Charismatic / Third Wave beliefs: what the Charismatic / Third Wave tradition teaches
Charismatic churches such as the Vineyard center on the kingdom of God, "already and not yet", and on partnering with the Holy Spirit, who gives all the biblical gifts today. They hold Scripture as their final authority and practice prayer for healing, worship that seeks God's presence, and compassion for the poor.
Worship: Extended contemporary worship led by a band, followed by teaching and a time of prayer ministry with laying on of hands.
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Vineyard USA
These are each tradition's own church directories. We don't review individual congregations.
Read more
- Core Values & Beliefs — Vineyard USAFree online
The Vineyard's statement of faith along with the values that shape its worship.
- What We Believe — Calvary ChapelFree online
A short summary of what Calvary Chapel churches teach.
- Power Evangelism — John Wimber
The Vineyard's founder on healing, the gifts of the Spirit, and sharing the gospel.
Confessions and statements from Charismatic / Third Wave churches
Compare Charismatic / Third Wave teaching by topic
Charismatic / Third Wave coverage: 16 of 31 questions. Review status and scoring
Vineyard USA · 16 topics available
No official position scored: Which is closest to what you think about God's choosing and our choice? Which is closest to what you think: can a true believer fall away and be lost? Which is closest to what you think about knowing where you stand with God? Which is closest to what you think about who should be baptized? Which is closest to what you think happens in baptism? Which is closest to what you think about how baptism should be done? When the church shares the bread and cup, which is closest to what you think? Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper? Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection? Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven? Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus? Which kind of service feels most like worship to you? Which music helps you worship most? How much should the church year shape worship? Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Read the positions and sources
Scripture and authority
When Christians disagree about what to believe, which is closest to what you think should settle it?
Teaches: “The Bible alone has the final word. Creeds, councils and teachers are all tested by it.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Sufficiency of Scripture“We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as our final, absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.”
Which is closest to what you think about creeds and confessions (written summaries of what a church believes)?
Teaches: “A short statement of faith keeps us united, and the Bible itself is what we really stand on.”
Makes room for: “The historic creeds matter, and our confessions guide us, but they leave room to read some things differently.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Introduction“it is helpful to summarize its teaching in a concise form”
Which is closest to how you see the Bible's truthfulness?
Teaches: “The Bible is without error in everything it affirms, including what it says about history and the world.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Sufficiency of Scripture“the Bible is without error in the original manuscripts”
Salvation and grace
When God puts a sinner right with Himself, which is closest to what you think happens?
Teaches: “God forgives us and counts us righteous for Christ's sake, crediting His righteousness to us. We receive this by faith alone.”
Some hold: “God brings us into a right relationship with Him, and that new life means following Jesus every day with His people.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Power of the Gospel“God regenerates, justifies, adopts, and sanctifies, through Jesus by the Spirit, all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior”
Which is closest to how you think God usually gives people His saving grace?
Teaches: “When a person hears the gospel and personally trusts Christ. Baptism and the Lord's Supper then show it.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Power of the Gospel“all who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior”
Which is closest to what you think about whom Christ died to save?
Teaches: “Christ died for every person, so that anyone who turns to Him can be saved.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Christ the Mediator and Eternal King“After dying for the sins of the world”
Which is closest to what you think about God's choosing and our choice?
Teaches: “God's choosing and our free choice are both true in Scripture, and I don't think we need a system to fit them together.”
Makes room for: “Before creation God chose His people, not for anything He saw in them, and His grace surely brings them to faith.” or “God's grace goes before everyone and frees us to respond. God chooses in Christ those He knows will believe.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think: can a true believer fall away and be lost?
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about knowing where you stand with God?
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about how God makes believers holy?
Teaches: “Holiness grows over a whole lifetime. Sin remains in us until we die, though it no longer rules us.”
Some hold: “Holiness is following Jesus in daily obedience, with a church that encourages and corrects us.”
Source: Vineyard USA, Core Values and Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Statement of Faith: The Ministry of the Holy Spirit“The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church”
The church
Which is closest to how you think the church should be led?
Teaches: “By each local congregation under Christ, with leaders such as pastors, elders or clerks, free from outside control.”
Some hold: “By bishops or superintendents who oversee a connection of churches and help place their pastors.”
Source: Vineyard USA National Leadership Handbook v3.0 (summary page), Local Church Governance“Affirms the inherent right and responsibility of each Vineyard church to self-govern, protecting local autonomy in matters of governance, property, and pastoral oversight.”
Which is closest to what you think about who may be ordained as a pastor or priest?
Teaches: “Both men and women may be called by God and ordained as pastors.”
Some hold: “Each region or church body should decide this for itself, and both views can live together.”
