The Network is an international group of churches known for planting new churches by recruiting college men, training and developing them into leaders within the group.
[1] The Network was started by Steve Morgan in 1995 when he established Vineyard Community Church in Carbondale, Illinois.
[2] Morgan and 50 members of his Carbondale congregation moved to Seattle in 2004 to found Blue Sky Church.
[4][5] Criticisms against the Network include their college recruitment practices, teachings on the role of women, dismissal of claims of abuse, and the authoritarian leadership style as reported by former members.
[1][4][6] Also, the qualifications of Steve Morgan, the Network founder, as a pastor have been questioned because of his arrest in 1987 for an alleged sexual crime.