Part of the reason I love the Vineyard movement is how we approach life. I include this note because it shows a little of how we think and I spent yesterday uploading our common Statement of Faith. Today I get a letter from Bert, our National Director, which included the section below:
"When I was a part of the group that put together our present Statement of Faith, I asked John Wimber why we didn't call it the Vineyard Confession of Faith. He responded without hesitation, “Because we are not a confessional movement.” He then went on to explain what he meant. He said that a confessional tradition, in his understanding, was shaped by the idea that members must agree with the entire confession to be in good standing with that tradition. The “Confession of Faith” was an outside boundary that one must adhere to if he/she wants to be a part of that community. He further explained that our Statement of Faith was not designed to serve in that way. It was not designed to keep people out of the Vineyard. Rather, it served to identify us as a movement within the general, basic, framework of orthodox and Evangelical Christianity.
This explanation has been very helpful to me in counseling people who want to come into the Vineyard but have questions about something in the Statement of Faith. I have from time to time had people say, “You know, I really want to be a part of the Vineyard, but I have some difficulty with the language that is used in certain parts of the Statement of Faith.” I then relate the conversation I had with John and assure them that, unless what they believe is in violation of the historical Christian faith as mediated to us through the broad Evangelical tradition, there is room in the Vineyard for them even if they have some reservation on the way a particular statement is worded." - Bert Waggoner, National Director, 1-11-11
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