It is a little over twenty-five years since the American religious leader, John Wimber, died of cancer aged 63. Those of us who were at the time active in church life will have known his name and reputation. Wimber may have affected as many churches across Britain as Billy Graham did for an earlier generation. By visiting Britain in most years between 1980 and 1995, Wimber’s influence was felt by many congregations across the UK. His impact was felt far beyond the Vineyard network of churches that he founded around the world, and his distinctive theological teaching and musical culture reached many congregations in the Church of England. Most of the current powerhouses of charismatic Christianity in Britain today, Anglican or not, can trace their lineage back to the work of this single individual and those who worked with him. Unlike Billy Graham, who wanted to reach audiences of the unchurched in their tens of thousands, Wimber focussed his efforts mainly on those already members of church congregations. His aim was to rejuvenate church life with what came to be known as power evangelism. I was able to attend a Wimber conference in 1992 at Holy Trinity Brompton and, in spite of initial reservations, I was impressed with the style and content of the teaching. In summary, Wimber’s teaching focussed on what he believed God was doing powerfully in the here and now rather than repeating the age-old and rather weary themes of traditional conservative Christian teaching. We heard nothing about the substitutionary death of Christ; rather we were called to feel and display God’s power in the present. It was thrilling stuff and the audience was never bored.
Since Wimber died, the churches who came under his influence have had the opportunity to ponder what they received. No doubt there will be a wide range of opinions on his legacy. Some will be adulatory while others will be aware of negative aspects about his teaching and theology. Possibly the one thing that people will agree on will be the fact that Wimber’s impact on church life across the denominations in this country has been profound. History has yet to declare its final verdict on the contribution his ministry has made to church life in Britain. Obviously my own comments will carry a considerable element of subjectivity and personal bias. With that proviso, I believe my observations of the man and what he represented have some value, especially as I was witness to his ministry in person.
There was much to like about Wimber in his preaching style and message. He came over as man of humour, with a tendency for self-deprecation and wit. He seems to have gained the trust and friendship of all the the key religious leaders in Britain who were then highly respected and prominent in the charismatic world. Among these were David Watson, John Gunstone, David Pytches and the then Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Sandy Millar. I have not found myself holding the same respect and trust for the generation of charismatic leaders who came after Wimber, but I remain personally indebted to two aspects of the Wimber tradition. These have resonated for me in my personal Christian pilgrimage and my priestly ministry.
I spoke above about the ‘weary(ing) themes’ of much current evangelical preaching. A great emphasis is laid on Calvinist reflections on the meaning of the death of Christ and how Christians are caught up in the complicated transaction involving the wrath of God and the removal of human sin. Many of the key texts which set out this somewhat severe presentation of the Christian faith are found in the epistles of Paul. References to the personality of Jesus and what he believed about God and his loving purpose to bring about a transformation of humankind are seemingly pushed to one side. Speaking generally, Wimber’s preaching and the books he wrote were focussed on the Jesus that is found in the Gospel accounts. There was the implication that in Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, there was an invitation for Christians to experience this Kingdom and learn to live in it as a contemporary reality. The arrival of God’s kingdom ‘among you’ was the gospel or good news. It was clear for Wimber that this Kingdom reality involves power, healing and the driving out of all that opposes God’s will. The three-word summary of much of Wimber’s teaching and preaching, Signs and Wonders, encapsulated many of the main themes of Wimber’s distinctive message. Wimber’s services were always exciting and full of drama. It was certainly a strong antidote to any dreariness if that might be found in experiences of church worship elsewhere. It also allowed one to expect the unexpected in our Christian life and ministry. I should also add that Wimber’s emphasis on healing as a normal part of ministry left its mark on my daily practice. I imagine that many clergy, like me, were encouraged and emboldened to offer effective prayer for the sick after attending a Wimber conference or reading one of his books.
