John Wimber; Led Vineyard Fellowship

The Rev. John Wimber, who helped propel seven loosely knit Orange County congregations into a 150,000-member international movement, died Monday in Santa Ana at the age of 63.

The Yorba Linda resident is credited with bringing dynamic leadership to the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, which he joined about 17 years ago, after leaving Calvary Chapels. He joined Kenn Gulliksen, a Los Angeles pastor who named the movement after the Bible’s reference to vineyards as a sign of divine blessing.

Today, there are 450 Vineyard congregations in the United States, including 70 in Southern California and more than 200 in 47 foreign countries, making the movement one of the fastest-growing Christian denominations.

“John Wimber delivered new respectability to a congregation that had long been viewed as a bunch of holy rollers, babbling in tongues, rolling on the ground,” said Ben Hubbard, chairman of the Comparative Religion Department at Cal State Fullerton. “He brought emotion and feeling and charisma to the Christian community while breathing new life into it.”

After suffering a mild stroke three years ago, Wimber handed the reins of the 5,000-member Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim to a partner, although Wimber continued to preach regularly at the church.

He underwent open heart surgery seven weeks ago, and early Sunday he fell in his bathroom and hit his head, said Todd Hunter, acting national director of the Assn. of Vineyard Churches. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and was taken off life support at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana about 8 a.m. Monday, Hunter said.

USC religion professor Donald Miller characterized the Vineyard Christian Fellowship that Wimber guided as a new, informal, innovative style of charismatic church.

Wimber was no stranger to controversy. He was one of two teachers for a course at Pasadena’s Fuller Theological Seminary in which students prayed for healing. The resulting criticism on campus and beyond led to the course being dropped.

The Vineyard movement at times has dropped large affiliate churches from its ranks because of questionable practices in worship or prophetic claims.

“John’s enduring legacy will be the courage of his convictions to try to change the church of America for the better,” Hunter said.

Wimber is survived by his wife, Carol, children Chris, Tim, Sean and Stephanie, and 11 grandchildren.