ABSTRACT

This chapter contains the narrative of the Jacobsfield Vineyard (JV) congregational study, organized in three phases: familiarization, analysis, and interpretation and the central theological question. It recounts the second phase of fieldwork, listening to and exploring the stories of Jacobsfield Vineyard. The chapter summarizes the feedback gained from these interviews and offers some themes which emerged. It attempts to show that while important disparities exist between the manner in which JV's leadership and JV congregants describe the church, common factors can be seen, stemming from the church's desire to differentiate themselves from their evangelical roots. To summarize Lawton's stance on JV's relationship with the Vineyard movement, it might be said that they are nearly indistinguishable in programs, familiar in values, but "emerging" in identity. Jamieson describes evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic (EPC) churches as a significant stream of the Christian church. JVers see themselves as emerging from culture in much the same way as they are emerging from evangelicalism.