ORLANDO — Saying the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is close to “utter ruin” and possibly extinction, the New Wineskins Association of Churches https://www.newwineconvo.com/ on February 8 laid the groundwork for a group of congregations to leave the denomination together, probably to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). https://www.epc.org
A vote on whether to leave likely will be taken the evening of Feb. 9.
But New Wineskins leaders opened their meeting in Orlando Feb. 8 by referring to the EPC as kindred theological spirits — “it’s like meeting cousins we never knew we had,” said Carmen Fowler, a pastor from South Carolina and the New Wineskins’ vice-moderator.
The EPC is preparing to create a new non-geographic presbytery into which congregations leaving the PC(USA) would be admitted, for a period of five years. The EPC’s General Assembly would have to approve such an idea in June, but “all indications are that we will step forward and begin a journey with you,” Paul Heidebrecht, moderator of the EPC’s General Assembly, told the New Wineskins.
The EPC, created in 1981, now has about 200 churches and 70,000 members — so for it, an influx of members from the larger PC(USA) would be significant.
About 130 of 151 congregations that have formally endorsed the New Wineskins constitution have sent representatives to this meeting, although the crowd — there are more than 500 registered participants — is considerably larger than that.
The New Wineskins leadership team has said it recognizes two faithful options for Presbyterians who are convinced the PC(USA) is lost in the wilderness: to leave altogether, or to stay and try to reform the denomination from within.
But the drumbeat at the start of this meeting was all about departure.
“The prognosis is clear,” said Parker Williamson, editor emeritus of The Layman, speaking of the PC(USA). “This denomination will soon be dead. You see what we have now is little more than a carcass consisting of real estate, endowments, sticks and stones. This dysfunctional ecclesiastical organization cannot be called a church. The marks of the church are gone,” and what’s left “dare not call itself a church — certainly not the true church.”
Speakers described both what they would be leaving — a dysfunctional, theologically-bereft PC(USA) — and their vision of the kind of mission-focused, grassroots-driven denomination that, together, they could build.
“Dream the dream of the Presbyterian church of which you yearn to be a part,” encouraged Gerritt Dawson, a pastor from Baton Rouge and New Wineskins’ co-moderator.
Some key elements of the conversation involved:
Evangelical unity. “It is essential for those who are truly evangelical to align themselves with others who are likewise,” said Luder Whitlock, https://www.ttf.org/index/about/whitlock/ executive director of The Trinity Forum and the former longtime president of Reformed Theological Seminary.
Evangelicals in the PC(USA) have been held in theological and cultural captivity, Whitlock said, trying unsuccessfully to reform the church from within because “we want this church to honor the Lord.”
But the PC(USA) is on the brink of “utter ruin,” he said. And Whitlock offered this message to the hierarchy of the PC(USA) — what Moses said to Pharaoh: “Let my people go.”
Essential tenets. Dawson spoke of the “joy of subscription,” of requiring Presbyterian leaders to list core beliefs they can affirm. The PC(USA) has historically referred to essential tenets but been unwilling to define them.
Dawson spoke of the pleasure and challenge of playing within the marked boundaries in a game such as tennis — and added that no one in professional tennis says, “I believe in the rules but I don’t know what they are.”
Dawson compared the core beliefs of the EPC and New Wineskins on issues such as faith in Jesus Christ and the Triune God. By listing these essential beliefs, he said, both groups are saying, “Where is your heart of hearts, who are you, what matters to you most?”
History. Williamson compared the Fundamentalist-Modernist debate of the 1920s to the controversial report last year of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity, and Purity of the PC(USA). Both involved compromises, he contended, orchestrated by liberals to win over moderates for the sake of keeping the denomination’s unity intact.
“The kingdom of God is at hand,” Williamson said. “Repent and believe the gospel,” or “no political deals will do it.”
Property. Some congregations trying to depart the PC(USA) are scuffling with the denomination over whether to take their property with them — and among the New Wineskins, there’s certainly resentment of that. Williamson referred to the recent vote of Montreat Church to leave, by a 92 percent vote, and said the presbytery is planning “to fortify the loyal 8 percent and seize Montreat’s property.”
New Wineskins co-moderator Dean Weaver — speaking of the possibility of aligning with the EPC — said, “Wouldn’t it be really cool to be in an environment that had at its basis trust?”
He paused a few seconds, as the audience burst out with laughter and applause.
“As opposed to the (property) trust clause?”
Women’s ordination. The PC(USA) ordains women as ministers, elders, and deacons; in the EPC, it’s less clear. Weaver, a Pittsburgh pastor, has said the EPC does not consider the ordination of women an “essential” of faith and will leave it up to local churches to decide what to do.
Fowler referred to those who are considering leaving for the EPC, but who say, “Well, what about our women?”
Fowler said she wouldn’t exactly say, “Just trust us.” But she pointed to herself and said of the EPC leadership team: “They’ve met me.”
She added: “There is certainly work to be done. … Neither one of us is saying, `Oh, gee, we know exactly what the new thing will look like.'” But “it sure does seem as if God is propelling us in the same direction.”
