wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] New Wineskins preachers call PC(USA) to task

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Note #8773 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05323
June 17, 2005

New Wineskin preachers call PC(USA) to task

Chorus of international voices claims denomination has lost its way

by Jerry L. Van Marter
 
EDINA, MN -- Leaders of the New Wineskins movement insist that their purpose
is to create a new Presbyterian vision, not just to react to the travails of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

	But the international array of preachers at the group's June 15-18
convocation here sounded a common theme: 

	Dissatisfaction with the denomination that gave them birth.

	Only the Rev. Sameh Maurice, a pastor at 7,000-member Kasr el Dobara
Church in Cairo, Egypt, was not overtly critical of the PC(USA).

	Ludgero Morais, general secretary (stated clerk) of the Presbyterian
Church in Brazil, described his church's relationship with the PC(USA) as "a
mother and daughter who no longer speak the same language."

	The PCB severed ties with the PC(USA) in 1969, calling the American
church "apostate."

	"We discovered that our mother ... was taking friends into her home
who began exerting a destructive influence on her family ... and learned that
the mother and daughter could no longer live together," Morais said. "It was
a time of profound sadness, because we had a profound sense of gratitude, but
also a sense that we could no longer be in harmony -- so we cut relations."

	For the Rev. David Githii, moderator of the Presbyterian Church in
East Africa (PCEA), the PC(USA)'s continuing debates over sexual-conduct
standards for ordination and same-sex relationships is a sign that "the will
of God is not in our hearts."

	The PC(USA) constitution forbids sexually active gays and lesbians
(and unmarried heterosexuals) from ordination as church officers, and defines
marriage as between a man and a woman. Githii said the problem is not with
the PC(USA)'s Book of Order  but with a "spiritual deficiency" in the
denomination itself.

	As PCEA moderator, Githii ordered one presbytery to abandon a
partnership with National Capital Presbytery because of its overture to the
2004 General Assembly calling for the repeal of the ordination standard. 

	The presbyteries continue in partnership. Githii criticized former
General Assembly Moderator Susan Andrews, a member of National Capital
Presbytery, for characterizing his demand as "childish."

	The only PC(USA) preacher at the convocation -- the Rev. Dean Weaver
of Kenmore, NY, a New Wineskins vice-moderator -- recited a litany of
complaints against the PC(USA): that it is more concerned with political
correctness than with proclaiming the gospel unapologetically; that it is
held together not by trust but by the "trust clause" that gives title to
church property to the denomination rather than congregations; that it
accommodates culture rather than speaking prophetically to it; and that it is
not committed to taking the gospel to the unreached people in the world.

	"I love the church; I love the denomination," Weaver said in his June
16 sermon. "But sometimes, when you love something dearly and it's dying, the
right thing to do is to let her go. I have poured my energies into trying to
patch the old (denomination), but now's the time for a new wineskin."

	The solution to the decline of the PC(USA), all preachers agreed, is
a sort of faith that New Wineskins leaders have described as "orthodox" or
"traditionalist."

	Preaching on June 15, Maurice summarized God's words recorded in
Revelation 2: 

	"I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance; yet I hold
this against you -- you have forsaken your first love. ... Repent and do the
things you did at first. ... If you don't repent, I will come and remove your
lampstand. ... I know your heart does not love me as it did before. ...
Remember our relationship, and go back and repent."

	That repentance -- and the right exercise of faith -- means
"demonstrating our commitment to God," said Morais in his June 16 sermon.
"This means God has separated us so we may live lives of holiness in this
world. We are a counterculture, not exactly of this world, but called to be a
model to society."

	Modeling faithfulness is producing church growth in other parts of
the world, and that should be a lesson to American Christians, the preachers
agreed -- and that growth is God's work, not ours.

	The PCEA now numbers 4 million, Githii said in his June 17 sermon.
"This church is activated by the Holy Spirit -- people are scrambling to get
in, arriving early to get seats. Our branches are filled with fruits. In
contrast, the Western churches' branches have leaves but no fruits."

	Citing Paul's words in Galatians, Githii said, "Fools try to fulfill
the gospel by human effort. That's why we're praying for PC(USA)."

	Sinners everywhere are looking for Christ, Maurice said. "If we love
Him, the 
people will come here and they will meet him." 

	Maurice said his church -- part of the PC(USA)'s partner in Egypt,
the Evangelical Church of Egypt, which dates to 1854 -- conducts a weekly
altar call as part of worship.

	"Every time I make an altar call, hundreds come, even Muslims, and
especially teenagers," he said. "It's the presence of God in the church."

	Paraphrasing Jesus, he said: "If you love me, you will find me; and
then people will find me by encountering you."
 
	Such growth is occurring in parts of the PC(USA), Weaver said. 

	"God is pouring out new wine," he said. "We're experiencing that in
many of our congregations. Can our old wineskins hold it? No! ... The time
has come for a new wineskin. God is doing a new thing."

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