Essential tenets
draft document released
in advance of New Wineskins convocation
By Craig M.
Kibler
The Layman
Online
Wednesday, March
16, 2005
The New Wineskins
Initiative has released a 10-point draft document titled "Essential
Tenets of Our Reformed Faith" in advance of a national convocation
to consider a "bold new design" for the Presbyterian Church
(USA).
The convocation,
with the theme "Following Christ into the 21st Century," will
be held June 15-18 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn.
Several draft documents that will be acted on by convocation delegates
propose new statements of faith essentials and ethical imperatives, as
well as a revised constitution that calls for greater flexibility, a new
approach to leadership development at the congregational level and a
pared-down, adaptive service structure at the national level.
While the convocation will include preaching, prayer and worship, the
focus will be on how evangelical Presbyterians respond to what task
force leaders called "grave concerns about the health and
effectiveness of our present organization" in theology, mission and
structure.
The draft document on "Essential Tenets of Our Reformed Faith"
is as follows:
- "Joyfully and humbly, as undeserving recipients of the
gracious work of God through Jesus Christ, we confess these
essentials of our shared faith:
- "1. The God whom we worship is a compassionate and majestic
God who lovingly desires to be known. God is revealed generally
through creation, specifically through the Holy Scriptures, and
finally in the living Word who became flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.
- "2. The Bible is the only infallible rule of faith and
practice. The Holy Spirit spoke through its authors, and witnesses
to us today that it is indeed and in truth the very Word of God,
God's gift to the world and guide for His people.
- "3. In the beginning, the sovereign God created all things
good. Humanity, bearing God's likeness, crowns creation. Through the
disobedience of those made in the image of God, the whole of
creation fell into the darkness of sin and rebellion. In love, God
initiated the plan of redemption, which stands upon the historic
events of the crucifixion, resurrection and exaltation of Jesus the
Messiah. God's gracious redemptive work results in the Church and
culminates in the new creation.
- "4. The LORD our God, the LORD is one. The one true God
exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe
that each Person of the Trinity is engaged in all that God has done,
does now and will yet do. The LORD our God is the One who is, who
was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
- "5. We believe in God the Father, who created all things in,
through and for His Son. The Father adopts as children all who are
drawn by the Holy Spirit to believe in His Son, giving to them all
the riches of God's glorious Kingdom. The loving heart of our Father
is poured out in eternal redemption through Jesus Christ, and in the
ongoing discipline that shapes God's children into the image of
Christ.
- "6. Jesus Christ is the living Word, the promised Messiah,
the eternal Son of the Father, sent in mission to the earth.
Incarnated in the womb of the virgin Mary, He is fully God and fully
human, come to reconcile God and humanity. During His earthly
ministry, Jesus lived a sinless life, healed the sick, raised the
dead, drove out demons, befriended sinners, preached the Gospel to
the poor, and died as our substitute on the cross. He rose bodily
from the dead, ascended to the Father, and remains our faithful
Mediator and High Priest. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no
one comes to the Father but by faith in Him. He is the only Head of
the Church, our Lord and Savior.
- "7. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Jesus Christ and to
apply His saving work to our lives. By the Spirit, the redeemed cry
"Abba" as God's adopted children. The Spirit awakens from
spiritual death those whom God has chosen, convicting them of sin,
comforting their hearts with the hope of the Gospel, uniting them to
Christ, making Christ real to them, gathering them into a people of
His own possession, and sealing their salvation. Indwelling their
hearts, the Spirit sanctifies them for lives of holiness, and
empowers them for ministry in the Church and mission to the world.
- "8. From the beginning, God has sovereignly elected and
called a people, who are the true Church, the Body of Christ. The
Church is the fruit of God's redemptive work; a covenanted community
of worship, prayer and service; called to love God and neighbor and
to live out the ethical and moral imperatives revealed in Holy
Scripture. All believers are baptized in one Spirit into this Body,
which finds expression in local congregations. In these believing
communities, the loving presence of God is embodied, the Gospel is
preached in truth, the sacraments are rightly administered,
compassionate and godly discipline is exercised, and Kingdom mission
is faithfully carried out. The Church is a connectional and
confessional community in which theological, ethical and moral
accountability is demonstrated.
- "9. The Church is called to make disciples of all nations,
proclaiming the Gospel to the spiritually lost and equipping
believers so that they may be presented mature in Christ. The Lord
calls all believers to be ministers and witnesses to God's amazing
grace, and readily to participate in the task of making disciples,
for which God gives the Church powers, gifts and talents. It is the
responsibility of the Church and its leaders to develop, equip and
release people into their God-given ministries in the Church and the
world.
- "10. In death, the believer is made whole, and enters
eternally the loving presence of the Father and the Son. Finally, in
the fullness of time, Jesus Christ will leave the Father's side to
return to earth in glory. Christ will liberate creation from its
bondage to corruption, judge the living and the dead, usher in a new
heaven and earth, and establish God's everlasting Kingdom. "Even
so, come Lord Jesus!"
- "Amen, Hallelujah!"
"There is tremendous excitement about the convocation,"
said the Rev. Tom Edwards, associate pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian
Church in Wichita, Kan., who is coordinating the event for the New
Wineskins Initiative. "A lot of work has gone into planning for
this convocation – good work," he said.
Group members said the convocation is likely to have an international
flavor, as the plans include inviting guests and speakers from
Presbyterian churches around the world.
For further information, contact "Following Christ into the 21st
Century" at 888-754-9693, or 7435 E. Oxford Ct., Wichita, Kan.
67226. |