The Radical Middle: Why Vineyard?

A while back, Vineyard historian Bill Jackson picked up the phrase “the radical middle” to describe the Vineyard movement. It represented the kingdom tension between the already and the not yet, the cultural tension between the biblical focus of the evangelical movement and the spiritual power of the charismatic movement, and the strategic tension between church growth pragmatism and Quaker mysticism. Over time it has come to encapsulate many of the tensions in which the Vineyard movement has worked to breathe.

What Hold The Vineyard Movement Together?

Where does such a movement find the tensile strength to hold together? We asked a representative sample of Vineyardites to tell us what they loved about the Vineyard. While it’s admittedly an anecdotal method, some themes run through their answers. We’ve printed them in full, but it’s worth first making note of the characteristics that enable a movement to hold fast to both ends of a tension.

Over and over we hear that what people love about the Vineyard is the relationships, the people in it. A friend of mine from outside the movement is a regular conference speaker who once spoke at a session at a Vineyard national conference. She emphasized how much she enjoyed how both the worship and fellowship in the conference were so genuine — unlike some of the posturing and pretension she often experienced in other settings.

[bctt tweet=”If we disagree with someone we barely know, it’s easy for animosity and division to come up quickly. ” quote=”This is powerful, because if we disagree with someone we barely know, it’s easy for animosity and division to come up quickly. Whereas if I disagree with my friend whom I love, moving toward reconciliation is much more natural.”]

The Vineyard continues to be characterized by humility and authenticity. It has become trendy in recent years to be publicly self-deprecating. But the humility in our movement really does go deeper. It doesn’t just manifest itself in public self-deprecation, but in setting up tables, changing diapers, or praying for a hurting friend, all behind the scenes in secret. This kind of humility enables us to take big risks as well, because we don’t have an image to protect if we fail. And risk is key for a movement willing to move out in prayer and prophecy without manipulation and self-protection.

The final thread through these responses is that the Vineyard trusts in the presence of the living God. We strive not for hypothetical unity, but true unity formed by the presence of the Spirit of Jesus. This is not to say that other churches do not strive for God, but there is a strong, primary impulse in our movement to truly know his presence. If we have any special virtues, any unique ability to live in the radical middle, it is because he has provided it.

Greg Perkinson, South Metro Vineyard, Minnesota

In 2003, I was brought on staff at South Metro Vineyard in Burnsville, MN and whisked off to my first national conference in San Antonio. I sat wide-eyed, surrounded by people passionately worshiping Jesus and lining up and down the aisles to give prophetic words. As a recovering Baptist, I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but it didn’t take me long to find myself at home in the Vineyard.

Really, what don’t I love about the Vineyard? I love that the Vineyard is the last stop for many people who need to experience God’s love, grace, and power. I love that people who are about to give up on the church have their love for the church restored. I love how we are so close to actually living out the Bible without all the excesses and distractions you find out there. I love our theology and the way we practice it.

I love that we actually care about the poor, sick, and broken. I love how we love each other and other people just as they are, not as they should be. I love that I don’t have to tuck in my shirt or shave. I love that we are reconciling communities, committed to learning to love and live with each other beyond all of our differences, just like Jesus did for us. I love that I can have a beer without getting hit in the head with a stone. I love that my regional leader is a woman and also one of the best leaders I have ever served under.

I love our conferences, the worship, the ministry, the community; they never fail to restore my belief in what God has called me to and give me new life for the days ahead. I love that we have some of the best leaders in the world, and they always make themselves available to help you. And I love the way we love the Spirit and know it’s what sets us apart from anyone else on the earth.

Kevin Fischer, Miami Vineyard, Florida

The number one thing that comes to mind when I hear that question, “Why do you love the Vineyard?” is the people — all the people, but specifically the pastors and leaders I’ve had the privilege of knowing in this movement.

I love the Vineyard because of the relationships I’ve built over the years. I honestly don’t know where I’d be in life without the friendships of these people. The relationships with the other pastors and leaders in my area, in the state, in the region, in the USA and around the world breathe life into my soul. Some of the best friends I have on this planet are Vineyard pastors and leaders. Honestly, those relationships have shaped who I am and have made the me the man I am today. The truth is, I wouldn’t be pastoring today if it weren’t for those Vineyard friendships. They kept me in the game when I wanted to throw in the towel. Those relationships are priceless.

And what I love the most about those relationships is that there is no pretense or competition. It’s as John Wimber told us: “It’s one beggar helping another beggar find bread.” It’s so life-giving to sit with other pastors and leaders and hear their journeys, both personally and professionally, and to realize that we’re all in this thing together and that we need each other and we can’t do this thing without each other. At times they’ve breathed life into me. Other times I’ve been able to breathe life into them.

I consider the relationships in the Vineyard part of the “now” of the kingdom of God. One day, we’re all going to be together for eternity, but we get to experience a little taste of that now.

