The New Wineskins Initiative, on whose conference we reported in June, 2005, is moving rapidly to place their "vision" for a radically different Presbyterian Church before the 217^th General Assembly.

In a letter to their supporters and those who attended their conference, David Henderson and Dean Weaver, Co-Moderators of the group, call on endorsing congregations and other friends to present one of two proposed overtures to their presbyteries.

They then remind their friends that "From the beginning the NWI has sought to work through existing mechanisms for change available within our denomination. We want to be true to our word, and faithful to pursue change from within in this season. This means overtures."

Acknowledging the support recently expressed by Presbyterian seminaries for the Theological Task Force report, and the calls for new authoritative interpretations, they assert that "the clarion call of the New Wineskins Initiative to radically rethink how we do church and serve Jesus Christ is all the more real. We are convinced that new window-dressings will not fix our present structure."

One of the overtures describes this effort as a part of the "dialogue" that Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick has encouraged in the church, and describes something of the new structures that are envisioned by New Wineskins.

The other overture offers a more extended outline of the major concerns about the PC(USA) that were expressed throughout the New Wineskins conference: a lack of "theological unity and integrity," of "missional faithfulness," and of "structural effectiveness." It then provides a summary of the main elements they are proposing as a new structure for the church.

A comment from your WebWeaver: It seems fairly likely that the next General Assembly will receive at least a couple overtures along these lines. They propose a breath-takingly bold step: pitch that old Book of Order and let’s start over with our plan. At the very least, they should engender some interesting discussions, and put before us all some challenging ideas.

An Overture to Replace the Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with the
Constitution of the New Wineskins Initiative

Recommendation:

In response to the request from the Office of the Stated Clerk seeking recommendations for changes to the present structure of the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination, the Presbytery of Wabash Valley overtures the 217^th General Assembly (2006) to direct the Stated Clerk to send to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative vote the following constitutional proposal:

Replace the current Book of Order (Constitution, Part II) with the New Wineskins for Presbyterians Constitution as provisionally adopted and subsequently modified at the New Wineskins Convocation during June 15 -18^th 2005.

A copy of the proposed New Wineskins Initiative draft constitution is attached.

NOTE from your WebWeaver:  The draft constitution as approved by the New Wineskins conference in June, 2005, is available on their website.

Rationale:

In an effort to maintain peace, unity, and purity we believe that God is calling the Presbyterian Church (USA) to:

· greater theological unity and integrity, by upholding together a fresh articulation of orthodox and reformed biblical beliefs and ethics

· greater missional faithfulness, by calling us to re-embrace our primary calling to reach the lost with the life-giving hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ

· greater structural effectiveness, through a leaner, more relational, and more flexible network that centers on and supports the life and ministry of the local congregation

Concerns about the Present Institution

Theology and Ethics: While we as Presbyterians confess together the authority of the Bible and the lordship of Jesus Christ, we differ markedly in our approach to the interpretation and authority of the Scriptures, and we are similarly divided in our understanding of the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. Because of our lack of theological unity, we have lost our ability to speak, with one voice, a word of hope to this world, and sometimes find ourselves preaching two different versions of the gospel. We also stand at odds in our understanding of how biblical ethical standards apply to life in contemporary culture, and sometimes find ourselves supporting exactly opposite positions on such crucial ethical issues as the sanctity of human life or boundaries for legitimate sexual expression. The peace, unity, and purity to which Jesus calls the Church are not a matter of a shared name or structure, but of bedrock faith convictions and ethical practices which are held in common. Our denomination requires significant theological and ethical reform.

Mission: The Church is a kingdom instrument, a people called and sent. The body of Christ exists for mission, in word and in deed, to carry the good news of Jesus Christ to a dying world. Our denomination, which houses and organizes a portion of the broader Church, has fallen away from the central biblical imperatives of reaching the lost and of equipping and sending the faithful. Losing sight of this central kingdom mission, we have been content to redefine our mission in terms of denominational maintenance and survival on the one hand, or of mere societal improvement on the other. We need to reform our understanding of our shared evangelistic mission and reclaim its urgency.

