Causeway Coast Vineyard pastors resign as Alan Scott, Vineyard Movement fight endures
Neil and Janet Young, the senior pastors of Causeway Coast Vineyard Church in Northern Ireland, have resigned because they no longer fully agree with a formal statement issued by the church in July alleging the church’s previous senior pastor, Alan Scott, engaged in spiritual and leadership abuse.
“Sadly, Neil and Janet have indicated that they no longer fully support the statement released on July 2nd or the ongoing independent review process. They have also indicated that they can no longer submit to the spiritual and structural authority of Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland and the governance of the CCV Trustee Board,” reads a statement released Sunday from the senior leadership team and the trustees of Causeway Coast Vineyard.
“In light of this, their future as Senior Pastors of Causeway Coast Vineyard is untenable, and Neil and Janet have come to the sad conclusion that they need to resign.”
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Neil Young was mentioned in an independent review initiated this year after allegations of leadership abuse emerged against the church's former senior pastor, Scott. Scott now leads the Dwelling Place Anaheim, which was Vineyard Anaheim in California.
Scott was senior pastor of Causeway Coast Vineyard until June 2017, when he moved to California. Scott was hired to lead Vineyard Anaheim, Vineyard USA’s then flagship church, just months after his arrival. The Youngs took over the leadership of Causeway Coast Vineyard following Scott's departure. Janet Young is the sister of Scott's wife, Kathryn.
In a controversial move in early 2022, Scott announced Vineyard Anaheim was disassociating from the Vineyard Movement. The Charismatic Association of churches began in 1982 and includes 2,500 churches worldwide.
The Anaheim church's disassociation triggered legal challenges.
Causeway Coast Vineyard and Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland said in a July statement that they were made aware in December 2022 of “various concerns and allegations” raised about the leadership of Causeway Coast Vineyard under Scott from 1999 to 2017.
An independent review of the allegations was commissioned in February 2023 by Trusted HR Ltd. According to the statement, the allegations primarily relate to Scott. Although Neil Young was mentioned in the review, it is unclear what allegations were made against him.
“Trusted HR reached out through Vineyard USA to those from the UK who had raised concerns. Following an initial round of interviews, Trusted HR has identified themes and repeated patterns of behavior including examples of manipulation, inappropriate comments, narcissistic behavior, and certain occurrences of public shaming and spiritual abuse,” the statement said. “The allegations primarily relate to Alan Scott and have been put to him, but he did not respond.”
The July statement noted that “Neil Young was mentioned in the review and has engaged fully with the review process.”
“In acknowledgement of this review and statement, Neil and Janet want, with all their hearts, to apologize to anyone who has been hurt by leadership at Causeway Coast Vineyard. Neil personally is so sorry for any of his actions that have caused pain or meant that anyone has had a negative experience at this church,” the statement said.
In a series of updates posted on its website, Dwelling Place Anaheim said that in November 2022, a group of individuals who previously attended Vineyard Anaheim but were mostly no longer active prior to Scott dissociating the church from the Vineyard Movement filed a lawsuit.
The filing alleges that Scott and his wife, Kathryn, “committed fraud and or negligent misrepresentation to the search committee at the time of their appointment in early 2018 by allegedly not voicing Alan’s purported dissatisfaction with the ‘Vineyard Movement.’”
The lawsuit also alleged that the board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by not opposing the disassociation from Vineyard USA.
Scott and his wife denied the allegations. In September, Dwelling Place Anaheim announced that a court found that the claims in the lawsuit had no legal merit but allowed the plaintiffs to amend their lawsuit.
“The judge granted our motions, which showed the multiple claims presented by the Plaintiffs do not have any legal merit. The judge also granted the plaintiffs the right to amend their lawsuit to try to cure the legal deficiencies. Most plaintiffs whose legal claims have been rejected by the court are given the right to amend their lawsuit,” Dwelling Place Anaheim said in their statement.
“On Sept 22, the plaintiffs amended their lawsuit. We now will respond to these amendments within 30 days. The judge will then make another ruling regarding the case likely in November or December,” they added. “We ask you to continue to pray for all involved and for the next stages. We still believe our Lord can provide a spirit of peace and reconciliation — while also empowering us to stand firmly to follow the paths He has set before us.”
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