 Hope in Minneapolis  The Layman – Volume 38, Number 1 – Posted April 12, 2005
New Wineskins has seen the changes in how congregations do the hands-on work Jesus has commanded us: We can easily connect with local churches that have the same heart for reaching out. We can connect directly with churches a continent away whose gifts and needs in sharing the gospel complement our own. So, the New Wineskins is proposing both a new vision and a new structure for serving that vision as Reformed and Presbyterian Christians. The need to do things differently has become more apparent to more people in the PCUSA in recent years. We have watched the continued decline in membership, funding and energy in denominational matters. We have felt the disagreement over basic understanding of Scriptural teachings deepening rather than abating. For many of us, the need for a new direction became startlingly clear in the fall of 2001. Thirteen hundred Presbyterians assembled in Orlando at the Presbyterian Coalition Gathering after a year of great flux: Dirk Ficca had asked what the big deal about Jesus was and the General Assembly could not answer him; the GAPJC had ruled that pastors could bless same-sex unions and presbyteries did not disagree, voting against Amendment O, which would have prohibited services for same-sex unions. The General Assembly had sent out another attempt to permit the ordination of officers who did not adhere to Biblical standards of sexual morality, and it required a major effort to defeat the amendment. Standing in contrast to such gloom was the tremendous energy and hope of the more than one thousand churches in the Confessing Church Movement that had raised their standard of belief and living before the world. Many of those congregating in Orlando in 2001 decided that we could not continue to “do church” in the same way – we needed to find a new way that encouraged and multiplied the passion for making disciples for Jesus, rather than continuing the draining and dividing model that we had grown into. In the light of these realizations, some pastors and elders began to pray and work on how we could be that kind of church. After several years, the group that has become New Wineskins is offering its work to the larger body and is eager to be joined in the effort by those who are hungering and thirsting for a better way. We are invited to come to Minneapolis on one of two missions – as delegates with voice and vote to decide where things go from June, or as observers to watch and learn and consider. Sessions that affirm the Essential Tenets and Ethical Imperatives can send delegates; those individuals or sessions who are not yet sure can be observers. If your congregation is interested in finding a better way, get the documents from the New Wineskins Convocation Web site (www.new-wineconvo.com) and share them with your pastor and elders. We all usually find it easier to do things “the way we have always done them,” but if we look carefully at Presbyterian history, our heritage has been one of forming and reforming structures to meet the challenges of new conditions surrounding ministry. Four hundred fifty years ago, the Geneva Presbyterians ministered with an organization much different from our present one. One hundred years ago, our predecessor denominations did not resemble the PCUSA now – presbyteries were much smaller, and there was only a handful of full-time paid employees outside of local congregations. The true test of being “Reformed and always being Reformed according to the Word of God” is that the Great Commission Christ gave us is fulfilled in every age and place, according to the standards set forth in the Bible. The New Wineskins Convocation is the place where you can consider how to best serve Christ in the new century in the best of our Reformed tradition. Come! Peggy Hedden, a ruling elder in Columbus, Ohio, is the chairman of the board of directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. |
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