So far, I have spoken appreciatively of the legacy of Wimber on the church. There is, however, one area where his teaching has had a detrimental effect on Christian practice. In the late 80s Wimber got to know a group of American Christians known as the Kansas City prophets. These individuals were brought to England in 1990 and made a number of predictions about a revival coming to this country. These prophecies and the prophets themselves were the focus of enthusiasm by many Christian groups here and in the States, but these were let down in various ways. In the first place the ‘prophetic’ ministry of such individuals as Paul Cain and Bob Jones, was associated with notions about prophecy which have little to do with those in the Bible. Without going into detail about the meaning of prophecy in Scripture, it should be explained that the word has far more to with an understanding of God’s word to the current generation than to describing in detail future events. Uncovering the future sounds much more like an exercise to do with crystal balls than divine revelation. The ‘gift’ of prophecy that was encouraged by Wimber and his followers has often been marked by its sheer banality. ‘Words of knowledge’ that are banded about in charismatic settings seem often to speak of the fairground rather than the mystery and power of God. Prophecy in the Old Testament simply does not work like that. The only ‘prophet’ who shows an interest in proclaiming future events is Daniel. He, however, is never regarded by the Jewish compliers of the Hebrew Bible as a prophet comparable to Isaiah and Jeremiah. The book attached to his name is placed in the ‘writings’ along with wisdom literature and the Psalms.
Wimber for a time became quite fixated on the Kansas City Prophets. When they foretold a great revival coming to pass in Britain in October 1990, Wimber brought his whole family to London for this event. Nothing happened in spite of an enormous amount of prayer and preparation for this prophesised event. Some have tried to suggest that the timing of the revival was four years early and that the real event, the Toronto Blessing, was to take place in 1994. In view of the eventual tense relationship between the Toronto Blessing leaders and Wimber himself, we would suggest that a simpler explanation is called for. Quite simply, Wimber seemed to allow his spiritual enthusiasm to run away with itself and that his judgement about the Prophets and their prophecies was faulty and misplaced. One of them at least had an association with William Branham who flourished in the 40s and 50s. In summary, Branham was not a character whose career stands up to close scrutiny on theological or personal grounds. We might well describe him as representing the extreme ‘wacky’ school of theology. American Christianity has many examples to choose from in demonstrating its attraction to the strangest and most maverick notions of faith.
One overriding fact stands up, however, to make Wimber an exemplar in church history. While some aspects of his theology and understanding can be critiqued and his judge of character was not always of the highest, no one has ever, as far as I know, accused him of abusive behaviour. At the moment, we are all reading of ‘substantiated concerns’ over safeguarding allegations made against Mike Pilavachi. As a youth leader at Pytches’ church in Chorleywood, Pilavachi probably met Wimber in person. It seems clear that whatever the relationship may have been, Soul Survivor owes much to the traditions that Wimber created for his followers in Britain. Pilavachi was, in other words, using Wimber’s methods to evangelise but also sometimes abuse young people over four decades. The damage wreaked by him against his victims must be extensive. Alongside those who attracted his predatory attentions, there is another group, much larger in number. These knew of Pivalachi’s behaviour but did or said nothing. In summary, we can see how the actions of one man affected huge numbers and, arguably, infected the entire culture of what we describe as charismatic Christianity. The original revelations about Soul Survivor in April this year were greeted with a kind of stunned silence from those who had expressed their approval of the Soul Survivor brand. How Pilavachi’s admirers, and indeed the entire charismatic impulse in the Church today, will cope with this further information, now flowing from its network, remains to be seen. it is therefore refreshing to be able to recall another Christian leader from further back who had an apparently unblemished moral record.
Wimber was a rare figure embodying integrity and complete honesty. He seems not, as far as I know, ever to have been tempted by any of the trappings of power or money. Remembering him as a man who possessed blind spots but having at the same time essential qualities of honesty and integrity, means that he occupies a place that few, if any, of his successors have achieved. The impulse we call charismatic Christianity is still widespread in Britain but tragically the brand has now become muddied by sleaze and even corruption. If this impulse of God contained in the ministry of John Wimber is to survive and be able to inspire a future generation, it will only succeed in this task if the augean stables of power abuse are thoroughly cleaned out. Tragically we find at present just too much suspicion attaching itself to the leaders who claim the Wimber legacy. They will not find their work of leading another generation of Christian disciples to faith easy.
Luke Larner, a bricklayer turned priest, raised the question on Twitter about whether the revelations about Mike Pilavachi and what went on at Soul Survivor, whether these invalidate what went on in terms of signs and wonders. He put it much better than this, but I can’t find the specific thread. But many of us have being asking similar things: was this of God? Or was it all faked? Can we rely on anything we experienced in these and similar (Wimbur inspired) charismatic Christian gatherings?