I can’t adequately express my gratitude to God for the gift of my Vineyard relationships.

Cindy Nicholson, Evanston Vineyard, Illinois

One of the first things I learned about the Vineyard, before anybody opened their mouth to teach, was that Vineyard had a way of worshiping that was unique. And it has as unique a flavor in us now as when it started in the 1970s and ’80s.

I vividly remember the first time a Vineyard team came to our little nondenominational church to do a healing seminar. The worship leader made us put away our overhead projector (the dinosaur ancestor of the current projection systems) and learn a set of very simple songs he would teach us. The point, he said, was so we could put the words down and close our eyes and focus on Jesus. He led us in song after song, and we moved along a trajectory from awkward and reluctant, to starting to get the hang of it, and from there to forgetting about everything else and singing straight to Jesus.

Since then, the style of the songs has swung through the many musical vocabularies of our people, but the essence of the way we worship has not changed. It is the first job of the worship leader to be a worshiper, and the second job to take us along, watching to see what the Holy Spirit is doing. This is one of our great treasures.

Another thing I love about the Vineyard is that we are an unlikely assortment of very ordinary people through whom God does extraordinary things! It is hilarious to see us together. We are young and old and in the middle. We are of many ethnicities. We are urban and rural, rich and poor, PhD-smart and hands-on smart. What holds us all together is certainly not our common roots or our common class or culture. What holds us together is the center. It is the Trinity.

It is our common purpose to do ALL the stuff in the Book, in the power of the Spirit, in tandem with the clear proclamation of Jesus Christ, crucified, died, risen and reigning! This has given us a stable core and flexible edges so we can go into all sorts of unlikely corners of our world. I like the way we are all pretty okay with rejiggering the non-essentials to slip through doors of opportunity.

Finally, as a woman, I am so grateful to be part of a tribe that doesn’t just let me play, but that urges me to discern how God has gifted me and then invites me to use those gifts to impact the lives of both men and women, inside and outside the church walls. I am grateful that there are no pieces of “the stuff in the Book” that I am excluded from. Over 29 years in the Vineyard, I have experienced struggle, sure. But mostly I have experienced welcome and grace and an eager willingness from others to receive and to bless what I can give. How can I not love a movement that does that?

Doug Anderson, Former National Coordinator and Mercy Response Director

I am most thankful for the friendships and relationships I enjoy in the Vineyard. I enjoy an unusual mix of both long-term and relatively new relationships. I have geographically close friends that I see often, and those farther away I see less, but we can pick back up where we left off. These relationships have saved my life, marriage, and ministry. To have those people to walk beside you during the darkest times and to celebrate with you during the best of times is invaluable.

It is pleasantly amazing to me to see the number of children of Vineyard pastors who not only stay in the Vineyard but who love the Vineyard deeply and are stepping up to lead and take the reigns of our movement. It gives me hope for the future of our family. In some cases, even third generations are stepping into service, as I’ve seen with some of my own grandchildren.

Geno Olison, South Suburban Vineyard, Illinois

I really do love the Vineyard. I’ve been in church my whole life, and when I found the Vineyard I knew that I’d found what I was looking for.

I like the Vineyard for a number of reasons. I remember when I first visited a Vineyard church (Urbana). Despite being one of just a handful of minorities in the room, I remember liking the vibe of the place. It was really laid back, and people seemed to actually be glad they were there. It had been a year or more since I’d left home and my home church back in Chicago, and I was really grieving the loss of regularly experiencing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit during worship services. But I felt that immediately when I visited the Vineyard. Moved to tears and aware of God’s presence, I knew I had discovered something special.

The other really important thing I noticed in that church in Urbana, and which I’ve seen over and over in Vineyard pastors and leaders all over the country, was a refreshing sense of humility. I’ve seen and been in the company of a lot of big-shot preachers. Some had people essentially wiping their brows, carrying their stuff and generally worshiping them as the “man of God.” Even at a young age, that stuff always bothered me. I could never reconcile that with who Jesus was and how he operated.

I’ll never forget admiring the humility of the senior and executive pastors in Urbana. They had the swagger of senior leadership, but a humility and accessibility that I’d never seen before. I remember seeing Ben Hoerr walking around the auditorium, picking up paper and straightening chairs. I recently had a chance to share with him that when I observed that, it did more to endear me to the Vineyard than just about anything else I’d seen.

As I began to get to know more Vineyard pastors across the country, I realized the compelling swagger: it was a willing servant heart that was simply what was expected of those in leadership.

Finally, I’d always thought most people were making church and Christianity more complicated than it was supposed to be. When I found the Vineyard, it really confirmed my suspicion. I was drawn to the simplicity of how things were done. I liked how the people valued being naturally supernatural, avoiding hype and manipulation, and trusting that God was powerful enough to move without us whipping everyone into a frenzy first.