Timeline of Events
This is a basic timeline of the events related to the Third Way
1997 - Pastor Ken preaches traditional sermon on Homosexuality – Download and listen to this sermon
1997 - 2010 - Our church maintains a traditional posture on the issue of homosexuality. After 1997, we leave the issue out of the pulpit.
2005 - Pastor Donnell wrestled with a calling to plant a new church
2006 - Pastor Donnell discerns a call to plant a new church in Metro DC area in 2009
2008 - US Economy tanks, Pastor Donnell moves from full-time to 2/3 time, still interested in church planting, but deferred this calling.
2009 - September: VineyardUSA invites Pastor Donnell to submit a proposal for planting a church in the Metro DC area
2010 - Feb: VineyardUSA rejects Pastor Donnell's proposal
2010 - Dec: Pastor Don invited to the last stage of interview process for position in San Carlos, CA2011 - Pastor Donnell forms study group about LGBT issues and inclusion in our fellowship. This group meets weekly for 18 months to read, study, pray, and discuss a way forward developing four angles on the issue (Pastoral, Biblical, Missional, & Theological).
2011 - April: Pastor Donnell is invited to come back to staff full-time
2011 - Seeds of Third Way are planted as the church starts to migrate away from Centered-Set as its primary welcoming posture
2011 - Pastor Ken starts to write “A Letter to my Congregation”
2012 - Pastor Ken decides to present a paper on the “Third Way” at SVS
2012 - Sept-Oct: Pastor Ken starts the “Disputable Matters” sermon series based on Rom 14
2012 - Oct: Pastor Nancy passes away
2013 - Feb: The title of the paper is changed to “Open and Affirming or Exclusionary, A Third Way Approach” a small group is formed to meet and discuss this paper
2013 - April: Society of Vineyard Scholars, Pastor Ken presents the paper
2013 - Pastor Ken speaks at the Blue Ocean conference: "Can The Center Hold? Staying Together In A World Flying Apart"
2013 - Pastor Donnell joins Pastor Emily and gives a workshop during the Blue Ocean conference
2013 - Congregants are allowed to have a copy of the 100 page paper upon request
2013 - September: Contract for the book with David Crumm Media. An electronic copy of the book is only available upon written request
2014 - January: The book, A Letter to My Congregation is released
2014 - February: Pastor Donnell is invited to share about the Third Way and its challenges at the A2VC with the Cambridge Vineyard in Boston, MA
2014 - January - June: Pastor Ken promotes (articles, interviews, other media outlets) his book, A Letter to My Congregation
2014 - August: Pastor Donnell writes a letter to VineyardUSA asking them to stop the disaffiliation process which started in March 2014
2014 - August: VineyardUSA responds to Pastor Donnell's letter
2014 - September: A2VC board responds to VineyardUSA letter
2014 - September: Pastor Emily shares personally
2014 - September: Phil Strout, VineyardUSA National Director sends a letter to the church congregation
1997 - Pastor Ken preaches traditional sermon on Homosexuality – Download and listen to this sermon
1997 - 2010 - Our church maintains a traditional posture on the issue of homosexuality. After 1997, we leave the issue out of the pulpit.
- The pastors at the Vineyard have been in a conversation about making space for congregants who identify as LGBTQIA since about 2004. Our original approach was pastoral and until recently, always affirmed our understanding that the Bible, when it speaks on this issue, it is unambiguous and negative. However, as pastors encountering hurting, suffering, and excluded people, we intentionally decided to extend welcome into our fellowship. We did this because this is the way of Jesus. This work by the pastors to make space for those identifying as LGBT led us to pray, study, and discuss a way forward. We settled on centered-set as our welcoming approach.
- Pastoral Ordination is the culmination of a lengthy discernment process; it is a public and communal affirmation of a person's call to pastoral ministry within the local church. As Pastor Ken writes, "We believe that many others in the church family are called to serve in pastoral capacities--leading, caring for others, equipping others to serve, etc. We also believe that we are all ordained in the broader sense of being called to serve in ways that fit who we are and who we are becoming under the influence of God's grace."
2005 - Pastor Donnell wrestled with a calling to plant a new church
2006 - Pastor Donnell discerns a call to plant a new church in Metro DC area in 2009
2008 - US Economy tanks, Pastor Donnell moves from full-time to 2/3 time, still interested in church planting, but deferred this calling.
2009 - September: VineyardUSA invites Pastor Donnell to submit a proposal for planting a church in the Metro DC area
2010 - Feb: VineyardUSA rejects Pastor Donnell's proposal
2010 - Dec: Pastor Don invited to the last stage of interview process for position in San Carlos, CA2011 - Pastor Donnell forms study group about LGBT issues and inclusion in our fellowship. This group meets weekly for 18 months to read, study, pray, and discuss a way forward developing four angles on the issue (Pastoral, Biblical, Missional, & Theological).
2011 - April: Pastor Donnell is invited to come back to staff full-time
- In June 2011, I remember meeting with Pastor Ken and Pastor Don to discuss Don’s transition from our staff to take over as the lead pastor at the Mid-Peninsula Vineyard and a request for me to come back on staff full-time. At this meeting, I offered to come back as the interim associate pastor to allow Pastor Ken the freedom, space, and support he needed to process and articulate fully his approach to including people who identify as LGBT. I was willing to help Pastor Ken find the right person to support his position and to step back so he could pursue what he believed God was calling him to do.
2011 - Seeds of Third Way are planted as the church starts to migrate away from Centered-Set as its primary welcoming posture
2011 - Pastor Ken starts to write “A Letter to my Congregation”
2012 - Pastor Ken decides to present a paper on the “Third Way” at SVS
2012 - Sept-Oct: Pastor Ken starts the “Disputable Matters” sermon series based on Rom 14
2012 - Oct: Pastor Nancy passes away
2013 - Feb: The title of the paper is changed to “Open and Affirming or Exclusionary, A Third Way Approach” a small group is formed to meet and discuss this paper
2013 - April: Society of Vineyard Scholars, Pastor Ken presents the paper
2013 - Pastor Ken speaks at the Blue Ocean conference: "Can The Center Hold? Staying Together In A World Flying Apart"
2013 - Pastor Donnell joins Pastor Emily and gives a workshop during the Blue Ocean conference
2013 - Congregants are allowed to have a copy of the 100 page paper upon request
2013 - September: Contract for the book with David Crumm Media. An electronic copy of the book is only available upon written request
2014 - January: The book, A Letter to My Congregation is released
2014 - February: Pastor Donnell is invited to share about the Third Way and its challenges at the A2VC with the Cambridge Vineyard in Boston, MA
2014 - January - June: Pastor Ken promotes (articles, interviews, other media outlets) his book, A Letter to My Congregation
2014 - August: Pastor Donnell writes a letter to VineyardUSA asking them to stop the disaffiliation process which started in March 2014
2014 - August: VineyardUSA responds to Pastor Donnell's letter
2014 - September: A2VC board responds to VineyardUSA letter
2014 - September: Pastor Emily shares personally
2014 - September: Phil Strout, VineyardUSA National Director sends a letter to the church congregation