| Causeway Coast Vineyard Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Denomination | Protestant - Evangelical |
| Tradition | Vineyard Churches UK and Ireland |
| Website | causewaycoastvineyard |
| History | |
| Founded | May 1999 |
| Founder(s) | Alan Scott |
The Causeway Coast Vineyard is a Protestant evangelical church in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. It is part of Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland.
The church was founded in 1999 by husband and wife, Alan Scott and Kathryn Scott.
The Vineyard was initially started in the Scott's home in 1999 before branching out to meet in a local pub in the Portstewart area. The church spent a few years at the Coleraine campus of the University of Ulster, before moving to an old shop site.
Causeway Coast Chair, Peter Lynas, oversaw the building of a £3million building for the church in 2015. [1]
The wider Vineyard Association has been accused of attracting narcissistic leaders. A few of these instances have occurred at the Causeway Coast Vineyard.
A member of the Causeway Coast Vineyard, Mark Marx, started a branch of the church called 'Healing on the Streets'. [5] This organisation made promises to cure medical conditions through faith healing, first on the streets of Coleraine and then training other churches. [6] These claims - including the claim they could heal cancer - have been challenged by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) who concluded that the claims were 'misleading'. This led to media stories around the Bath group, [7] and the Nottingham group. [8]
The Evangelical Alliance policy arm is led by Peter Lynas, who is also Chair of the Causeway Coast Vineyard board. [9] Evangelical Alliance supported Mark Marx organisations and believes the regulations should not apply to the Healing on the Streets activities. [10]
Mark Marx and Causeway Coast Vineyard founder Alan Scott have now moved together to Dwelling Place, California.
The founder and trustees of the Causeway Coast Vineyard in Northern Ireland have been the subject of a number of internal and external media investigations. Founder Alan Scott has been accused of having a messiah complex, [11] and in 2023 several of his family members had to resign from leadership positions in the church following historic allegations of spiritual abuse. [12] The church paid some £30,000 in compensation. [13]
The church's founders, Alan Scott and his wife, the famous worship leader, Kathryn Scott, had left and moved to Anaheim Vineyard, California, in 2018. Before Alan and Kathryn left, Kathryn's sister, Janet Young, along with her husband, Neil Young, were made joint senior pastors. [14]
A prominent Theologian, Dr. Luke Martin, attended the church as a teenager before achieving a PhD at Oxford University and teaching at the famous Eton College. He has criticised Alan publicly and pointed out that there was no open recruitment between Alan and Kathryn Scott leaving Northern Ireland, and the appointment of their family members Neil and Janet Young. Dr. Martin also noted that neither Neil and Janet had any theological qualifications., [15]
After Alan and Kathryn's departure, reports started to emerge that Alan had been an abusive leader in Northern Ireland. The trustees of the church eventually commissioned an independent report. In this, respondents alleged that Alan Scott had appeared 'all knowing' and that he had told them God would tell him if anybody spoke about him, even in their own homes, and that he knew people's sin by looking at them. [16]
Neil and Janet Young resigned in 2023 as they could not support the findings of the trustee's independent report against their family members. [17]
At the same time, in California, Anaheim Vineyard took Alan to court for fraud due to his decision to take the Anaheim church and its $62 million worth of assets out of the Vineyard movement. The Vineyard movement alleged that Alan had promised not to do this during the recruitment process, and they alleged he had been fraudulent in this promise. [18]
Alan renamed the now independent Anaheim church 'Dwelling Place', [19] where he remains as pastor. Similar concerns have continued at Dwelling Place, and in 2024 their worship leader was prohibited from attending a Christian conference following allegations of spiritual abuse while under Alan Scott's leadership at Dwelling Place. [20]
In September 2024, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland stepped in and have decided to run another investigation into the Causeway Coast Vineyard. The focus of this new probe is around the church's governance arrangements and its response to the allegations made against Alan and Kathryn Scott. [21]
Like the senior leadership of the church, the trustee board is dominated by one family - the Lynas family - and their spouses. [22] The Lynas family are one the wealthiest in the area, who own a major food distribution operation. [23] The Chairperson, Peter Lynas, is also works for Evangelical Alliance, [24] a controversial lobby group who have been criticised for their conservative stance on a range of issues. [25] [26]