The Anthropological Study of the Vineyard Movement and its Implications
Last month I hosted a series of profiles and discussions on papers presented at the first annual Society of Vineyard Scholars conference. There was plenty of great dialogue and around some excellent papers.
However, I was really surprised there weren’t any comments or questions on Jon Bialecki and Jamie Wilson’s paper concerning Jon’s anthropological study of the Vineyard movement and Jamie’s response.
The study of Christianity in the West has been a recent development in the field of Anthropology (only about 10 years), and during that time the study of the Vineyard and other charismatic streams has been relatively hot, for a variety of reasons. In fact, Jon is not the only anthropologist presently studying the Vineyard, and as Jamie points out in his theological rejoinder, there are valuable insights about our present and our future to be gained by engaging with these social science analyses of our little tribe.
So, consider this a gentle nudge to all you Vineyard pastors and leaders out there to go back and read their excellent paper, profile, and interview and pitch in your thoughts and questions.
