally considered to be a generic, 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. Claims of HeresyThe Vineyard was criticized heavily in the early years of the movement and accused many times of promoting apostasy and heresy due to the sometimes-controversial teachings of John Wimber relating to spiritual gifts and the highly active presence of the Holy Spirit in the church. Conservative and fundamentalist leaders often attacked Wimber’s teachings, saying that Wimber claimed experiential spiritual revelation was equally or more important than Biblically-based teachings, thus denying the sola Scriptura or “sufficiency of Scripture” doctrinal tenet that traditional Protestant orthodoxy holds to be incontrovertibly true. Wimber, however, publicly responded to such criticism (often very vehemently and in strong, provocative language, provoking further criticism of his speaking and writing styles) by affirming many times his belief in the sufficiency of Scripture, and emphasizing that clear, accurate teaching and knowledge of the scripture was critical for every Vineyard church. In fact, these items are included in the “Vineyard Genetic Code” he released in 1992. 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. Claims of heresy and apostasy against the Vineyard have waned in recent years, especially since the death of John Wimber in 1997. Focus on WorshipOne of the most unique 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 modern music style, with a multi-piece band leading worship. The unique nature of this form of “modern worship” (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 an special music ministry, later formed into a church-supported music recording and distribution company, Vineyard Music. ClergyPastors and ministers are officially ordained into the Vineyard church in much the same way as any other mainstream Protestant denomination after years of church service in the role of a lay leader. 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. MembershipMost Vineyard churches have no official membership joining procedures or membership records, though this policy is not dictated by the National Vineyard church. Instead, a community of believers is formed by those who attend Sunday services, weekday homegroups, and participate in various church ministries. Vineyard MusicVineyard Music is the record label created by the Vineyard Church. It is considered one of the major record labels for worship music. HistoryHistorically, the Vineyard Movement has been a combination renewal and church planting movement. 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 the leading founder and evangelist of the movement, although the first Vineyard churches already existed before his church in Yorba Linda joined the movement. Mr. Wimber had previously been a pastor of the Yorba Linda Calvary Chapel, but split with the denomination in 1982 due primarily to doctrinal differences over the role of spiritual gifts and the active presence of the Holy Spirit in church ministry. The Vineyard Movement suffered a visible leadership vacuum after Wimber's death in 1997, and the National Board of Directors did not name a formal successor to Wimber until 2000. Wimber’s eventual successor as National Director was Bert Waggoner, of Sugarland, Texas. As of 2005, The Association of Vineyard Churches includes over 850 churches around the world, and this number continues to grow due to a strong priority placed on church-planting within Vineyard the mission. The Vineyard operates its own 2-year leadership training program called Vineyard Leadership Institute, or VLI. VLI is housed on the campus of Vineyard Church of Columbus in Westerville, Ohio and is directed by Steve Robbins. Vineyard clergy are not required to have been trained through VLI. The Vineyard Bible Institute, a distance-learning Bible studies program, is based out of a Vineyard in Cape Town, South Africa. The Vineyard also operates a publishing house, Vineyard International Publishing. Famous Clergy and/or Members of Vineyard Churches
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