With the emergence of The Fellowship of Presbyterians, who’s organizing principles and vision for the church mirror the New Wineskins original initiative, the leadership of NWAC has discerned that this season of ministry is over

At the close of 2011, more than a decade after its inception as the New Wineskins Initiative, the New Wineskins Association of Churches now “exists only in the history books.”

According to a letter sent in early January to all New Wineskins affiliated congregations, “With the majority of NWAC churches now in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and the creation of the Fellowship of Presbyterian (with the potential New Reformed Body they envision), as well as other new movements like the National Covenant Association of Churches, we believe that it is time for the NWAC to conclude its ministry.”

The letter chronicles the life of New Wineskins saying that the “watershed moment” for many involved at its inception was the failure of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General Assembly in 2001 to “clearly state that ‘Jesus is the singular saving Lord!’”

Birthed at a Presbyterian Coalition “Ya’ll Come” event in Denver, Colo., following that assembly, the New Wineskins Initiative “developed into a shadow church within a church called The New Wineskins Association of Churches.”

NWAC held seven convocations beginning in 2005 at Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn., where they “unveiled years and years worth of collaborative work” in the form of “Essential Tenets, Ethical Imperatives and (a) Constitution.”

Within a year of NWAC’s initial convocation the “Louisville Papers” were made public by the Presbyterian Lay Committee and, the NWAC letter continues, “a historic shot over the bow was fired against Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, site of our 2nd Convocation in 2006.”

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