Vineyard Movement: Encyclopedia II - Vineyard Movement - Beliefs

Vineyard Movement - Beliefs

Vineyard Movement - Statement of Faith

For 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."[1]

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.

Vineyard Movement - Claims of Heresy

The 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 spritual 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. [2]

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.

Vineyard Movement - Focus on Worship

One 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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Beliefs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki