Index To   The Vineyard Churches       OR     Section 10A The Contemporary Church

Also See My Visit to the Anaheim Vineyard by Phil Johnson (below)

The Vineyard Fellowship, which numbers more than 500 churches worldwide, prospered under the leadership of the late John Wimber (1934-1997). In 1977, Wimber started a church in Anaheim, California, which eventually grew to 6,000 members and became the mother church of the Vineyard Association. These churches have exercised an influence far beyond their numbers. They have promoted a radical ecumenism and a charismatic-style experience orientation among evangelicals who do not claim to be charismatics. A large part of this experience derives from the use of powerful rock music to help create a sensual worship experience. The Vineyard music has gone around the world and is very influential in the contemporary praise and worship movement. Recently, for example, I [David Cloud] obtained a Vineyard tape that was produced in India and was sold in a bookstore in Kathmandu, Nepal.

John Wimber opened the floodgates to many errors by downplaying the importance of Biblical discernment. He warned against being "too rigid" and "too heavily oriented to the written Word" (Counterfeit Revival, p. 109). He warned against "worshipping the book" and mocked those who judge everything strictly by the Bible, saying they have "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Book" (Ibid.). One would say something like that only if he were attempting to promote things which were not in accordance with the Word of God. The Psalmist said the written Word "is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psa. 119:105). It is impossible to be too strongly oriented toward the Bible!

In his healing seminar, Wimber made the following statement: "It's evil when you hide behind doctrinal beliefs that curtail and control the work of the Spirit. The Church today is committing evil in the name of sound doctrine. And they are quenching the work of the Holy Spirit" (Wimber, Healing Seminar Series, cited from Testing the Fruit of the Vineyard, by John Goodwin).

In 1994, a visitor to the Anaheim Vineyard, the mother church pastored by Wimber, was told by one of the Vineyard pastors:

"In a moment, I'm going to call down the Holy Spirit. Things like you've never seen will begin to happen. Don't be alarmed by anything you see. And above all, don't try to rationally evaluate the things you will see. Subjecting the revival to doctrinal tests is the surest way to put out the fire."

At the same meeting, a woman church staff member led in public prayer with these frightful words: "We refuse to critique with our minds the work that You want to do in our hearts. We refuse to subject Your work to our little doctrinal tests."

Such a mindset leaves one open to spiritual delusion. If the Holy Spirit operates contrary to the Word of God, there is absolutely no way to discern between the true Spirit and false spirits. This subtle undermining of Biblical authority is one reason why strange and unscriptural things (such as spiritual drunkenness and prophets who learn how to prophesy by making mistakes) have been accepted in the Vineyard movement.

On August 31, 2003, I [David Cloud] attended the Sunday morning service of the Anaheim Vineyard in order to report on what I saw and heard. The dress was casual in the extreme. The people dressed as they would for a sporting event. Shorts were the rule. The service was divided into four segments: praise and worship, prophecy, sermon, and "personal ministry."

The praise and worship segment was led by a large rock style band consisting of a drummer, three or four guitars, a piano, a keyboardist (who also played saxophone and a wind midi), and several singers. A large percentage of the people participated enthusiastically in the worship service, many lifting up their hands, some kneeling, most swaying to the music, some dancing.

The Vineyard music is very influential and is crossing most denominational lines. One of its themes is ecumenical unity. Vineyard worship leader David Ruis' song "Break Dividing Walls" is an example. It says, "We will break dividing walls; we will be one. We will break dividing walls between the Baptist and the Methodist, between the Episcopalian and the Presbyterian, between the Pentecostal and the Charismatic; the walls are coming down between all denominations."

During the prophecy segment, a few people, both men and women, gave personal prophecies or led out in a song. One prophecy boldly proclaimed, "The time will come when the taverns and the malls will be places of worship." This is a prophecy that has often been made by those who believe that the coming of Christ will be preceded by a great spiritual revival characterized by the redeeming of large segments of society accompanied by signs and wonders. Many of the prophets who have been associated with the Vineyard, such as Paul Cain and Mike Bickle, have made such prophecies.

The message was on contemplative prayer and it was deeply influenced by Roman Catholic spirituality. The speaker, who is a pastor emeritus in a Vineyard church, described four types of prayer: crisis prayer, evangelical prayer, "Come, Holy Spirit" prayer (calling upon the Holy Spirit to demonstrate "kingdom power"), and contemplative prayer. He described the latter as "gazing at length on something" and as "coming into the presence of God and resting in the presence of God." He described contemplative prayer as lying back and floating "in the river of God's peace." The speaker described sitting on a couch "in the manifest presence of Jesus." He quoted St. John of the Cross: "It is in silence that we hear him."

The Vineyard speaker recommended the writings of the late Thomas Merton (a Catholic priest who converted from the Anglican Church), who wrote a book on contemplative prayer and whose voice is influential in the "centering prayer" movement. Merton spent the last 27 years of his life in a Trappist monastery devoted to Mary (Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky) and promoted the integration of pagan practices such as Zen Buddhism and Christianity. The titles of some of his books were Zen and the Birds of the Appetite, The Way of Chuang Tzu, and Mystics and the Zen Masters. For three years, Merton lived as a complete hermit.

The Vineyard speaker described personal revelations that he had allegedly received from God. He claimed that on one occasion Jesus said to him, "Come away, my beloved," and he obeyed by staying in a monastery for some days. He mentioned at least two occasions in which he has spent time in monasteries. The speaker claimed that there are five benefits from contemplative prayer: (1) An abiding sense of peace, (2) prophetic revelation, (3) love that is felt, (4) personal transformation, and (5) power ministry. He used several Catholic "saints" as examples of the benefit of contemplative prayer, and there was no warning whatsoever about their false gospel, their blasphemous prayers to Mary, or any other error. In fact, he recommended that his listeners read the lives of the saints. He mentioned St. Catherine of Siena and said that Christ appeared to her and placed a ring on her finger signifying her marriage to Him. He claimed that Catherine experienced the benefit of contemplative prayer by being able to exercise supernatural healings. He mentioned "St. Anthony," one of the fathers of the deeply unscriptural Catholic monasticism. Anthony spent 20 years in isolation, and after that, according to the Vineyard pastor, the "saint's" ministry was characterized by "signs and wonders."

The growing emphasis on Catholic spirituality in evangelical and charismatic circles is very dangerous, but it is the outgrowth of the ecumenical philosophy which has torn down the walls of separation between many Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church. When Ronald Atwood left the Episcopal church and was ordained a Catholic priest in the St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Oakland, California, in December 1984, he cited Thomas Merton as one of his influences. Atwood testified that the practice of Catholic-style contemplative prayer "led him to seek spiritual direction from a Catholic priest" (The Christian News, Jan. 7, 1985). [See Section Mysticism In The Church]

After the sermon, the Vineyard speaker gave an invitation for the people to come forward to receive personal ministry by the workers. He first led the congregation in repeating silently to themselves, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." He said, "Receive his presence that is coming upon you." He said, "Holy Spirit, I pray for your merciful presence to rest on each of us." The people were urged to pray, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner," but the gospel was never given. There was no explanation of why sinners can receive mercy or what sin is or what it means to receive mercy. Nothing was clarified; all was vague religiosity. A Roman Catholic would have interpreted the invitation within the context of his sacramental gospel and would doubtless have "received Jesus" again just as he has been taught to do repeatedly but without coming to the once-for-all experience of the new birth.

Many people went forward, but I did not observe the traditional charismatic phenomena such as spirit slaying and shaking. Those were typical at the Anaheim Vineyard in the 1990s, but there weren't any signs and wonders this day.

My Visit to the Anaheim Vineyard
Phil Johnson

God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33)

Last year while editing a book that dealt with the so-called "Toronto Blessing," I made a pilgrimage to the Anaheim Vineyard to see the laughter and other phenomena firsthand. The Anaheim Vineyard is the church John Wimber pastors, and it is the original Vineyard congregation. Since the book I was editing was completely critical of the laughter, I wanted to be sure in my own mind that the criticisms were not exaggerated or unfair in any way. Three friends accompanied me on my visit—Lance, Doug, and Matt.

Lance and I had visited the Vineyard together a couple of times before, but the church had since relocated into a new facility. The new building was impressive, and we found our way to the main auditorium. We arrived a bit late, so the service was already underway.

I chose a seat on the other side of the auditorium from my friends; I wanted to record my own observations without being distracted, and we all thought our impressions would be more objective if we observed separately and compared notes after the fact.

The first thing I noticed were the dancing girls. The last time I visited the Vineyard, there had been no dance team. But now there were eight or twelve girls in flowing, gossamer gowns, and they danced around the aisles during all the musical numbers. Their moves were carefully choreographed, and the girls split up in groups of about four and moved around the auditorium as the music played. I had read about "liturgical dance," but had never actually seen it firsthand. I felt it was frankly more distracting than edifying.

And I couldn't help noticing a slightly overweight woman in a corner by herself, attempting to imitate the dancers' moves. I felt sorry for her. She was more than a little clumsy and obviously not part of the "official" dancing group. After two or three musical numbers, she was dripping with perspiration but undaunted.

Because of John Wimber's failing health, another pastor gave the message that evening. This was the gist of his appeal to the congregation:

In a moment I'm going to call down the Holy Spirit. Things like you've never seen will begin to happen. People will laugh. Some will shake and quiver. Others may make strange animal noises. Don't be alarmed by anything you see; it's just the Holy Spirit working in His own special way. We don't put limits on how God can and cannot work. He may even surprise us with something new tonight. So no matter what you see happen, don't be alarmed.

And above all, don't try to rationally evaluate the things you will see. God isn't trying to reach your mind; He wants to reach your heart. Analyzing spiritual phenomena through the grid of human logic or religious presuppositions is the quickest way to quench what the Spirit is doing. Subjecting the revival to doctrinal tests is the surest way to put out the fire. Don't try to find reasonable explanations for what is happening; just turn your heart loose and let the Spirit flow through your emotions. Only then can the Spirit have His way in your life.

A woman from the church staff led in prayer and said, "Holy Spirit, we give You permission to be who You want to be in our midst. We refuse to critique with our minds the work that You want to do in our hearts. We refuse to subject Your work to our little doctrinal tests." When the signal was given for "ministry time" to begin, people flooded to the front to be prayed for by the ministry team. The rest of the service was entirely chaotic.

cha o tic (ka o' tik)  adj.  1. marked by great disorder or confusion. 2. characterized by noise, confusion, and tumult.  3. frenzied, disorganized.

Among the things we witnessed were these:

· Several people were "pogoing in the spirit" (jumping up and down).

· Three women were lying on the floor, rather indelicately going through imaginary birth pangs, while a male minister stood over them, shouting "Birth it! Birth it!"

· Four teenage girls lay tangled together on the floor, experiencing some sort of shared convulsions.

· An overweight and unkempt man ran around the perimeter of the floor, waving his arms and flinging sweat.

· The lone woman dance-team wannabe was still in the corner, seemingly oblivious to all around her, still going through her crude ballet-like motions.

· Various people wept, laughed, ran around the room, barked like dogs, and roared like wild animals.

After about a half hour of this chaos my friends and I met at the front of the auditorium. For another fifteen minutes or so we quietly observed at close range the "ministry" that was taking place, then left.

Lance, Matt, Doug, and I spent the entire trip back home (about 90 minutes) comparing impressions. All of us were shocked and appalled. One thing we all had noticed was that the entire evening had a decidedly anti-intellectual thrust to it.

I don't mean that bookish types were not made to feel welcome. By "anti-intellectual," I mean that the phenomena, the dancing girls, the music, the prayer, and every aspect of the evening was meant to play to the emotions and downplay the intellect. Even the sermon was a full-scale assault on the idea that our minds can be of any use whatsoever in discerning truth.

"Park your doctrine at the door, and get into the feeling of this," seemed to be what every voice we heard was trying to tell us. "The Lord cannot do what He wants in your life if you insist on analyzing it with your mind. Truth is not important, experience is. Holiness is a feeling."

But doesn't this anti-intellectual, anti-doctrinal attitude actually work against true sanctification? After all, here's how Jesus prayed for His people: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

Paul wrote, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).

In other words, the objective truth of God's Word—and sound doctrine based on the Word, knowable only with the mind—cannot hinder what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our midst. On the contrary, biblical truth is the very instrument He uses to accomplish our sanctification!

But what we heard at the Anaheim Vineyard actually portrayed God as irrational, anti-intellectual, against doctrine, and not the least bit concerned for objective truth. This is at the very heart of the error that makes the "Toronto Blessing" so destructive to true holiness.

What I'm suggesting is that the problem with the "Toronto Blessing" is not simply that Scripture is silent about many of the bizarre phenomena that are touted. That is certainly a serious problem, but the real truth is far worse: The whole movement is epistemologically antithetical to Scripture. So-called "drunkenness in the Spirit" is actually the polar opposite of the biblical means of sanctification. By encouraging people to tune out intellectually and let their emotions run wild, this movement is rather plainly in conflict with the Word of God. On this matter Scripture speaks with absolute clarity: "God is not the author of confusion" (1 Cor. 14:33).

Yet what I witnessed during my visit to the Vineyard was absolute bedlam. (Indeed, this has been true every time I have visited an evening service at the Vineyard, though there seems to be a much more quiet atmosphere on Sunday mornings.)

Read the context of 1 Corinthians 14:33—especially verse 23: "If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?" (NASB).

But isn't what we're seeing today in the "Toronto Blessing" far worse than the scenario Paul was condemning? Why are so many so eager to defend this movement?

Sadly, as the church continues her slide into doctrinal ignorance and biblical illiteracy, we may actually be approaching a time of spiritual languor that rivals those dark days before the Protestant Reformation. How can anyone who loves the Word of God believe that this signals true revival? [See Section The Christian and Knowledge]

Vineyard Churches

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