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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1) As to the question of whether the New Wineskins presbytery of the EPC is “doctrinally consistent with the essentials of Reformed theology as understood by the presbytery”:

If the ACC’s advice becomes an AI by this GA, we will regard this as an invitation, even a mandate, to every presbytery, to establish what that presbytery understands to be the “essentials of Reformed theology”. In order to examine the EPC and NWAC Essential Tenets in light of the essentials of Reformed theology, the dismissing presbytery must identify their own essentials. Only then can the presbytery’s understanding of essentials be compared to the Essential Tenets as expressed in the New Wineskins Constitution and the Constitution of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. That comparison makes for a clarifying, revealing interaction. Such questions must be raised about both sets of essentials.

2) Whether the New Wineskins presbytery of the EPC “is governed by a polity that is consistent in form and structure with that of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)”:

We find this a very interesting question in the midst of an Assembly that is considering the report of the Form of Government Task Force which has recommended sweeping changes to the PCUSA structure and functional realities.

When you consider the form and structure of the PCUSA, what parts of it are ultimately essential? What really makes us “Presbyterian?”

• Is it our connectionalism?
• Is it our system of accountability?
• It is our ecumenism?
• Is it our global concern?
• Is it our learned leadership?
• Is it our system of parity among our teaching and ruling elders?

A close look at the New Wineskins Constitution reveals that the form and structure of the New Wineskins EPC presbytery is decidedly Presbyterian and decidedly missional.

The intent of our Constitution is to produce and foster congregations that are inwardly strong and outwardly focused, engaged in mutual ministry with partners around the corner and around the globe.

• Is it new? Yes.
• Is it Presbyterian? Yes.
• Is it perfect? No. But it is Reformed - and open to continual reform, according to the ordering of God’s Word and Spirit.

3) Whether the New Wineskins presbytery of the EPC is “of sufficient permanence to offer reasonable assurance that the congregation is not being dismissed to de facto independence”.

At its 2007 General Assembly meeting, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church created a Joint Commission (populated by Presbyterians from both the EPC and the PCUSA) that was charged with overseeing the creation of the New Wineskins EPC transitional presbytery. After a year of existence, this presbytery (or Support Network as our Constitution calls it) now comprises more than 35 churches representing 19,000 members.

The Joint Commission reported to the 2008 meeting of the General Assembly of the EPC the following:

Vision: We envision that by July 1st 2012 that the New Wineskins Support Network and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church will realize a full integration that will result in a renewed missional, reformed and evangelical Presbyterian body.

At this next level of integration we envision a dynamic denomination with hundreds of congregations that mutually agree to be held accountable to shared biblical beliefs; are organized to equip, resource and send; and enthusiastically pursue the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Mission: As a missional, reformed and evangelical body we are called to live into…

• Acts 1:8 …by supporting and serving congregations as they equip their members to be ‘missionaries’ in their own “Jerusalem”, as well as to “Judea/Samaria”, and to “the ends of the earth.”

-Every member with a missionary mindset…

• Ephesians 4:16 & I Corinthians 14:40 …by helping to facilitate the connection between congregations for collaborative ministry and mission

-Through greater structural effectiveness expressed in a polity that serves our mission

• Galatians 6:1-2 …by holding one another accountable to the historic reformed faith within our present missional context

-Accountable in matters of biblical belief
-Accountable in matters of ethical practice
-Accountable in matters of missional effectiveness

This is not a move toward independence but for many, who have lived in the PCUSA as isolated evangelical congregations, this is a move toward greater interdependence, greater connectionalism, and a more rigorous mutual accountability.

The design is not yet complete. We are working in wet cement. What we ask of you is grace to explore and create and reform that the Kingdom of God might be enlarged and Christ made more faithfully known through all of us.

There is a challenge to every existing governing body to examine its relative “permanence” and the need for constant renewal in order that we never idolize any institutional expression of the church.

May God bless you as you deliberate this important matter,

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Renee Guth
Executive Director
New Wineskins Association of Churches

8800 Peebles Rd., Allison Park, PA 15101
www.newwineskinsassociation.org

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