I returned from last week's Vineyard National Leaders Conference in Bognor Regis to be asked if anything significant happened. I think some were probably expecting me to maybe relay stories of healing, but actually as weeks go it was significant in another way.
Not least because the question was asked whether Vineyard movement had any 'move' left in it.
It caused a lot of dinner time conversation. Some new to the Vineyard family asked whether there was something they should know. It was interesting how unaware many were to what was happening Stateside. Thanks to Andrew Jones at Tall Skinny Kiwi I got a heads up before the week.
UK Vineyard senior pastor Jason Clark has already started the conversation over at Deep Church and this has been picked up by Jason Coker at Pastoralia.
I echo the sentiment that it is timely to reassess/reaffirm the 10 distinctives brought afresh to us by UK & Ireland National Director John Mumford. It has got to be a healthy thing to look again at the reasons why we joined the Vineyard and remain in it, and why many others still want to become part of it.
Lest, we were under the illusion that we stopped being seen as radical by others. It certainly is not my own perception in south Suffolk.
It struck me last week how much the Vineyard, through John Wimber's selfless example, has kept emptying its own pockets to fill the pockets of others. It has given at great sacrifice. Sometimes, it might be argued, too much.
Many denominations and new church groups have been affected in some way, shape or form. New Wine, Soul Survivor, HTB, Alpha, New Frontiers and Hillsongs all apparently pay testament to that.
However, the thought that John Wimber could potentially become some faux holy relic truly horrifies me. But where I find comfort is in the roots of the Methodist Church, which historians tell us only really took off once it's founder John Wesley died.
It was suggested by Caleb Maskill, a church historian and church planter himself, that we were moving from being a 'renewal movement to a church movement'. I know this statement has already caused some consternation, but it deserves reflection.
I would encourage those of us in the Vineyard movement to be open to the debate, but I would also welcome other's perspectives too.
Caleb spoke from Luke 15, where he suggested that a tree which has always been fruitful will naturally have to be pruned. But you only prune healthy trees. If the tree has rotten branches or is dead you pull it out of the ground.
The fact that Vineyard has borne much fruit over the years should not surprise us now that we are going through a time of pruning. We might find all sorts of sociological language to describe this, but undoubtedly we are in a time of natural transition nevertheless. My only surprise has been that it has not come sooner.
Caleb went on to conclude that pruning happens in winter time. I hope I am representing Caleb's thought right here, but I think he was suggesting that Winter is a known metaphor for loneliness and suffering amongst other things. Pruning is not without its pain. However, it is perceived by others that there are fresh buds already appearing, so we will wait and see.
One thing I would say is that the British Vineyard has been allowed to grow organically and so has, perhaps, escaped some of the suggested identity crisis of our dear friends in the US. Maybe if 'Vineyard worship' had emanated here, not in California, we would be suffering more too. However, as a 'body' we all share in each other's pain.
I look forward to watching the debate unfold on both sides of the channel. And, as my own thoughts emerge, as a young church planter of just two years, will share them here for what they are worth.
ASD
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