DAVID ADAMS reads ‘The Vine Movement’…
Mikey Lynch
The Vine Movement: Supporting Gospel Growth Beyond Your Church
Matthias Media, Sydney, Australia, 2023
ISBN-13: 978-1925424751
Parachurch ministry has become a big part of modern Christianity – just think of the many Christian organisations that conduct outreach, aid work and other minstries everywhere from university campuses to prisons and ports and in far-flung nations across the world. The Vine Movement explores the role these ministries can play, not as a competitor to the church, but in partnership with it.
Mikey Lynch has had a long involvement with church planting in Australia and now serves with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students at the University of Tasmania. He has written this book as follow-up to Colin Marshall and Tony Payne’s 2009 book, The Trellis and The Vine, and its 2016 sequel, The Vine Project, which differentiates between the “vine work” of spreading the Gospel throughout the world and “trellis work” of creating structures to support these “vines”
First up, Lynch deals with definitions – of both the church and the parachurch as well as of denominations. In the second part of the book, he takes a look at the role both churches and parachurches are playing along with some helpful do’s and don’ts in how to best cooperate in moving the spread of the Gospel forward. In part three, he turns to address some specific areas that parachurch organisations have been involved in.
This book is about the big picture of how God is moving through His people in the world today – and that includes both the church and parachurch organisations. While Lynch says it’s important that the different roles are clearly communicated, there is room for all. After all, as he points out – “things aren’t cut and dried”. That said, throughout the book, Lynch firmly underscores what he calls the “primacy” of the local church – that parachurch organisations exist to support and enhance the work of churches, keeping a clear line of separation between the two.
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Lynch is wide-ranging in his discussions and, while it might have been good to have some more in-depth discussion of real life examples of the sorts of parachurch organisations he references, there is plenty of food for thought for both those involved in church leadership as well as those leading or involved with parachurches (it’s actually also just an interesting read for anyone keen to explore how the two interact).
Part three is particularly interesting, providing some more direct insights into the operations of organisations and movements in parachurch sectors, including everything from cross-cultural mission and media organisations to the role of chaplains and the operation of megachurches.
Thoughtful yet direct (with room for the reader to disagree), The Vine Movement offers a starting point for those grappling with what can be fraught relationships between church congregations and ministries which take place outside the church walls. And don’t forget to checkout the bonus chapters which have been placed online.
