John Kliewer, the whistleblowing former interim senior pastor of the Vineyard Church in Duluth, Minnesota, who was falsely accused of leadership abuse as he tried to hold church officials accountable in the wake of a sex abuse scandal, has formally cut ties with the church.
The Duluth Vineyard Church Council acknowledged Kliewer’s departure in a recent statement, saying that allegations made against him were “unfounded” and that they were going to “re-commit ourselves to truthfulness and accountability going forward.”
“On behalf of the Duluth Vineyard Church Council, we acknowledge that the independent investigator found that the allegations made against you were unfounded. We recognize that our public statements addressing the allegations and the investigation caused you pain, and that was not our intent,” the statement from the church council to Kliewer began.
“We affirm your integrity, your leadership, and your faithful service to the Duluth Vineyard community. We grieve the pain and disruption the allegations and the investigation have caused you, your family, our staff, and our community. We re-commit ourselves to truthfulness and accountability going forward, and wish you and your family the best,” they added.
When contacted for further comment Tuesday, Duluth Vineyard Church officials said they could not comment further at this time.
In March, just over a month after he publicly criticized the handling of sexual abuse claims by his now former church’s parent organization, Kliewer, voluntarily “stepped back” from his then role as interim senior pastor after Vineyard USA accused him of leadership abuse.
In a March 6 letter, Vineyard USA Managing Director Robb Morgan highlighted concerns about Kliewer, among other things, “wielding power in unhealthy ways.”
“We once again feel compelled to express concerns about the conduct of your interim senior pastor, John Kliewer. Additionally, we have concerns related to the Church Council and the fulfillment of its oversight responsibilities,” Morgan argued.
Approximately one month after he was forced to step back from his role as interim senior pastor, Kliewer was cleared of the claims by an independent investigation.
“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.
Kliewer described the ordeal of being wrongfully accused as “much worse than a colonoscopy” and said both his mental and physical health suffered as a result of the conflict.
In a statement shared on Facebook last Wednesday, Kliewer’s wife, Lauralyn Kliewer, claimed that the defamatory statements made against her husband caused him much suffering and led to his development of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The American Psychiatric Association defines PTSD as “a psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, series of events or set of circumstances. An individual may experience this as emotionally or physically harmful or life-threatening and may affect mental, physical, social, and/or spiritual well-being.”
Lauralyn Kliewer said what her husband was paid in a settlement for the harm “was not nearly enough.”
“I am glad to say my family is no longer associated with Vineyard churches in any way. My husband exposed how Vineyard USA responds to sexual abuse and called for reform, so they retaliated by defaming him. Rather than standing up for him, the Duluth Vineyard leadership shunned him out of fear that Vineyard USA would throw the church out of the Vineyard movement,” Lauralyn Kliewer declared.
She explained that while her husband is prevented from speaking publicly because of a non-disclosure agreement, she would not be silenced.
“Although John can’t tell you about the trauma the Duluth Vineyard caused him because they silenced him by requiring he sign an NDA in order to receive a settlement, I didn’t sign an NDA and I have first-hand knowledge of it all,” she wrote.
“For example, I can tell you that what they paid him in settlement was not nearly enough. John’s therapist diagnosed him with PTSD and nearly hospitalized him for clinical depression. His doctor wrote about John, ‘he has been exhibiting symptoms of trauma, which are directly related to his treatment by the church board,’” she explained. “To add insult to injury, the church’s first settlement offer was 4 weeks of pay, which is less than the 5 weeks they offered a rapist in exchange for a release of claims after they fired him.”
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 2024 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 alleged abuse in early 2023.
Lauralyn Kliewer made a number of claims against the Duluth Vineyard Church Council, including that they used his medical leave as an excuse to cut off communication with him. She also questioned the church’s use of non-disclosure agreements.
“What happened to my husband reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. John wasn’t physically beaten and robbed, but he was emotionally beaten and robbed of his good name by Vineyard USA. Instead of only walking by like the religious leaders in the parable, isn’t it true that the church council didn’t just ignore John’s mistreatment, they gave him a few brutal kicks in the gut in service of the Vineyard religion as they passed by?” she asked.
“And as for the Council’s 10/30/2025 statement on their website, is this how Jesus apologizes? ‘We re-commit ourselves to truthfulness and accountability going forward’ – how does that happen when you require an NDA?”
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