Dissidents Open Talks on New Evangelical Presbyterianism
Presbyterians discontent with the liberal direction of their national denomination opened discussions on Sunday about a new approach to being the Church of Jesus Christ.
The New Wineskins Association of Churches (NWAC), a network of some 200 Presbyterian churches unhappy with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is holding its fourth convocation in Fair Oaks, Calif., to determine the next steps toward remaining faithful Presbyterians.
Several congregations have already voted this year to disaffiliate with the PC(USA) – the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country – and more are expected to leave in the coming years.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Conflict began in 2001 when the PC(USA) would not affirm the singular saving Lordship of Jesus Christ. Further controversy was stirred when the denomination adopted a resolution in 2006 that gave some leeway to churches for homosexual ordination.
Although the PC(USA) still upholds the constitutional standard requiring fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness for ordination, one conservative believes the denomination isn't walking the talk.
"The written standards of the denomination are precisely correct, but they are largely ignored," the Rev. Michael Neubert of the Presbytery of Southeastern Illinois has stated.
About 30 of the nearly 11,000 PC(USA) congregations have voted to leave the denomination since 2006. In June, the smaller and more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church voted to create the New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery to accept the increasing number of departing congregations seeking membership.
The non-geographic presbytery, scheduled to be inaugurated during this week's NWAC convocation, is to run under a newly designed constitution based on a grassroots polity that recognizes the local congregation as the primary decision-making group, according to the Rev. Dr. D. Dean Weaver, co-moderator of the NWAC and senior pastor of Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. His congregation – the largest Presbyterian church in the Pittsburgh presbytery – voted in June to split from the PC(USA).
It is time to "realign ourselves with other Presbyterians in our country and around the world who believe the same things we do and have the same passion for evangelism and for missions," said Weaver at the time of the split.
NWAC congregations have been offered the option of either "realigning" with the newly created presbytery or continuing to remain within the PC(USA) and being a faithful witness there, according to a proposal passed earlier this year during the network's winter convocation.
"We're not just leaving to go to another denomination," Weaver has noted. "We're actually realigning to help join with other brothers and sisters in Christ who want to form a whole new type of missional and evangelical Presbyterianism."
The New Wineskins Convocation opened on Reformation Sunday, which commemorates the history of the Reformed tradition, and will conclude Oct. 30.
"The New Wineskins convocation will provide us with a unique opportunity to not only consider what it means to be missional but to 'worshipfully work' toward the reformation of our Lord's Church!" expressed an NWAC statement.
