Todd Hunter took over the leadership of Vineyard after John Wimber passed away. He has now founded a new organisation called “3hreeisenough.” He is also working with the Emerging Church in different ways.
In an interview with Next-wave was asked about Vineyard and John Wimber;
What was the most important thing you learned from John Wimber (one of the key founders of the Vineyard movement)?
That the Kingdom of God was the main message of Jesus and the main reality in which Christians are to walk and invite others. Christian life is “eternal life” and that life starts now.
I love the way Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message: “real life…life, life and more life to come”. It is life derived from and lived in the Kingdom God by the power of the Holy Spirit—in a way that others experience as for their good, especially the least, the last and missing. And…that pursuing this kingdom life necessitates risk and learning—especially on the part of leaders. There is a reason the disciples sometimes came off as nerds or dummies in the New Testament—they took the risk of walking a totally unknown road—life in the kingdom.
Todd, as Director of the Association for Vineyard Churches for 7 years, what did you learn about the church by the time you left in 2001 that you didn’t know in 1994?
As president of Vineyard churches, I was asked to serve as a board and executive committee member of the National Association of Evangelicals. This gave me the wonderful benefit of a behind the scenes look into scores of denominations. Plus, as an avid observer of the sociology of religion, I participated in think tanks at some of the best academic institutions in the country. I had no business being there; I didn’t earn it—it was sheer gift. But it gave me a great view of the wider church. Here is what I learned: the church knows it is increasingly marginalized by society. This reality is often called “post-Christendom”. There is a large and legitimate debate about what form that will take in America, whether it will follow the pattern of “secular” Europe or take on some distinctly American version. Here is what I took away from what I learned: what a great time to be alive, to be a Christ-follower, to have a chance to shape what “the new normal” will look like.
I’ve been trying to make a contribution to the new normal ever since.
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