30 years ago, I recall hearing the slightly disparaging term “wimbur-ised” to describe what had been done to congregations that had been influenced by him. I went from skeptic to enthusiast over a period of 15 years or so, fully embracing a Charismatic style of worship with tongues, words and healing prayer. But I found it easy to build these structures on sand, and under pressure found (in later years) the thing beginning to collapse.
The engaging style of a God-is-here-right-now speaker certainly influenced me heavily. I wanted a lot more than just intellect and dry study. Over time though, you begin to see formulae being used; techniques. Often it was not terribly good. Sometimes it was just terrible.
Gifted people who appear “anointed” often make a spectacular impact, but so often we stop looking at the person’s life and fixate on their ability to move us and dare I say it, keep us entertained. The human psyche is barely capable of receiving this much adulation and seems quickly to become corrupted. Wimbur died relatively young, but still was able to demonstrate misjudgment greatly levered by his access to influence others.
With 40 years of ministry Pilavachi has had a vast impact across Christendom. His gifting has blinded us all to very serious shortcomings and the resulting emptiness and dereliction has no place to go. Formerly this would bring one to healing ministry, but now where do we go?
Personally I recommend secular psychotherapy and distance and much work to rebuild. There will be many blind alleys but do not give up. Health is possible and it no longer requires attending a signs and wonders meeting.
What is bad about the substitutionary death of Christ? Isaiah 53 (its source) is all good, in fact it is the text most quoted by the New Testament writers. The text most quoted by the New Testament writers is a text we should shun?
I think that the fact that John Wimber could be so misled even as late as 1990 indicates that something was not 100% right/grounded with his thinking even before that. In his earlier ‘Power’ books, he writes ‘Cancer is disappearing.’ re his Vineyard churches. He later retracted the wording.
As for the centrality of ‘doing the stuff’, i.e. the church today and in all ages should be like that of the book of Acts, that is right.
I’m less positive about Wimber than you are, Stephen. He was certainly a powerful speaker with a winning persona, and I had two or three profound spiritual experiences at his conferences. But I eventually concluded that he wasn’t as genuine as he appeared to be: at his conference on managing change it became clear that he had some well thought through techniques for manipulating people. His healing technique is medically classed as hypnosis (aka suggestion), too.
Worse, his emphasis on power healing has proved to be very damaging to people with complex needs, mental health problems, and/or a history of abuse. These conditions do not go away in an instant when they are prayed for. It was noticeable that despite Wimber’s association with St Michael-le-Belfrey (where I was a curate), the people in our congregation with the most serious health problems did not improve and were not healed. Too often they were then neglected entirely.
I think Wimber’s legacy is decidedly mixed.
I’ve just noticed your comment about the effect of power healing on people with complex needs, and you’ve said far more clearly what I wanted to say.
there seems to be an attitude that the person suffering from these things – anxiety/trauma etc – can just make them go away if they’ll submit to ministry. However, it takes away agency, which is something that needs restoring.
And power healing is not a very loving, kind or gentle way of dealing with people – at least in my limited experience.
Thank you for saying that about power healing, Janet It’s not something I have direct personal experience of, as it’s not my theology. But when we were running the survivor groups at Greenbelt, scores of survivors related how they had been subjected to ‘healing’ that didn’t work, & told this was because they didn’t have enough faith, were resistant, didn’t pray enough, hadn’t repented etc. It was reabusive & incredibly damaging. So no, not a fan.
I attend a Vineyard Church – though one which is very much on the sidelines and is somewhat ‘experimental’ in its style – and I have had very positive experiences in the past at a previous Vineyard church. Of the leader of the previous church I have only praise to say about his character, a man of genuine humility who never made me feel small or as if I was less than him.
However I feel that Vineyard churches as prey to many of the failings that are often covered in this blog. I think there is very little reflection on power dynamics and how to deal with vulnerable people without pressurising them or trying to manipulate them. For example, I remember a member of my previous church, knowing I struggled with depression, fixing me with an intense glare and looking at me as if I was a target, then telling me that “he knew what I needed”. I needed him to go away at that point, though I can’t remember what he thought I needed.
A similar thing can happen, very subtly, in my current church. Not often, but that doesn’t make it any better.
