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The Anglican Wimberites

Stephen Hunt

In the United States, John Wimber's Vineyard International is just one evangelizing and healing ministry among many. By contrast in Britain, during the last decade, the Vineyard has had more impact on the wider Charismatic movement than any other comparable organization ever since the "Third Wave" conference held in October 1984 at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. The six-day "Third Wave" event had been convened by Manna Ministries under Douglas McBain, a leading Baptist Charismatic, and involved an intensive series of meetings and workshops on the subjects of inner healing, deliverance and spiritual warfare and their relationship to church growth. Westminster was the first occasion in which the British Christian public had viewed Wimber's ministry on a large scale. The aim was to allow a platform for Wimber to teach on church expansion at a time when the Charismatic movement had peaked, when church attendance continued to decline in Britain, and where the inner-city, working-class areas remained virtually untouched by I evangelism or the Renewal movement.' The Vineyard's doctrines and strategies have made an indelible imprint on the Restorationist churches, including New Frontiers, the Pioneers, the Jesus Fellowship' and the Ichthus Fellowship.3 This impact is understandable given the pronounced theological confluence among the various groups' and the strong personal ties Wimber has had ' Douglas McBain was one of the earliest Charismatic Baptists in Scotland [Peter Hocken, Streams of Renewal: Origins and Development of the Charismatic Movement in Great Britain (Exeter, UK: Paternoster Press, 1986), 98]. He had always held the belief that the Charismatic movement had not significantly touched the working classes and remained predominantly a middle-class movement [Douglas McBain, "The Spirit's Call to the Hard Places," Renewal 42 (April-May 1978): 28-31]. In the early 1980s he had established Manna Ministries partly to take the gospel to the poor and the working classes. Douglas McBain is now a superintendent for the Baptist Union. 2 The influence of Wimber on the Northampton-based Jesus Fellowship is discussed in chapter 23 of Simon Cooper and Mike Farrant, Fire in Our Hearts (Eastbourne: Kingsway, 1991), 259-270. ' A mention of Wimber's influence on Ichthus is to be found in Anthony O' Sullivan, "Roger Forster and the Ichthus Christian Fellowship: The Development of a Charismatic Missiology," PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 16 (Fall 1994): 247-263. 4 There are many overlaps between the theology of the Vineyard and British Restorationism, especially in interpreting church history and that the spiritual powers of the early church are returning after being "lost from" or neglected. Wimber, however, retains a far more open and catholic ecclesiology. The fact that Restorationism has also had some impact on Charismatic Anglicans may have helped pave the way for Wimber's impact; see Nigel Wright, "Restorationism and the 'House Church' Movement," Themelios, 16 (January-February 1991): 4-8. 106

with the respective leadership. The Charismatic churches of Britain's mainline denominations have also taken the Vineyard's ministry on board,s although I will argue here that it is in the Church of England where the ministry has made its most profound impression. Indeed, there is a much-quoted statement from a leading Anglican who that "Wimber has had a on the suggested greater impact Church 'of England than anyone since John Wesley."6 In demonstrating Wimber's influence on the Church of England, this article will explore the scope of Wimber's impact in light of the apparent cultural differences between the Vineyard and the Anglican Church. After describing the salient cultural differences in the two movements, the article will identify the ways in which the Vineyard made inroads into the Anglican Church through ministry strategies, the Anglican networks, an emphasis on healing, the toleration of theological diversity in the Anglican tradition and the successful congregational growth among "Third Wave" Anglican churches. Despite the growth of the Anglican Wimberites, the article concludes with the observation that the future influence of Wimber is uncertain. On the one hand, there are factors which may indicate that Wimber's influence is waning. On the other hand, the spread of the recent "Toronto Blessing" throughout Britain has brought a fresh wave of renewal to the "Third Wave" Anglican churches. The Scope of Wimher's Influence The claim that the Vineyard's influence on the Church of England is considerable needs to be substantiated. The problem is that it is very difficult to measure. Even those Anglicans close to the Vineyard have

' Although extremely difficult to gauge, I would estimate that some 20% of Britain's Baptist churches are Charismatic in orientation and many of these , if not overtly open to the Vineyard and with no clear working relationship with them, would not be opposed in principle to many aspects of its ministry. If anything, the Roman Catholic Church in Britain has been more open to Wimber's teachings than any other ministry from the United States. British Catholics historically have never been particularly impressed by the American brand of healing evangelists and their influence rarely extends beyond the preaching crusade. Nonetheless, some Catholics, including experienced leaders of Catholic Renewal, have taken more notice of what the Vineyard has had to offer. In addition, it is again the healing arena that Wimber's influence has proved to be more apparently obvious with a number of individuals applying it to their ministry if rather diffused along customary sacramental lines. The emotional healing and deliverance ministry strongly associated with Wimber has also inspired the work of numerous healing ministries, notably Ellel Ministries and the London Healing Mission (Andy Arthbutnot, "Wanting More of Jesus," Renewal 7 (December 1993): 211. 6 Prominent Anglicans whom I have spoken to almost unanimously attribute this quote to Sandy Millar at Holy Trinity Brompton in West London. Holy Trinity is one of the most impressive flagship Anglican Charismatic churches in Britain and has been connected with the Vineyard since it provided a base during the 1984 "Third Wave" conference.