I found myself struck with some mixed feelings about a quote I read from Dan Wilt’s blog after the Canadian Vineyard national conference thingy:
I’m left with this possibility, given our leadership team and its quest for faithfulness. We just may successfully navigate a course that has caused great stumbling to every movement/denomination since the time of Christ. What a bold statement. We may be able to successfully pass Kingdom values off to another generation without demanding the same forms, or even the same name. We’re poised to try to counter the historic tide. I’ve been skeptical for years, but I think we may be doing it. Hmmm.
The first feeling is certainly one of excitement. Something in me jumps at the thought of this. That Vineyard wouldn’t be stuck in what Wimber created, in terms of form and structure and just how the whole thing looks, but instead that the heart of what Vineyard is about would instead just be applied directly to the culture that we live in in the year 2006, and in the year 2016, and 2056. And that we won’t look the same as we do today, and it won’t be constrained by having to look “vineyard” in a 1980s kind of way. But instead that we would catch the heart of what Vineyard is, allowing us to be a flexible and dynamic kingdom movement.
But the second feeling is one of ” but, but, but….. I like the way things are now”. And even more: “We’ve put so much effort to getting our church looking like this”. (Although if you’ve seen our youth room, you’ll understand that I’m not talking about our building) As much as this makes me sound much older than my tender 22 years, part of me wants to stay with what we “had in the glory days”. There’s something so appealing about sticking with a winning formula, going with what you know (and plenty of other cliches).
I do feel like the revolutionary in me is winning out (if only because I don’t want to turn into an old fogey just yet 
) but in lots of ways it’s a battle. I’ve spent so much time growing up in what has always been a pretty solid example of Vineyard culture. It’ll take some effort to wean me off some of those. And to sort out the heart from the niceties. But it certainly is a fun thing to start being a part of….
Geoff, good thinking. It’s the effort we’ve put into building something that makes us so hesitant to change it, even when all things around us demand the change (or we become irrelevant).
The key? Building flexible structures, people and even youth rooms – that can shift and change in their ways on a dime. With the sheer amount of cultural change happening our our generation, its the only way to leave a legacy worth leaving.
Go git ‘em, and may your head always be older than your body.