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Michael Ellis's avatar

Having come out of a "non-denominational" background, theologically, the idea of a superstructure over the local church always bothered me. When local churches banded together and formed collectives under a variety of names, they obtained a degree of power that usually led to abuse of that power. However, in my experience with so-called non-denominational churches, this same kind of favoritism and abuse of power was rampant even if there wasn't an official director of regional leader or whatever title you wish to give to the top of the pyramid. But the egregious ignoring of very serious accusations by the superstructure of VUSA would lead me to conclude that this is an irreparable system. My question would be one of continued participation. If a system has been broken for more than a decade and there are few signs of improvement, does the name "Vineyard" as a connection to a collective of churches carry with it too much baggage that would negatively affect the overall impact the local church can have on a region? Obviously, Raleigh Vineyard would not have some members if not for the "Vineyard" name. But conversely, could we attract more individuals if the church was not affiliated with any group? There is no way to answer this question in the abstract. But it does make me wonder about how RV should undertake her future direction.

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Dennis Orthner's avatar

I used to say and believe that the Association of Vineyard Churches is really the Association of Vineyard Senior Pastors, having had the experience of not being listened to by VUSA when the pleas of elders and leaders of the church I attended were ignored and the VUSA was solely concerned with the Senior Pastor. It now appears to have gotten even worse. I still believe that the health of congregations should be of utmost concern to VUSA, not just the compliance of pastors. The structure should be oriented toward listening, not telling; holistic congregation care, not attendance numbers; spiritual formation, not bucks in the seats; and proactive engagement by regional leaders with elders and leaders, not just zoom calls with senior pastors. Will this be more expensive and time consuming? Yes. Will it help create the cultural climate that this report says is needed? YES.

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