Transparency Timeline

Duluth Vineyard publishes timeline about abuse allegations and investigation

As part of its effort to be transparent about abuse by former youth pastor Jackson Gatlin, his parents’ knowledge, and the church’s response, the Duluth Vineyard church has published an extensive timeline of events with details and attachments.

“Just like the abuse itself, ours and Vineyard USA’s response to the abuse needs to come out into the light,” reads the introduction to the timeline on the church’s website. It also links the investigation report produced by GRACE, an organization that helps churches investigate and respond to abuse.

While the church values transparency, it says there are limitations on what it can say in order to protect victims.

“We are committed to factual and timely disclosure, to the extent we are legally allowed and that protects victim identity,” the post states, adding that the church intends to “keep this webpage posted in perpetuity in order to preserve these events and the lessons learned in institutional memory.”

The timeline begins in 2014 with reports of spiritual abuse and bullying by Michael Gatlin, former pastor of the Duluth Vineyard church, and a leader in Vineyard USA. While the church leadership undertook an investigation at the time, they now recognize that it was inadequate.

The next entry is about the initial report against Jackson Gatlin on October 6, 2022, when he was accused of having sex with a high school student 10 years earlier while serving as a volunteer youth leader at the church.

Within the next two months, Duluth Vineyard made a police report about Gatlin’s misconduct and made Jackson’s parents, Michael and Brenda Gatlin, aware of the report, telling them they must cooperate in the investigation. Michael Gatlin was the lead pastor of Duluth Vineyard at the time, and Brenda Gatlin was employed as a superregional leader by Vineyard USA.

In December 2022, the church told the congregation about the abuse allegations and also announced its victim support through compassionate care and licensed therapy.

Throughout the process, the Duluth Vineyard church communicated with Vineyard USA about its steps and asked for support. The first communication was December 14, 2022.

 

Despite the alleged abuser being Michael Gatlin’s son, Vineyard USA indicated support for Gatlin’s continued leadership at the church in an email to Duluth Vineyard.

“While we know that it is complicated, I do think that any decision that requires ongoing leadership and pastoral care will need to include Michael  – he will have to lead from the front even though the relationships make it quite complicated. I do think it’s wise to remove Michael and Brenda from the oversight of the investigation and pastoral care of Jackson. I do however, believe Michael will have the most wisdom to be offered as it relates to how you move forward as a church,” Vineyard USA’s Robb Morgan wrote.

Messages in January show Brenda Gatlin’s criticism of the church’s handling of the investigation, calling it unbiblical, and also criticizing GRACE, saying she would never recommend them. The timeline says she also tried to influence junior staff members at the church and tried to influence the investigation during an in-person meeting through “insults and bullying behavior.”

After that, Vineyard USA suggested that Brenda and Michael be allowed to provide input about who should conduct the investigation, but then defer to the decision makers.

Morgan also sent a message to the Vineyard USA trustees about the allegations and investigation at Duluth Vineyard. Morgan said Vineyard USA was “working to identify an appropriate support plan for the Gatlins.” The message asks trustees to pray for the Gatlin family, but makes no mention of supporting or praying for the victims specifically.

After Michael and Brenda Gatlin resigned in February 2022, Vineyard USA sent a message to Duluth Vineyard, expressing several concerns about how they handled the matter, including the “tone of communication” used with the Gatlins. Another message requested communication with Duluth Vineyard about possible severance packages for the Gatlins.

According to an email dated February 27, 2023, Vineyard USA was considering providing three months compensation to Brenda. Duluth Vineyard did not plan to pay Brenda any severance, but was planning to offer $20,000 to Michael in exchange for a separation agreement and release of claims.

The timeline states that no payment has been made to Brenda or Michael Gatlin by Duluth Vineyard, but that Vineyard USA did make “separation related” payments to the couple.

In May 2023, Michael, Brenda, and Jackson Gatlin were placed under church discipline. The Gatlins’ ordination as pastors was revoked, and the steps for reconciliation and restoration were explained.

According to the timeline, as of January 10, 2025, neither Michael, Brenda, nor Jackson Gatlin have expressed or demonstrated “a willingness to participate in the process of reconciliation and restoration the Special Committee described.”

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Vineyard USA wrote a letter in July 2023 raising “questions and concerns” about the Duluth Vineyard timeline published on its website. They questioned the timing of the publication, the selection of materials included, and the intent of “providing this much information.” They claimed some of the posts “inject[ed] meaning and assign[ed] motive.”

In response, Duluth Vineyard quoted Scot McKnight, a theologian and professor who has written about church abuse.

“You have to tell the truth. And I think there are two major reasons why churches don’t do this, both of which are wrong. One is they fear litigation. They fear that someone’s gonna sue them if they say something negative. And that can happen. Lawsuits can happen for slander, but usually they don’t win in court. So you don’t really have that much to lose in telling the truth. … The second thing is they fear the reputation of the church. … Tell the truth. And don’t try to protect the church in a way that, ultimately, will prove that the church is not a truth telling culture. That’s the damage right there.”

Vineyard USA engaged Guidepost Solutions in June 2024 to conduct its own investigation of “non-criminal allegations of misconduct” by the Gatlins during their service as leaders in Vineyard USA.

The report was released in October 2024 and “found that there were credible accounts of their behaviors demonstrating patterns of toxic leadership and spiritual abuse,” including bullying behavior, unreasonable demands of time, language used to manipulate and control, duplicity, and boundary issues.

A post on the Vineyard USA website about the Guidepost report says it “is committed to acknowledging our past shortcomings, being transparent when issues arise, building a stronger culture of accountability among pastors and leaders at all levels, and implementing better systems to address concerns regarding leadership conduct when they arise.”

Main photo: Michael and Brenda Gatlin / Vineyard USA

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