I’m not sure if many charismatic churches do reflect on the vulnerability of people asking for prayer or an ear to listen to them; they seem to have this attitude that you can shout problems out of people.
The single word “power” gives it away. Everyone in all the denominations I knew and know, has been dumped by this (and not all realise it), too.
(Is this part of the underpinning of the close relations among current C of E, “muscular Christianity” and “new apostolic” leaders? Power over each other?)
See Michael Scott horton, Power Religion
A few years away from it, and the claims of healing prayer ministry now seem ridiculous. At my final New Wine a decade ago, the speaker was canvassing a room of 2,500 people for stories of healing and sure enough someone had been “cured” of cancer, in theory as a result of the antics in prayer ministry time the previous night. I’ve no way of proving one way or another how true this was, but in such a large sample you’d not be surprised at some kind of remission.
But as well as giving false hope to sufferers and their families of obvious physical conditions, I agree with some of the other comments here pointing at the potential and actual damage done to people with mental illnesses and disorders.
As a qualified doctor, I experienced huge sadness at the inability of conventional medicine to alleviate suffering. I share people’s yearning for healing otherwise unavailable, but those preying on this yearning have brought the charismatic church into disrepute.
My medical training was only the very start of a lifetime’s study of how to achieve (mental) health. I don’t believe it can be done to us. But it’s vital to find a good support structure and this usually involves significant others.
On leaving the charismatic world I once was integrally part of, it dawned on me the extent of the relational poverty there. Literally almost nothing remains. Maybe others have found far better supportive relationships in their church communities than I left with. Good if so. This is where I would be investing in church life, if I were in charge. At present it seems far better outside the church than within.
I was a student at a Baptist theological college around 1990. While there was a fair amount of enthusiasm for Wimber and his ways – partly engendered by one lecturer whose church had been radically (and positively) affected by a visit from Wimber and his team – I think there a generalised feeling that the KC prophets were a bit “loopy” and not to be (theologically) trusted.
A few years later I was Minister of a west London church, not far (just a few stops on the Tube) from HTB, the epicentre of the Toronto Blessing. Most of my ministerial contemporaries were lauding this as the best thing since sliced spiritual bread (so to speak) but we weren’t so sure. We sent two of our members to “observe”, one favourable to charismatic Christianity, the other less so. They both returned with the recommendation that this was a path we should not venture down.
By the way, I think that the rather grim description of crucicentric preaching reflects only one strain of Evangelicalism at the time. Those churches which had been touched by the Charismatic Renewal of the 1970s would have had a “lighter” approach, indeed one which opened the door for Wimber. Having said that, I think that the experiential emphasis on Signs and Wonders has shifted emphasis too greatly always from Jesus’ salvific work.
Sorry – not “always” but “away”.
I find that the view of John Wimber set out in this article is very similar to mine. My first encounter with John Wimber was at his first major conference in the UK in 1984. Having come from a background of intense and active charismatic Christianity, where praying for healing was commonplace, with much emphasis on faith and believing, I found Wimber’s approach dramatically different, and hugely refreshing. This was much more about waiting and discerning, listening and paying attention; seeing what the Holy Spirit was doing, rather than trying to pray the Holy Spirit into action. It was about quiet and powerful presence rather than intense and demanding action. It brought a level of reality and sanity which for me was genuinely revolutionary. It never felt manipulative or hyped-up, but always genuine. I agree that the interactions with the Kansas City prophets brought a different energy into the moment, which was more troubling. I also think that ultimately that the particular qualities of Wimber’s ministry never sat easily with the sort of underlying evangelical/fundamentalist theology that supported it. But although it’s a long time since I have been involved with the Vineyard, I have always felt grateful for the release and growth that Wimber’s ministry brought for me.
There’s nothing bad, personally speaking, about Christ’s atonement; his dieing as the one acceptable sacrifice, God offering himself in propitiation for my sins is central to my own faith, and I’ve spent fifty two years proving that it works. The problem is, perhaps, more with its very miserable, negative view of humanity which certainly isn’t helpful – there seems little or nothing positive about us, or our mortal lives. Admittedly, I’m depressive by nature and that kind of Calvinism, although having a good, logical basis, certainly hasn’t helped me love myself, or handle an already poor self image.
