Toronto Blessing

Toronto Blessing. The term was first coined by British churches for the claimed experience of a new wave of the Holy Spirit beginning in 1994. At the end of Jan. 1994 a small charismatic church in Toronto, of the Vineyard denomination (the ‘Airport Vineyard’) experienced what they believed to be a new and concentrated outpouring of the Spirit night after night. The Airport Vineyard church has since been recognized as ‘a worldwide renewal centre’. Various manifestations deemed to be evidence of the presence of the Spirit have become synonymous with ‘Toronto’: they include falling or resting in the Spirit, laughter, shaking, and crying. In Dec. 1995, the founder and overseer of the Vineyard churches, John Wimber, released the Airport Vineyard from the Vineyard denomination for reasons of growing unhappiness with the emphasis on the extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit, and because he no longer felt able to exercise oversight over the Church and its activities. After Jan. 1996, the church continued to exist as an independent church. Despite the controversy, testimony continued strongly of those claiming to have been greatly blessed by God.