The Vineyard movement was born in southern California in 1977, and grew quickly under the leadership of John Wimber. This group caught the imagination of many spiritually hungry individuals with its emphasis on intimate worship and an openness to the experience of God's supernatural presence. The denomination has now grown to include 1,300 churches worldwide, including sixty congregations in Canada. Currently in Saskatchewan there is one Vineyard Church. Located in Regina, it was founded by Garth and Kathryn Johnson in January 1997. They led the church until October 1999, when Garry and Lily Ann Paul assumed the pastoral responsibilities. The Fellowship's membership has varied between fifty and 100 members over the years. A congregation was begun in Saskatoon but it no longer exists.
While the Vineyard is theologically conservative, holding to all of the tenets of Christian orthodoxy, the fellowship believes that their faith must be practiced in a way that communicates most effectively to contemporary generations. They place a high value on “keeping things simple,” and aspire to a life that is “naturally supernatural.” In practice, they believe that everyone should be involved - the purpose being “to extend, through acts of love and testimony of God's goodness, the loving kingdom of God.”
Garry Paul