Structure: We find ourselves today with a form for organizing our shared life and ministry that little resembles our original connectional structure. The structural changes to which we believe God is calling us are at one and the same time a call back to a simpler relational structure that returns the ministry and mission of the local congregation to the fore, and a call forward to innovative and responsive ministry collaboration for an altogether new ministry context. It is a call to reformation and to reinvention at the same time. The local congregation must be restored to the center of our life together, and that whatever connectional structure we share should exist to support and serve the local church in its kingdom ministry. What many of us experience today is the inversion of this: a structure that is served and supported by the local congregation, rather than the other way around. The most effective way for shared ministry and mission to take place will be in networks of close, covenantal relationships between churches and church leaders who share a common proximity and ministry context. We will be strengthened when we move from formal meetings and structures that maintain the organization to relational networks and gatherings that support ministry and provide loving encouragement and just discipline. As with our theology and our mission, our structure is in need of reform.

Proposed Constitutional Design

The constitution of the New Wineskins of Presbyterians is characterized by the following foundational design elements:

Theological and Ethical Unity: We are bound together in our shared commitment to Jesus Christ and to his truth, as historically understood in orthodox biblical theology, and as informed by the Reformed confessions. Participating churches and their leaders will make a mutual confessional commitment to biblically-derived statements of faith and ethics, which we call the Essential Tenets of Our Faith and the Declaration of Ethical Imperatives.

Mutual Encouragement and Accountability: We build our shared life upon covenant relationships of mutual encouragement and support. Particular congregations and their leaders are joined together with others for shared worship, prayer, and Scripture study, as well as equipping, planning, and sharing resources for collaborative ministry. Within these covenant relationships are exercised loving accountability and just discipline that uphold the Essential Tenets, the Ethical Imperatives and all certification/ordination standards.

Missional Structure and Flexibility: We are part of a missional ecclesiology that combines constitutional order with permission-giving freedom for the sake of effective ministry and mission. To ensure ministry faithfulness, congregations within the connectional structure agree to nonnegotiable commitments in such areas as: theology and ethics, ministry and mission, covenantal relationships, discipline and accountability, the roles of pastor, elder, and deacon, and certification/ordination standards for pastoral leaders. At the same time, to ensure ministry and mission effectiveness, they are provided with flexibility in such areas as leadership structure, worship style, and ministry strategy and approach.

The Primacy of Local Ministry and Mission: We share a common understanding of the purpose of the Church that centers on the primacy of the local congregation and its ministry of equipping and sending its members in mission to all the world. Local congregations are called to join with other Christian disciples to build up the body of Christ to spiritual maturity and to reach the world for Christ.

Networks of Support for Ministry and Mission: Each part of our connectional structure supports and serves the local congregations of which it consists:

1) The Congregation is the primary agent and focal point of kingdom mission and ministry. Together its members are called to worship God, to love one another, to make disciples, to serve the world, to reach the lost, and to equip and send out its members into mission and ministry. Towards these ends, the congregation calls leaders, holds and maintains property, and hires staff.

2) The Ministry Network gathers leaders of particular congregations into covenant relationships for mutual edification and support, for shared worship and study, for collaborative ministry and mission, and for loving accountability and discipline.

3) The Support Network exists to support and guide the Ministry Networks of which it consists, including planning for regional ministry, meeting for mutual growth and encouragement, providing counsel in the event of congregational difficulties, and upholding the Essential Tenets, the Ethical Imperatives, and the standards for ordination.

4) The National Network exists to support the various congregations and networks of which it consists through shared worship, prayer, study, mission, resource sharing, and strategic planning for ministry, as well as seeing to the provision of pension and health care services for pastors and other employees of the connectional structure.

For a number of years the future of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been a topic of growing concern across the denomination. Continuing numerical and financial decline, ongoing structural inadaptability, and growing theological and ethical division, together with mounting internal struggles, have led many to the conclusion that the way we are doing things now isn’t working and that we need to find new ways to be the Church.