A first report from the New Wineskins Convocation
by Doug King
[6-16-05]

The convocation of the New Wineskins Initiative opened on Wednesday evening, June 15, at Christ Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, MN. David Henderson, moderator of the organization, welcomed the group with his thanks for their willingness to take the risk of coming to such a gathering, when they must be wondering, he said, "who are these yo-yos and what do they want to do here?"

That captured the tone of the opening evening – a sense expressed by many speakers, and apparently felt by many others, that this might be the beginning of the separation in the Presbyterian Church that so many have anticipated, whether with hope or with dread. And mixed with that were the equally strong affirmations of hope, as Henderson put it, that "God may be giving birth to something new in our midst."
 

The Rev. Sameh Maurice, pastor of Kasr el Dobara Church in Cairo, Egypt, preached in the opening worship, on theme of Jesus’ call to his followers to repent and return to their true love of him. "It’s all about love," he said, "It’s all about love. God is love, and the relationship with him is just loving him." That kind of love involves time with the one we love – in prayer; it involves passion, a drive for action; and it involves obedience, doing his will.

The sinners in our world, he said, are looking for love. And if we love Jesus and live out that love, "they will meet him here" in the church, the community of those who love Jesus.

Clark Cowden, executive presbyter of San Joaquin Presbytery, set forth much of the thinking that underlies the suggestions of the New Wineskins group. Following the findings set out in some of the Presbyterian Presence studies of the 1990s, he suggested that the PC(USA) has been guided in its structural style since the 1960s by the "regulatory model" of organization. Rising tensions in the church have been met by increasing reliance on rule-making, but that is failing to stem the tide of dissent. For most Presbyterians today, he said, that is the only organizational style we know, and it’s now clear that "the denomination will have to be reinvented." Some way out of this dysfunctional structure must be found.

Citing William Bridges’ book, Managing Transitions, Cowden said that times of transition such as ours create "neutral zones," which are chaotic because the old system doesn’t work and the new one is not yet functioning. But those times, he said, are also ripe with opportunity. This is a time of confusion and tension, but also a time for "missional experimentation" and creativity.

Speaking of the PC(USA) he said, "It seems to me our part of the body [of Christ] is dying." The only way to help is to change the structures, to "give up our lives" for the church. But, he said, "it’s important for us to remain involved with the church. ... But one of the worst things we can do is actively cause the death of the denomination. It’s a terrible thing to work for a split, for schism. We must not be impatient, or cause unnecessary pain." People who long for a split, he went on, "suffer from loneliness and depression and lack of faith."

In such a time, he said, the best thing to do is to depend on "the resurrection model." That means, as when we care for a dying person, helping them get their affairs in order, celebrate the life they have lived, and affirm that "it’s OK to die, for we are a resurrection people," and we know that beyond death there is new birth, as a caterpillar dies and is reborn as a butterfly.

This new form for the church should not involve independent congregations, with no spiritual accountability. Rather we must look for a new kind of connectionalism, new relationships shaped by the fact that "we love one another, not because we believe the right things."

This process, he concluded, is filled with uncertainty, just as the founding of the United States was filled with uncertainty and "inherent messiness." We need a new wineskin, he said, for the post-Enlightenment age where feelings are more important than ideas. That will demand courage, he said, but "you can’t walk on water till you get out of the boat. ... Now is the time to raise the sails. ... Now is the time. Let’s go!"

That call to action was met with a standing round of applause.

David Henderson then closed the evening session by laying out the planners’ hopes for the rest of the gathering. "We want these days to give some glimpse of what a General Assembly type gathering might look like," he said. The leaders will introduce the assembly to some of their work so far, hear feedback, and then move to "a dedicated assembly" of delegates named by the congregations that have voted their provisional support for the New Wineskins ideas.

With what sounded like careful ambiguity, he explained that "our goal is not to adopt a constitution and head off to start a new denomination – but to begin to move toward the fulfillment" of the vision expressed in the "Draft Constitution" that has been sent to all those registering for the convocation.

He expressed the hope that the body will "adopt in principle the key elements of this constitution, and begin to live out these things now." The second hope is that the documents will be refine until they can ultimately be approved "as a pattern for the future."

"How will this happen?" he asked. "We don’t know! We’re making this up as we go along," seeking to be faithful to God’s leading, not insisting on doing it "in our time" rather than in God’s time.

Finally, he said, the New Wineskins Initiative group sees three possible paths into the future:

First is reform – working to change the denominational structures from within. And toward that end, overtures will be presented to the 2006 General Assembly.

