John Wimber

John Richard Wimber (February 25 1934 - November 17 1997) was a charismatic pastor and one of the founding leaders of the Vineyard Movement.

Life and ministry

Wimber was raised in Kirksville, Missouri in a non-religious family, but converted to evangelical Christianity in May 1963. He had previously been the keyboard player and producer in the band The Righteous Brothers.

Some have attributed the formation of the band to Wimber (then as Johnny Wimber) since he was the one who brought Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley together for the band the Paramours in 1962. In the following years he attended a Quaker church in Yorba Linda, California. During this time, he led hundreds of others to convert to Christianity. By 1970, he was leading 11 different Bible study groups that involved more than 500 people.

In 1974 he became the Founding Director of the Department of Church Growth at the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, which was founded by the Fuller Theological Seminary and the Fuller Evangelistic Association. He directed the department until 1978. In this time a House Church began to form in his home. This group began to embrace some of the beliefs of the Charismatic movement. This resulted in a split with the Quaker church that this group belonged to.

Wimber pastored this new church, which would later become known as the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship, from 1977 to 1994. Eventually, it outgrew his home and began to meet elsewhere. After initially joining Calvary Chapel, the church had some differences with the Calvary Chapel leadership, relating mainly to the practice of spiritual gifts. As a result, they left Calvary Chapel to join a small group of churches started by Kenn Gulliksen, known as Vineyard Christian Fellowships.

A particular emphasis of the Vineyard Movement was church planting. One of Wimber's many catchphrases - intended to capture theological and practical ideas in easy to remember sound bites - was that "church planting is the best form of evangelism". Both during his lifetime and since his death the Vineyard Movement has established thousands of churches across the USA and internationally.

Wimber became a well-known speaker at international charismatic conferences with a focus on what he called "Power Evangelism" and healing through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that, while considered by many to be a charismatic teacher, Wimber himself (along with the leaders of the Vineyard Movement) repeatedly rejected the charismatic label as applying to their teachings.

Wimber took an approach to the charismatic which was somewhat different from that of peers and predecessors. This new approach led a friend, C. Peter Wagner, to coin the phrase, "The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit" to describe the concept he taught (and to avoid some current labels with their negative connotations). The Third Wave differed from classic Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement, foremost, in their approach to speaking in tongues. Whereas the previous groups had emphasized the gift of tongues as the only evidence for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Wimber and those he influenced emphasized that this was just one of the many spiritual gifts taught in the Bible. This teaching revolutionized what was a major theological stumbling block to some mainstream Evangelicals, the demonstration of "signs and wonders" expressed in the present-day world in a form alleged to be alike to those of the days of the First Century Apostles. Wimber held influence with a number of them, most famously Jack Deere, C. Peter Wagner, and Wayne Grudem. Gordon-Conwell missiologist J. Christy Wilson also mentions Wimber in his book More to be Desired than Gold.

Wimber also differed from contemporaries in his rejection of the Word of Faith movement, and the associated doctrines and showiness. The pursuit of authenticity was core to Wimber's idea of church, and this was reflected in the worship as well.

He died of a brain hemorrhage on November 17 1997, aged 63, following a fall and recent coronary bypass surgery. His ashes were either given to a friend or family after the cremation.

Theology

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

John Wimber tentatively held to a modified evangelical view on baptism of the Holy Spirit that says it happens at conversion but that there is an experiencial aspect (e.g speaking in tongues) that may not be manifested until a later date.

Wimber says, '...I want you to keep in mind that I'm still in the process of changing, I'm going to share with you my viewpoint today, I may change it in 2 weeks or in 2 years, I don't know. All I know is that I've been in the thrust of change for years now, and I'm just not sure I've yet fully worked out a scenario that I can live with long term. But here are my best thoughts on the subject... From time to time we will have a valid experience with an invalid label. At this time my perception is that that is what has occured with the issue of the baptism of the Holy Spirit... At this point in time I have come full circle from an evangelical theology of filling of the Spirit, through an experience and a theology that embraced what we would call classic Pentecostal... now I've come back to a place where I think I started theologically, but I've added a dimension of experience.'

'My perception is that every born-again Christian can manifest any gift that he wants to, because with the coming of the Holy Spirit you have the Source of all gifts.'

Complementarianism

John Wimber was a complementarian, thus he did not think that women should be elders according to 1Tim2:12, however he allowed exceptions. ('Every rule has an exception' he would say, like Deborah.)

Teachings & Legacy

Wimber's teaching influenced many Christians, both inside and out of the Vineyard movement. He is well known for a strong emphasis on "authenticity," and doing nothing for "religious effect." One of the key foundations of his teaching was intimacy with God, rather than religious habit and discipline. He also emphasized the idea that Church services should be casual, informal and led by the Holy Spirit, meaning that worship shouldn't include scripted prayers or structured liturgy. Another characteristic is in the area of teaching, which emphasized preaching extensively from the gospels and using Jesus as the model for Christian believers.

Another point which Wimber emphasized strongly was signs & wonders and the priesthood of every believer, that every Christian has the ability to prophesy and heal the sick. While this is not a new concept, Wimber was a key figure in the introduction of the concept that praying for the sick (or anything else) shouldn't be saved for special healing services, but should take place at every Church service, and out on the streets (by every believer). As a result, many Churches have prayer time after the sermon.

Wimber's teaching has had a significant influence on other Charismatic leaders, such as Mike Bickle, Terry Virgo, Randy Clark, John Arnott and Bill Johnson.

Criticism

Wimber's theology and methods have been challenged by cessationist Christians, as well as many Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, who claim was in error in some of his practices. Their criticism focuses mainly on the basis of his theology and his emphasis on rapid church growth which, they allege, emphasized dramatic proofs of spiritual power and practices as being derived from New Age philosophy and humanistic psychology, rather than a reliance on the Bible as God's inerrant word. Supporters of Wimber's theology deny that it is even remotely rooted in the New Age and humanistic psychology, pointing out rapid church growth and dramatic demonstration of God's power are clearly rooted in the teachings of Scripture. Many such critics are cessationists and are generally critical of Pentecostalism, the Charismatic movement, and its leaders. The majority of these criticisms are not limited to Wimber. Critical considerations of Wimber's work and approaches to evangelism can be found online; ,

Books

John Wimber wrote several widely read books, among them

• John Wimber, A Brief Sketch of Signs and Wonders through the Church Age (Placentia, California: Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 1984).
• John Wimber, Signs and Wonders and Church Growth (Placentia, California: Vineyard Ministries International, 1984).
• John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Evangelism (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986). ISBN 0340561270
• John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Healing (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987). ISBN 0060695412
• John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Encounters (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988).
• John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Points (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1991).

Biographical resources on Wimber are:

• John Wimber: The Way It Was by Carol Wimber ISBN 0340735392
• The Quest For the Radical Middle by Bill Jackson ISBN 0620243198
• John Wimber: A Tribute by David Pytches ISBN 086347277X
• "The Way In Is The Way On: John Wimber's teachings and writings on life in Christ" ISBN 0-9748825-7-7 published by Ampelon Publishing, Norcross, GA.
• When the Spirit Comes with Power, chapters 11 and 12, by John White ISBN 0830812229

External links

• Doin' The Stuff Wimber resources
• John Wimber resources at Vineyard Church of Cedar Rapids
• "Timeline of the Life of John Wimber" (PDF).