New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation IV Wineskins congregations 'are aggressively evangelistic and prolific church planters' By Craig M. Kibler Staff Writer The Layman Online Tuesday, October 30, 2007 FAIR OAKS, Calif. – In a presentation that had the audience alternately laughing and clapping, the Rev. Russell Wilkins said that New Wineskins congregations "are aggressively evangelistic and prolific church planters." He set the theme of his presentation during his opening prayer, asking the Lord for "the energy that keeps going – that is, your Holy Spirit – and we pray that you lead us in this new thing as we come together here, as we catch a glimpse of the vision you have for your church in this time and this place." Wilkins told the more than 400 people in the sanctuary of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church that it was "exciting to come to convocations, especially in California." He said his family had planned their vacation around the convocation. They had planned to visit various landmarks and attractions in the area. "Yosemite," he said, "closes tomorrow, so my children will not have to sit through another history lesson on the National Park Service." Showing slides of a vineyard on a screen, Wilkins said they had visited "Sonoma County" and, to laughter in the audience, "we did some research out there. You know the 'Got Milk?' I began to understand why everybody is so happy in California." To more laughter, Wilkins said, "My wife liked it so much that she wanted to get out to touch the grapes and eat the grapes, until the farmers came out shooting. We didn't know that you couldn't do that here." He said he, too, was one of the people who had gathered in Chicago to develop ideas about how to become "the church where we are. It was an amazing time, with conflicting ideas and frustrations of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do." As an illustration of the things that were learned, accompanied by laughter from the audience, Wilkins showed a series of humorous slides with mini-explanations: Meetings: "None of us is as dumb as all of us." Traditions: "Just because you've always done it that way, doesn't mean that it isn't stupid." Conformity: "When we believe we agree with each other, it doesn't mean that it doesn't work." Adversity: "That which doesn't kill me postpones the inevitable." Destiny: "You were meant to be, perhaps as a punishment." Consulting: "If you're not part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the solution." Despair: "It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black." Dreams: "Dreams are like rainbows - only idiots chase them." Doubt: "In the battle between you and the world, bet on the world." Fear: "Until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore, you will not know the terror of being forever lost at sea." Effort: "Hard work never killed anybody, but it's illegal in some places." Ineptitude: "If you can't learn to do something well, learn to do it poorly." Inspiration: "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, which is why engineers smell." Stupidity: "Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you can beat the odds." Overconfidence: "Quitters never win and winners never quit, but those who never quit are idiots." Losing: "If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style." "What we're talking about is keeping the main theme, keeping the main thing, in front of us," Wilkins said. "Many of us have fear, have experienced pain, have experienced anger, have felt wounded and discouraged. You've got to forget what is behind and strain ahead to win the prize to which God has called us." New Wineskins churches, he said, "must be aggressively evangelistic and prolific church planters. That's what we're called to be doing." Craig M. Kibler is the Director of Publications and Executive Editor of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. He can be reached at cmkibler@layman.org.

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