The second possibility is to reinvent the church: recognizing "the theological and ethical disparity – let’s not call it just diversity – among us, and acknowledging that we’re called to establish an alternative, and let people choose."

And the third possible path, he said is to replace the present denomination with something new.

A little reflection:

As an observer I am struck by the general tone of this gathering , which seems (so far) oddly lacking in the rancor we’ve come to expect from those who seem to look forward to a split from the Presbyterian Church (USA). These people clearly believe they are the ones who are being faithful to the doctrinal and moral demands of the Presbyterian tradition. They are clearly willing to look forward to a time of some kind of separation. And perhaps most compelling, they show an awareness that in a time of radical cultural change, radical structural change in the church is also needed. New wineskins are needed, this group insists. But the new wineskins are needed in order to hold the old wine. It may come in slightly new flavors, but fundamentally it will still be the same wine.

I’m looking forward to hearing more about how this might work out.

"The time has come!"
Exploring the possibilities for something new
[6-16-05]

The second day of the New Wineskins Convocation has seen more detailed discussions of the Draft Constitution, which will be discussed further and perhaps acted on in some way during sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Some themes are emerging in the discussions, and so are some modest differences among participants.

More reports and reflections >>

Evangelism in the Post-Modern World
New world, same message
[6-18-05]

Friday began for the New Wineskins convocation with worship – some praise singing followed by a sermon from the Rev. Dr. David Githii, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and one of the favorite church leaders of Parker Williamson of The Layman.

Following worship, workshops were held on "Changing Realities for Church Renewal and Evangelism" and on "Global Witness and Mission in a Changed World." The panel included (from left to right, if you will – in their seating, not necessarily their theology) Clark Cowden, Stated Clerk of San Joaquin Presbytery; Carmen Fowler, who has served as executive director of the Presbyterian Coaltion, Jin S. Kim, pastor of Church of All Nations in Minneapolis and moderator of Presbyterians for Renewal; and Kristen Johnson, the new director of One by One.

New Wineskins looks ahead ... to a creative new future or just another split?    [6-21-05]

New Wineskins convocation ends by approving constitution – perhaps a step toward a new denomination?

by Doug King

On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, June 17-18, 2005, about 190 participants in the convocation, who had been delegated by their congregations represent them at the event, discussed and sometimes debated the draft constitution that had been the center of platform presentations, workshops, and conversation for the past three days.

David Henderson and Dean Weaver, who had been the most active in leading sessions during the convocation, were joined by Doug Pratt (a New Wineskins founder who is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs, FL) joined to present the draft constitution to the delegates’ session. Pratt spoke of New Wineskins as a way of getting beyond the endless debates over "ideological differences," to deal with structural problems which make the denomination too rigid. "New Wineskins is offering an alternative vision," he said – "a way of thinking about the structural problems." New Wineskins, he went on, "is embracing change, while holding fast to the things that must not be changed."

Dean Weaver went on to explain once again the aims of the proposed constitution: theological unity (expressed in the group’s version of the "Basic Tenets of the Reformed Faith," and the companion statement of "Ethical Imperatives"); missional faithfulness, and structural effectiveness. Theological unity would be protected by the policy that every member congregation and church officer would have to "subscribe" every year to the two fundamental statements of faith and ethics.

Over the coming months, he said work groups will be formed to deal with specific concerns, including property issues, drafting overtures to the 2006 General Assembly that would put the New Wineskins proposal into effect in the whole PC(USA), setting up networks for support and training, and drafting constitutional supplements on worship and other areas of the churches’ life.

Weaver then laid out (again) the three possible scenarios for the future:

Acknowledging that some in the group want to be moving toward a new denomination now, Weaver said "I’m begging you to wait." It’s "already but not yet," he concluded. "God has begun to work in us, and God will show us the next step to take."

Lay Committee Responds to Theological Task Force and Calls for Dialogue     [6-24-05]

Just in time for distribution at the New Wineskins Convocation, the Presbyterian Lay Committee released a publication entitled "Can Two Faiths Embrace One Future?"

It contends that "pluralist" or "inclusivist" approaches to denominational unity, which it associates with the Theological Task Force and the Office of the General Assembly, are "both irrational and unfaithful." That's why "plural" really means "two" — the right way and the wrong way. That's also why the question of "schism" is raised, though it is not fully answered.

Gene TeSelle reviews the booklet's argument, and offers some historical reflections on the meaning of schism -- a separation in the church.