A Letter to Our Friends
Dear friends,
Hopefully we can put into words what has been going through our minds these last few weeks and months. First, those of us in the New Wineskins who have left the PCUSA want to ask your forgiveness if we have been short with you, less than encouraging in our conversations, or down right neglectful of your needs and feelings. It has been a busy time for us. The process of preparing our congregations, dealing with the issues concerning property, and attempting to keep our local ministries going has been all-consuming. Once our course was set on departing from the PCUSA it became an energy sapping, time-absorbing endeavor; ministry suffered, our personal lives suffered, free time became a stranger, and we became caught up in the legal and ecclesiastical wranglings necessary to make a move. Once the end was reached we breathed such a sigh of relief that it was finished, that we were taken aback by the fact that everybody else was not out here with us. Doesn’t everybody see the necessity of this? Don’t all members find ministry frustrated by their ties to the PCUSA? The process of leaving did tend to make us somewhat “self-focused.” We seek your forgiveness.
In our local churches we found that it takes some time for the “fog of exit” to clear so we can refocus our energies back on ministry and away from all the talk of leaving. Please understand, the preparation and act of leaving the PCUSA was draining. We feel it was worth it, but it took a toll on us emotionally. We ask that you give us some time to “get our heads back in the game” and get back on track with the ministry the Lord has called us to.
Secondly, we probably haven’t been as encouraging to you, our friends who have not yet left, or who are committed to staying, as we should have been. We mean no disrespect, it’s just that our course was set and now we must take a moment and realize that others are just as, or sometimes more, faithful than we were; and that faithfulness may be lived out in staying in the PCUSA and being a prophetic witness. We don’t know the will of the Lord for you other than He calls you to faithfulness and obedience to Christ and the Word of God. How, where, and when you exercise that faithfulness and obedience is left to your discretion. We promise to be supporters and friends to you however the Lord leads you to act.
We want you to know that wherever you are we look forward to shared ministry, worshipping together, and seeing what the Lord will do with all of us. The New Wineskins is not about leaving the PUCSA, it’s about the “new thing” and the new way of doing ministry. It’s about a solid Biblical and Reformed foundation, a structure that promotes ministry and doesn’t slow it down, and it’s about serving our Lord with our brothers and sisters in Christ across denominational lines.
So if we seem a little “distant” it’s because getting out of the PCUSA took a lot out of us. Give us time to catch our breath and learn how to reach back to our friends who are still there, being faithful and true to Christ. The next few years will be a time of discovery and formation for all of us. Let’s make certain we extend patience and the benefit of the doubt to one another – wherever we are!
In Christ,
Randy Jenkins,
Moderator
New Wineskins EPC Presbytery
November 14th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Thanks for your words of admonition and encouragement. We are just emerging from the “fog of exit” and working hard to get our act together in service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Your welcome words hit home.
Dave Ayers,
Clerk, First Presbyterian Church, Quincy, IL
November 14th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Now THAT is some serious Christ centered smack! Thank you for the encouragement, and may the Lord have mercy on us all.
grace & peace,
dm
November 15th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
The session of the FPC Paola has been fired as of Wed and are going through what you just described. Your commitment to care is miles above the Heartless Presbytery (who still hasn’t shown up at a now rudderless church we were forced to leave behind) A new church is formed and we are focusing on the future of Christs work in Paola. Thanks for your help! Our new new “Lighthouse Presbyterian” will be starting with 250 very committed members who, although not the “True Church” according to the Heartless Presbytery, are certainly a very active and committed clan of “True Believers. We are free of the bonds of theocracy and moving toward a Christ centered church.
I am sure you will here more from our group of New Wineskins members.
God is good all the time!
Mike
November 16th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Hey, Randy - Right On!
We cannot have a Constitution that says staying is a “Faithful Option” for us New Wineskinners without believing that and acting on that thoroughly.
Augustine, in the 5th century, urged us to “hold to Christ” - and I do so much appreciate your compassion for those of us who have been led to stay in the snake-bitten PCUSA - if only for another “season” - however long the Lord leads.
And it is not fear - or pensions or property - that keeps me in. It is God’s Holy Spirit - saying that as “Salt and Light” - He requires my presence - on the COM, on the Board of Trustees - among the most LEFTIST LIBERAL Presbys you’d ever want to meet.
I think of our evangelical Christian brothers who stood for Christ in the Eastern Bloc nations when they were still Communist through and through. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” - right?
Keep up the good work - with all the sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit you showed in this letter. Excellent, anointed leadership. You have my prayers. And, bye the way, I haven’t forgotten our conversations about fundraising for New Wineskins. If you want me to talk to that lady in East Texas - bring it on, brother. I’m with you 150%!
In HIM - Galatians 2:20
Dave Kunselman
Interim Senior Pastor
Knox Church - Kenmore, New York
November 16th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Having joined the Presbyterian Church within the last few years, I was under the impresssion that Presbyterians were of the “Reformed” persuasion. Like many others, I am an “evangelical Presbyterian” within the PCUSA. Will the PCUSA stirve to keep us or will we be made to feel we must flee because of our beliefs? Some PCUSA churches are trying to have it both ways; they wish to retain their conservative membership and at the same time cater to more liberal member philosophies. Sometimes it feels like the “wink, wink , nod, nod” kind of thing I experienced in another church which eventually made a decision to follow the will of man and to rule the will of God irrelevant. Recently I heard a sermon that referred to The Ten Commandments as “ten suggestions.” Only time will tell; pray for us and pray for the Church. I don’t think they can have it both ways. Thanks for the letter; it feels good to be connected. Evelyn
November 19th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Thanks Randy. Pray for us who have decided to hold tight for a season. We have felt the Holy Spirit’s call for patience, to watch and pray. We are also watching very carefully the “Rubicon” of Biblical fidelity and faithfulness. Pray with us as we pray that the PCUSA will back off on the PUP and admit their sin. Nothing is impossible with God.
Bless you, and again, thank you for your loving support and prayers.
Larry
November 25th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I have served as pulpit supply in our local PCUSA church. I am not a member. I considered but was discouraged because of some of the same lack of Biblical faithfulness that have been written about. It seems that moral relativeism and political correctness is more important here than the early teachings of the church. I have long been attracted to the church and desire to be associated with New Wineskins. I shall pray and otherwise become involved as I find an avenue to do so.
Rev. John Stauffer
December 11th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
:: New Wineskins :: Association of Churches » Blog Archive » A Letter to Our Friends
i hope nobody else published this as it is dated mid-November, but here is a letter from the moderator of the New Wineskins EPC Presbytery to their friends. They’re sorry they’ve been short with them, as they’ve been too busy leaving the PC(USA) to…
February 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Please remove me and my name from your blog pages. I am no longer serving at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church. I am serving with the U.S. Navy - deployed Chaplain. Thank you.
Laurence Zirscky