Strung between novelty and nostalgia, a biblical imagination remembers forward. The remembering enjoined by the Torah looks forward to a time to come (Deuteronomy 6:20). The biblical command to remember is written in the future tense.

James K. A. Smith

The way ahead is the way behind us.

Terry LeBlanc

In the 1980's the Holy Spirit began to grab the attention of people scattered across the evangelical community in Canada. People once skittish of a more expressive Christianity, both in the work of the Holy Spirit and corporate worship expression, began to step out of the box and collide with the sensibilities of their various denominational structures and polity.

Indeed, this was happening beyond the Canadian context in many parts of the world. This surge among conservative evangelicals became known as the "Third Wave", a child of the Pentecostal Movement which began in the 1920's and the Charismatic Movement with its genesis in the 60's.

From coast to coast we began to find each other. A sense of common worship, fresh articulation of Kingdom Theology, and taking the risk to actually "do" the works of Jesus, not just read about, or assent to them, drew us together.

We found each other in this emerging church movement called The Vineyard, and soon began to rally around not just common practice, but in community.

In 1995, there had been enough momentum within Canada to see a standalone Association of Vineyard Churches developed and released into the growing international family of The Vineyard.