Source: Vineyard USA, "Vineyard USA Celebrates Women’s History Month" (vineyardusa.org), story of Amanda Clark, lead pastor and member of the Vineyard USA Ordination Team“it was formally announced that women were allowed to hold any level of leadership that the spirit called them to and the body confirmed”
Which is closest to what you think about ordination in an unbroken line from the apostles?
Teaches: “Each congregation recognizes and calls its own leaders by their gifts. No outside line of ordination is needed.”
Some hold: “What matters is that ministers hold to the apostles' teaching and are rightly called and ordained by the church.”
Source: Vineyard USA, Ordination in the Vineyard, Formed in the local church“Ordination itself is carried out by the local church, the community that has witnessed the Candidate’s life, character, and formation up close and over time.”
Which is closest to what you think about Christians, war and oaths?
Teaches: “Christians should work for peace, and each believer may follow conscience about serving in the military.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Which is closest to what you think about who should be baptized?
Teaches: “Only people old enough to understand the gospel and confess faith in Christ for themselves.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Baptism and the Lord's Supper“Both are available to all believers.”
Which is closest to what you think happens in baptism?
Teaches: “It's a public act of obedience that pictures what Christ has already done in the believer.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about how baptism should be done?
Teaches: “By immersion only, going fully under the water, as a picture of burial and rising with Christ.”
Some hold: “Pouring, sprinkling or immersion are all fine. The water and the name of the Trinity are what matter.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
When the church shares the bread and cup, which is closest to what you think?
Teaches: “We remember Christ's death, proclaim it and look for His return, with the bread and cup as signs.”
Some hold: “Christ is truly present by His Spirit, and believers feed on Him by faith, while the bread stays bread.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about how often a church should share the Lord's Supper?
Teaches: “Regularly, perhaps monthly or quarterly. It's special, but it isn't part of every service.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think Christ gave His church to keep as lasting rites?
Teaches: “Two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, kept in obedience as signs of the gospel.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Baptism and the Lord's Supper“Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water baptism and the Lord's Supper”
The Holy Spirit’s gifts
Which is closest to what you think about gifts like prophecy, tongues and healing today?
Teaches: “All the gifts in the New Testament are for today, and churches should seek them and make room for them.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Ministry of the Holy Spirit“We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and in the exercise of all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit.”
Which is closest to what you think about being baptized (or filled) with the Holy Spirit?
Teaches: “Every believer receives the Spirit on coming to faith, and we can be filled again and again.”
Some hold: “It's an empowering experience distinct from conversion, but tongues aren't its required sign.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Ministry of the Holy Spirit“We believe in the filling or the empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today.”
When Christians pray for the sick, which is closest to what you think?
Teaches: “Praying for the sick with laying on of hands is part of every believer's ministry, as Jesus did when He announced the kingdom.”
Makes room for: “God heals, sometimes by miracle and often through medicine. We pray, use both and trust His will.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Ministry of the Holy Spirit“We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing”
Mary and the saints
Which is closest to what you think about the saints in heaven?
Teaches: “We thank God for the saints and follow their example, but we pray to God alone.” or “Every believer, living or dead, is a saint. We remember faithful Christians without special honor for some.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which is closest to what you think about Mary, the mother of Jesus?
Teaches: “She was a godly woman God chose to bear Jesus, and an example of faith like other believers.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Last things
Which is closest to what you think about Christ's return and the thousand years in Revelation 20?
Teaches: “After a time of great trouble, Christ will return and reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment.” or “Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and I don't think we need a timeline.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), The Kingdom of God and the Final Judgment“After Christ returns to reign, He will bring about the final defeat of Satan”
Which is closest to what you think happens to believers when they die, before the final resurrection?
Teaches: “They go straight to be with Christ, fully forgiven, and wait for the resurrection of the body.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Worship
Which kind of service feels most like worship to you?
Teaches: “A long time of singing, then preaching, with freedom for spontaneous prayer and response.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
Which music helps you worship most?
Teaches: “A worship band leading contemporary songs.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
How much should the church year shape worship?
Teaches: “A little. We mark Christmas and Easter and plan the rest around preaching series.”
Makes room for: “Every Lord's Day is the feast, and we don't keep other holy days.”
Not yet checked against the primary text, so the quiz doesn’t score this.
In worship, what do you most hope for?
Teaches: “Freedom in the Spirit, with raised hands, prayer for one another, and gifts like prophecy.”
Source: Vineyard USA Core Values & Beliefs (Statement of Faith), Core value: Experience and Worship God“the Spirit distributes His gifts to us, resulting in prophecy, prayer languages, healing, miracles, and many other gifts”