The New Wineskins Association of Churches
Leadership Team Response to the 218th General Assembly

Theologically unhinged - The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has become theologically unhinged from our Biblical and Reformation foundation. The actions of this Assembly are schismatic. They foster division within our denomination and threaten the sundering of the denomination from the world Church of Jesus Christ.

Specifically,

• The Assembly recommends re-writing the historic Heidelberg Catechism by truncating a quotation from Scripture (1 Cor. 6:9) in order to remove reference to homosexual behavior as sinful.

• The Assembly has asked the church once again to overturn historic, Biblical standards of sexual holiness for those being ordained. Previous authoritative interpretations about sexuality and ordination standards have been rendered void. Presbyteries will be asked to delete the “fidelity in marriage, chastity in singleness” clause of G-6.0106b.

• The Assembly has authorized creating a special fund to battle in civil courts congregations which cannot in good conscience continue their voluntary affiliation with the PC(USA). Such legal actions include not only disputes over property but, as in the Londonderry case, litigation against individual elders. Donations will be sought. However, we are hopeful that the General Assembly’s strong approval of a resolution encouraging presbyteries to initiate and communicate a gracious process for dismissal will decrease a rush to civil court on all sides.

• The Assembly has misunderstood and disrespected all three religions in its resolutions about Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The Assembly calls upon adherents to these various faith systems to celebrate religious holidays together: as if a good Muslim could celebrate the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ at Christmas, as if a good Jew could look to the crucifixion on Good Friday for atonement, as if a good Christian could consecrate himself or herself during Ramadan to a Unitarian God who is not the gracious Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the Triune God.

• Although, the Assembly declined asking the presbyteries of the PC(USA) to redefine marriage as between one man and one woman (Mt. 19: 4-5), a civil marriage between 2 men was performed by a PC(USA) minister at the More Light Presbyterians gathering at the General Assembly. Those charged with defending our constitution have remained silent on this breach of ordination vows.

We find these actions repugnant and call upon the denomination to reject them heartily.

Meanwhile, the New Wineskins Association of Churches continues to hold to a vision of a church grounded in:

• shared, clear essential theological tenets based on historic Biblical faith
• shared ethical imperatives derived from Scripture\
• relationships of mutual accountability and support
• a polity designed for missional service.

Come Talk to Us in Atlanta on August 6 & 7th!

We invite pastors and elders serving PCUSA congregations to participate in conversations and voice concerns raised by the 218th General Assembly and to hear afresh the New Wineskins’ vision for the church.

The NWAC leadership will host this meeting for pastors and elders who share our commitment to the New Wineskins’ Essentials of the Reformed Faith, and are grieved by the actions of the General Assembly. This meeting will begin at noon, on Wednesday August 6 and conclude at noon on Thursday, August 7. It will be held near the Atlanta airport with complimentary shuttle service. For more information and to register, please contact executive director Renee Guth at rguth@newwineskinsassociation.org. A free-will offering will be collected in lieu of a registration fee. There will be NO registrations at the door. We suggest no more than 3 representatives from any one congregation because space is limited.

At this meeting we seek to encourage those congregations feeling called to continue to bear witness within the PC(USA) to become resistive communities collaboratively living out a vision of shared tenets, ethics, and mission.

In addition, our fifth New Wineskins Association convocation will be held at First Baton Rouge Presbyterian Church on Sunday, November 9 to Tuesday, November 11th. Our convocation will further the New Wineskins Association’s missional vision for Presbyterians in the 21st century!

Come consider a better way. Join us in prayer, discussion and visioning.

Grace and Peace in Christ,

Leadership Team
New Wineskins Association of Churches
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June 23, 2008

RE: To Approve Item 07-13 Transfer of Ministers and Congregations to Transitional Presbyteries — From the General Presbyter/Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Charlotte.

Dear Commissioners of the 218th General Assembly,

Grace and Peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

On May 6, 2008, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution (ACC) recommended that this year’s General Assembly make an Authoritative Interpretation (AI) in regard to the dismissal of congregations and pastors to the New Wineskins presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). The proposed AI (Item 07-13) would require presbyteries to consider such questions as whether the receiving EPC presbytery is:

1) Doctrinally consistent with the essentials of Reformed theology as understood by the presbytery;
2) Governed by a polity that is consistent in form and structure with that of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.);
3) Of sufficient permanence to offer reasonable assurance that the congregation is not being dismissed to de facto independence.

Each of the three considerations may lead presbyteries to examine the essence of our Reformed faith, government, and mission. We welcome and encourage the exchange.The board of directors of the New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC) considers such questions to provide an excellent opportunity for presbyteries to examine our theology, polity, and vision! (See http://www.newwineskinsassociation.org/papers.html.)
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June 2008

Dear sisters and brothers in the Faith,

Greetings to you in the name of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Would you join us in a season of meditation, prayer, and fasting for the Church and for the gospel of Jesus Christ? Specifically would you pray and fast for:

• Those contending for the faith in various contexts including their families, communities, workplaces, local congregation(s), and ecclesiastical bodies including the General Assembly of the PCUSA.

• The EPC General Assembly in Bethesda, Maryland, June 17 - 21, for all who are traveling, for the speakers and preachers, for the fellowship of believers, and for the work of the commissioners.

• The PCUSA General Assembly in San Jose, CA, June 21 - 28, for all who are traveling, for the speakers and preachers, for the fellowship of believers, and for the work of the commissioners.

• All of us, for one another, that in these long, drawn-out struggles over theology, property, the meaning of orthodoxy, and the quest to uphold The Truth, that we do not lose sight of Jesus’ final command to each individual disciple, to go out of our safe places and into the world, starting in our own neighborhoods, to tell the Good News about Jesus Christ, and to make disciples of all nations.

• Laborers for the harvest (“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” from Matthew 9:37-38). May of the gospel of Jesus Christ prosper! Amen!

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