I first ‘met’ John Wimber in the pages of Renewal magazine, and was attracted to his personality; I could identify with him much more than I could many other ‘superstars’ of the charismatic travelling circus. Unfortunately, when I heard more of his ideas, well, they just didn’t square with what I was experiencing in my own walk with God, which included a growing disillusionment with the organised movement. What was being proclaimed seemed increasingly removed from everyday reality. Toronto, and the peer group pressure which I encountered, was the final straw.
Yet, despite all the problems, the experience of God’s spirit in my daily life remains central to my faith. Without the Spirit, it simply becomes a collection of dogmas which in themselves are dusty dry, as empty of life as an Egyptian mummy. It is very hard to express that quality in words; you know the Ruach is there once they have taken up home within you, but conveying it to others without either cheap triumphalism or overbearing domination is a very difficult thing to do.
Part of the problem was the emphasis on ‘power’ – the ‘signs and wonders’ JW talked of, which unfortunately breed a sense of superiority; a hunger for show and experience rather than for God. The shift of emphasis, sadly, can take place very easily and without notice. I understand that the word ‘dunamis’ (power) is used biblicaly for political, social or any other form of power – even a car or steam engine, if they’d had them, and not just the ‘mighty power which raised Christ’ and is alive in us. Unhappily, much charismatic use of the word gave it too slanted an emphasis, which led many of us to be disappointed.
All I can say is that God’s power, in my experience, is not the showy sort; a much gentler, quieter, slower form of transforming energy which is far more real than the noisy sort – and far better lasting. At least, that’s how I’ve experienced it myself. God deals with each of us as ‘he’ knows is best for us as individuals – we’re not made like Ford T cars, all going down the line together and turning out the same. You can’t build your faith on my experiences – but I can encourage you to open yourself to the divine and simply walk with ‘him’ by faith. Anything that’s too ‘pushy’ from the front, or from anywhere, can be reasonably safely taken as not of God – but…
Was at the Cerritos building one year before they moved to Anaheim Yorba Linda area. The take away, the Father Heart Series of Worship was wonderful, “I Bow Down, Save Us Oh God, Hungry” etc. It was an entity that attracted the Apostolic and Prophetic which VF* would violently kill taking sawn asunder and become a shell of themselves for doing so. The vying for position and gifting was heinous. James 3: comes to mind. Proverbs 6:16-19 another big problem. In the over 5 years in the new building they moved into, no Pastor ever showed up to the Sunday morning prayer meeting. Prayer wasn’t important, it should have been; as the Bible says the Lord’s House was to be a House of Prayer. Blog from the perspective, could have sat from birth to death in any of the movements sat in and they would have never gone through the Bible completely, once except for Calvary Chapel, but they did not live the Bible; NONE of them did. Healthy sheep were not important at all. Big problem, no foundations in and on the WORD or Prayer, Holiness, Righteousness Repentance, Humility, Ten Commandments. Created Report Church Abuse List because of this movement in regards to atrocious behavior to people. We weren’t judging fruit, we didn’t think to look and research who put them in play or leaders early years of foundational and what they did with all the money, and who did they truly help? Where did all that money go, besides building their Real Estate Empire and Bank Accounts and their lifestyles as marriages were imploding, so much Dogma. Whoever said “church was set up to deceive” and “that’s been throughout History”, very wise. Whose Kingdom were the peoples time and money really building as God, Jesus (YESHUA), Holy Spirit didn’t get a dime but the prostituting and the whoring of their name and who they were in guise of Religion man, carnal, flesh Galatians 3 talks about that. I think it’s terrible when we have a book with a wrote call of satanic Ministries and pastors because we weren’t judging fruit or who funded them and put them in place. How do we even know if our leaders are Christian, as they profess to be; when they’re funded by Satanist and luciferians. It’s amazing to me as stupid sheeple that come across so many people that don’t want to hear and and see the truth 2nd Thessalonians 2:9 through 11. They want to replace God with a man or a woman who is selling their New Age, mysticism garbage. The best thing that came out of the VF* was the remnant of friends who woke up and got out! VF* dropped C because DIDN’T behave Christian or Christlike towards their fellow man. I think using people for their gifting for their gain is absolutely hideous, vile, wicked, and Evil. Books: Battle Hymn by John Scura and Dane Phillips; Billy Graham and Friends by Dr. Catherine Burns and James Lloyd exposing lies, as so many.