New Wineskins Association of Churches is history
The Layman, January 12, 2012
At the close of 2011, more than a decade after its inception as the New Wineskins Initiative, the New Wineskins Association of Churches now “exists only in the history books.”
According to a letter sent in early January to all New Wineskins affiliated congregations, “With the majority of NWAC churches now in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the creation of the Fellowship of Presbyterian (with the potential New Reformed Body they envision), as well as other new movements like the National Covenant Association of Churches, we believe that it is time for the NWAC to conclude its ministry.”
The letter chronicles the life of New Wineskins saying that the “watershed moment” for many involved at its inception was the failure of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General Assembly in 2001 to “clearly state that ‘Jesus is the singular saving Lord!’”
Birthed at a Presbyterian Coalition “Ya’ll Come” event in Denver, Colo., following that assembly, the New Wineskins Initiative “developed into a shadow church within a church called The New Wineskins Association of Churches.”
NWAC held seven convocations beginning in 2005 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn., where they “unveiled years and years worth of collaborative work” in the form of “Essential Tenets, Ethical Imperatives and (a) Constitution.”
Within a year of NWAC’s initial convocation the “Louisville Papers” were made public by the Presbyterian Lay Committee and, the NWAC letter continues, “a historic shot over the bow was fired against Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, site of our 2nd Convocation in 2006.”
At its January 2007 Convocation at First Presbyterian Church Orlando, Fla., the NWAC “provided a strategy report detailing two faithful options for evangelicals within the PCUSA.” That strategy paper paved the way for many of NWAC’s 200 affiliated congregations to realign their denominational affiliation from the PCUSA to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church through a New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery.
With the emergence of The Fellowship of Presbyterians, who’s organizing principles and vision for the church mirror the New Wineskins original initiative, the leadership of NWAC has discerned that this season of ministry is over. “There is a season for everything under heave, and the season for the New Wineskins Association of Church is now over. We believe that the NWAC has done what God created it to do … and now a new season is before us.”
That new season for the now former New Wineskins affiliated congregations will be lived out in one of four realities: the EPC, the Fellowship’s New Reformed Body, the National Covenant Association of Churches or within the PCUSA, possibly in association with NEXT or as a union church with the FOP.
The closing paragraph of the letter reads, “As the leaders of the New Wineskins Association of Churches we would like to thank you for your prayers and participation over the years. We believe that the Lord has used you and your congregation to advance the reformation of His Church in our life time. We have been humbled by your faith, honored by your trust and delighted to serve together with you, our singular saving Lord! May the Lord continue to bless and keep you! May the Lord make His face to shine upon you; and may He give you peace! Our prayer for you is that you will not get ahead of the Lord, or lag behind Him, but that you will continue to walk every step with Him as He leads you!”
Editor’s note: As the New Wineskins Association of Churches website goes dark, it is The Layman’s intent to archive their material at www.layman.org for future reference.