In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Super Regional Leader John Elmer chats with Mike Turrigiano about growing up in South Bronx and looking for approval and leadership, getting involved in drugs, and ending up at Teen Challenge where he met Jesus. Mike shares about planting a church and meeting John Wimber, and watching from the East Coast as the Vineyard was established. He talks about starting a church in a bar and creating a stereotype-breaking community where people felt loved and welcomed.

Mike Turrigiano serves as the Pastor of Leadership Development at North Jersey Vineyard and is a valuable resource to their staff, offering support and coaching in both professional and spiritual contexts. Mike is a veteran of over four decades of ministry and a Vineyard pioneer on the East Coast. He spent thirty-eight of those years church planting and pastoring in New York City. Mike is also the Director and Senior Missional Coach for the Main & Plain, a ministry that provides coaching and care for pastors and ministry leaders as well as equipping for local churches. He lives with his wife Char in Brooklyn, NY. They have two sons, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren

Show Notes: 

Register for the 2024 Vineyard USA National Conference: Seed & Soil 

How I Got There by Mike Turrigiano 

Teen Challenge

Roots Worship- Live at the Trash Bar

Church at Trash Bar#1,  2010 

Church at Trash Bar #2: Interviews

Vineyard History and Identity Resources: 

The Way It Was by Carol Wimber 

The Quest For The Radical Middle by Bill Jackson 

Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson

“I’m a Fool For Christ”– John Wimber’s testimony