Approximately one month after he was forced to step back from his role as interim senior pastor of the Vineyard Church in Duluth, Minnesota, following allegations of leadership abuse by Vineyard USA, John Kliewer has been cleared of the claims by an independent investigation.
The announcement was made in a statement from the Duluth Vineyard Church Council published on April 13.
“This investigation has determined, by the preponderance of the evidence standard, that John Kliewer (‘Kliewer’) did not engage in employment misconduct by engaging in ‘unilateral, authoritarian, controlling, unreasonable actions’ and displaying ‘seething/burning … anger’ in his role as Interim Senior Pastor of Vineyard Church Duluth (‘Vineyard’),” an executive summary of the investigation noted.
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“The investigator also noted that although the allegations did not rise to the level of employment misconduct, they ‘may warrant thoughtful discussions and coaching.’ The council is now considering next steps to support ongoing staff development and leadership coaching,” it added.
In a March 6 letter, Vineyard USA Managing Director Robb Morgan raised concerns about Kliewer, among other things, “wielding power in unhealthy ways,” triggering the decision by the church to launch an independent investigation. This criticism came just over a month after Kliewer publicly criticized the handling of sexual abuse claims by his church’s parent organization.
Both The Vineyard Church and Vineyard USA have been named in nine civil lawsuits alongside Jackson Gatlin, a former young adult and online community pastor at The Vineyard Church who accepted a plea deal in November for criminal sexual conduct with a child.
Gatlin, 36, was charged in 2023 with sexually abusing five teenage girls but pleaded guilty to only one count of sexual assault. On four other counts, he entered an Alford plea in which he admitted there is sufficient evidence to find him guilty during a trial but maintained his innocence.
He was sentenced to 13 years on two sexual assault-related charges, another 13 years for two other sexual assault charges, plus eight years for one additional charge, according to Northern News Now. All his sentences are expected to run concurrently.
Also named in the civil lawsuits are Gatlin’s parents. His father, Michael Gatlin, was a senior pastor at The Vineyard Church where his son met most of his victims. His mother, Brenda Gatlin, also served in leadership at the church and at Vineyard USA. They both resigned from their roles at the church and Vineyard USA without cooperating with an investigation into their son’s abuse in early 2023.
In their latest statement on the results of the investigation of the allegations against Kliewer, the Duluth Vineyard Church Council expressed remorse for the pain the accusations caused him.
“While we are grateful that the investigation has cleared John of any misconduct, we grieve the pain and disruption these unsubstantiated accusations have caused John, his family, our staff, and the broader community,” the council said.
“Over the past two years, we’ve faced a difficult truth: abuse occurred within our church, and we did not recognize or address it soon enough. Since then, John has been deeply committed to transforming the way abuse is handled, both here at the Duluth Vineyard and across Vineyard USA. John has fought hard to change the old culture of favoring perpetrators, covering up the truth, and silencing both victims and their advocates,” they added.
The Duluth Vineyard Church Council further noted that Kliewer would remain on extended leave from the church to recover from the toll of the accusations against him.
In an email update on how he was doing late last month, Kliewer described the ordeal of being wrongfully accused as “much worse than a colonoscopy.”
“I’ve never been investigated before and it is not a pleasant experience, much worse than a colonoscopy. I am thankful that the Council hired an independent third-party investigator, Justin Terch of Terch & Associates, to look into the allegations made against me. Unfortunately, the investigation only considered the dispute with Vineyard USA insomuch as it provided context for my conduct,” he said.
“In truth, the dispute with Vineyard USA was also the context for why people might gossip about me to Vineyard USA and why Vineyard USA may want to discredit me by defaming me. The investigation’s overly narrow scope also meant that most of the witnesses Mr. Terch spoke to ‘disagreed strongly with Kliewer’s handling of the dispute with Vineyard USA.’ Nevertheless, I am relieved that the truth came out in Mr. Terch’s investigation.”
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