John Wimber

John Wimber ( born February 25, 1934 in Peoria, Illinois; † 17 November 1997) was an American musician and the founder of the Vineyard movement.

Life

He grew up in a non-religious family and became a Christian in May 1963, after he had played several years in the band Righteous Brothers as keyboard player. In the following years he attended the Yorba Linda Friends Church ( a Quaker community) and led by personal evangelism hundreds of people to Christ.

In 1974 he became founding director of the Department of Church Growth at the Charles E. Fuller Institute of Evangelism and Church Growth, which was founded by Fuller Theological Seminary and of the Fuller Evangelism Association. He headed the institute until 1978. During this time, his Bible study group grew into a house church. When this group developed into a charismatic direction, this led to a separation of the Quaker community to which the group had originally belonged.

From the group of an independent church, the Anaheim Vineyard Christian Fellowship was born. Wimber was from 1977 to 1994 pastor of this church.

John Wimber was one of the leaders of the charismatic movement, and was a well-known speaker at international charismatic conferences, which were held twice in Germany. The focus of his speeches were evangelism and healing through the power of the Holy Spirit.

John Wimber wrote several books that influenced the charismatic movement, including

  • Power Evangelism
  • Power Healing, ISBN 9780340390900
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