Thread by @TaylorMatthewD

For those tracking the New Apostolic Reformation (& Charismatic/Apostolic-Prophetic/Fivefold Christianity as a whole), I commend this article by @reb_hopkins (in @reachjulieroys) about abusive leadership at the former Anaheim Vineyard. julieroys.com/exclusive-form… 1/

For those not tracking the ins & outs of this, here's a quick refresher: The Anaheim Vineyard was John Wimber's church & the iconic, flagship Vineyard church during Wimber's career. Some Vineyard folk used to affectionately call it "the mothership" mainandplain.com/wimber-me-how-… 2/

Wimber, a former member of the Righteous Brothers band, was a guiding light in the Charismatic world of the 1970s to 1990s. In Charismatic Revival Fury, I show how he taught w/ C. Peter Wagner at Fuller Seminary, & midwifed Wagner's late-career pivot. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cha… 3/

Eventually, Wimber grew disillusioned with Wagner's radical ideas esp. around strategic spiritual warfare but also the whole NAR paradigm, though Wagner did try to falsely claim – shortly after Wimber's death! – that Wimber was an NAR supporter. amazon.com/New-Apostolic-… 4/

Wimber died in 1997, & the Anaheim Vineyard has bumped along since but not been the hub of activity it was under his leadership. Full disclosure: I casually attended the Anaheim Vineyard for a couple years in the 00's but was never a member or insider there. 5/

In 2018, the Anaheim Vineyard asked Alan & Kathryn Scott, a Vineyard-pastor couple from Ireland, to be the new pastors. In April 2022, the Scotts announced that they were taking the church (& its millions in assets) to break away from the Vineyard. religionnews.com/2022/04/27/for… 6/

The Scotts renamed the church Dwelling Place Anaheim. This caused great consternation w/in the Vineyard Association, because of the church's historic importance at the heart of the movement. The Scotts claimed God had prophetically revealed this course. religionnews.com/2022/04/21/the… 7/

A few months after the split, leaders in the former Anaheim Vineyard, including Wimber's widow, sued the Scotts/Dwelling Place for $62 million of fraud, claiming that they had misled the church throughout this process. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/ne… 8/

For those familiar w/ New Apostolic Reformation & Apostolic-Prophetic dynamics, this set off alarm bells. The Scotts appeared to be doing at the Vineyard mothership what's happened to many churches: breaking it off to be independent & then form or join an apostolic network. 9/

Reportedly, major Apostolic-Prophetic leaders (Bill Johnson, Randy Clark, Heidi Baker, etc.) had been frequenting the church before its split from the Vineyard. These are all leaders in Ché Ahn's lateral Revival Alliance network. hollypivec.com/blog/is-vineya… 10/

Jeremy Riddle, the uber-popular Anaheim Vineyard worship leader, who had spent time training at Bill Johnson's Bethel Church (the most prominent apostolic hub in the US), was evidently at the heart of the breakaway controversy. latimes.com/california/sto… 11/

So all the hallmarks were there that this putsch represented the most high-profile NAR/Apostolic-Prophetic annexation, perhaps, in US history. But I held off commenting, b/c it's a complex story, & the Scotts denied this was anything but than an organic process of separation. 12/

What @reb_hopkins' story now reveals is that Alan Scott has been calling himself an apostle, has coercively led staff based on prophetic declarations, & has been accused of spiritual abuse by a dozen former church staff. julieroys.com/exclusive-form… 13/

The story also highlights how Alan Scott & Jeremy Riddle have rigorously sought to instill a "revival culture" & "loyalty culture" (those are glaring Bethel-isms) in the reconstituted church, by imposing their will on subordinate staff. 14/

So, yes, this whole Vineyard Anaheim story *needs* to be understood within the context of the burgeoning global Apostolic-Prophetic Movement (a.k.a., New Apostolic Reformation), it's aggressive takeover of local churches, & the unaccountable leadership model it brings. 15/

The bottom line: This insurgent Apostolic-Prophetic ecclesiology is a force to be reckoned with, particularly in this desperate, post-COVID moment where church leaders are under immense pressure, & even iconic, legendary churches can end up in dangerous NAR-land. 16/