Matthew 9:17 – “Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
As night falls over Ridgecrest on this first full day of New Wineskins 2025, the words of Jesus about new wine and new wineskins resonate with special clarity. From early morning MAP talks to diocesan gatherings, from practical workshops to moments of prayer ministry, the Spirit has been moving in diverse and unexpected ways. Tonight’s plenary session brought these themes into sharper focus, calling us to consider what it means to be vessels for the new wine of God’s kingdom in our own time.
The evening began with testimony and song. Missionaries from across the globe shared stories of challenge and perseverance, of hardship endured and victories won. Their words bore witness to a truth at the heart of mission: that God is faithful, even in places of resistance and suffering. Between these stories, voices rose in worship, music offered not as performance but as prayer, reminding us that mission is born in the presence of God. A mosaic of art and song from around the world followed, filling the hall with a glimpse of Revelation’s vision of every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered before the throne. It was more than a cultural showcase; it was a foretaste of the kingdom to come, and a reminder that mission is not simply about proclamation but also about beauty, creativity, and joy.
Into this atmosphere stepped the Rev. Gabriel Ochoa of Recife, Brazil. Rev. Ochoa is a pastor, church planter, and visionary leader in Brazil’s Anglican movement. His ministry has centered on planting vibrant communities of faith and training leaders to shepherd the next generation. His words tonight were marked by urgency, vulnerability, and hope.
He began with a phrase that struck him deeply: “People love what other people are passionate about.” He asked us a piercing question: When we speak about the next generation, about church planting, how passionate are we? His story of his young daughter, who asked when she was going to see Jesus, was more than a tender moment; it was a summons. If our children do not see in us a burning love for Christ and His mission, why would they be compelled to follow Him themselves? Rev. Ochoa reminded us that passion is contagious. His own ministry in Recife began as a seed; small, fragile, almost invisible, but through prayer and faithful planting, that seed became a forest of new churches, many of them led by the very next generation he urged us to reach.
The call to new wineskins is not just structural; it is generational. Old containers will not hold the passion required to bring the Gospel to a new world. We must be stretched, reshaped, and poured out so that sons and daughters may not only hear about Jesus but also witness lives aflame with His presence.
Following Rev. Ochoa, we were invited into the witness of the Rev. Akua Buabema Ofori-Boateng of Ghana. A priest, engineer, author, and tireless advocate for youth empowerment, Rev. Ofori-Boateng embodies the integration of vocation and mission. She serves as Director of Programmes for the Anglican Diocese of Accra, co-founded the Aequitas Foundation, and has lent her gifts to national service as part of Ghana’s Electoral Commission. Her book, Broken for Use, reveals a heart that knows God’s power to transform brokenness into calling.
Tonight she spoke of the Kingdom work unfolding in Ghana through vocational ministry and church-building efforts. For her, mission is not an abstract idea but a lived reality in classrooms, workplaces, and communities. She reminded us that the new wineskins God is forming are not always pulpits or sanctuaries; sometimes they are businesses, NGOs, or networks of young leaders who are claiming their vocations as holy ground. Her testimony urged us to expand our vision of mission, to see that God’s new wine is being poured into every corner of society, and that we are called to encourage and equip the next generation to carry the Kingdom into every sphere of life.
As the night drew toward its close, the Rev. Dr. Winfield Bevins took the stage. Dr. Bevins is a prolific author whose works on Anglicanism, discipleship, church planting, and the creative arts have shaped countless leaders. Once rooted in academia, he discerned a call into CREO, a ministry dedicated to bringing the beauty of the Gospel to the world through the arts. His recent book, How Beauty Will Save the World, captures this calling with clarity: the church must once again recover beauty as central to mission and worship.
Tonight, he cast a vision for beauty not as decoration but as participation in the very nature of God. In an age of distraction and despair, art is not a luxury but a witness. When our liturgies are beautiful, when our churches nurture artists, when our mission work reflects the creativity of God, the world glimpses a Kingdom that is not only true and good but breathtakingly beautiful. Dr. Bevins’ own story of beginning an arts movement reminded us that new wineskins are also aesthetic ones: the Church must be ready to hold and pour out beauty in ways that touch the imagination of a weary world.
Together, these voices formed a symphony of challenge and encouragement: passion for the next generation, empowerment through vocation, and the transformative power of beauty. Alongside missionary testimonies and the offering of art and song, they pointed us back to the heart of Christ’s teaching: the Kingdom cannot be confined to the old ways. The Spirit is still fermenting, still bubbling, still pressing outward.
As we leave this first full day of New Wineskins 2025, we are left with a question: are we willing to be new wineskins? Are we ready to be stretched by passion, to be expanded by vocation, to be filled with beauty? The wineskin of yesterday will not hold the wine of today. But if we allow the Spirit to reshape us, then the growth of God’s Kingdom will not be lost on us. It will be preserved, and it will be poured out, generation after generation, until the whole world knows the joy of the new wine of Jesus Christ.