Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
The final morning of New Wineskins 2025 dawned with a spirit of both joy and holy reverence. Delegates, missionaries, clergy, and laity from across the globe gathered one last time in the main auditorium of Ridgecrest Conference Center. It was not simply the conclusion of a conference, but the culmination of four days of worship, teaching, prayer, and fellowship that had bound together people from many nations into one body.
The New Wineskins worship team began the service with songs of praise that lifted the hearts of all who had come. For many, this would be their last opportunity to join their voices with brothers and sisters from every corner of the earth before returning to their own communities and mission fields. The sense of entering into the presence of God together was palpable, and worship became a fitting doorway into the closing Eucharistic celebration.
Bishop Gabriel Ochoa of Recife, Brazil, opened with prayer. His words echoed the psalmist’s declaration: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” He reminded the congregation that while this passage often directs our thoughts to creation, the beauty of mountains, rivers, and the stars, its meaning extends further. The earth is not only filled with nature’s grandeur but also with people. Those gathered in the room, representing tribes and tongues from across the world, embodied the fullness that belongs to the Lord. Christ came not merely to redeem creation in the abstract, but to redeem humanity itself, remaking us in the image of God. In that gathering, one could glimpse a foretaste of the vision in Revelation, when the nations together will stand before the throne.
The sermon time that followed was unique, for two preachers were invited to bring the Word. The first was not a seasoned bishop or missionary, but a boy of about twelve years old named Daniel Booman. His message was simple yet profound. He spoke from the prophecy in Isaiah that foretold the Gentiles would put their hope in Christ. For centuries, Gentiles had been excluded from the covenant, but in Christ the doors were flung wide open. That message of inclusion now extends to all people, the young preacher declared, and it should stir in us the desire to take the good news to the nations. His words carried a clarity and boldness that belied his age, reminding listeners that God often speaks through those the world may overlook.
The second preacher was Archbishop Steve Wood, who grounded his message in Acts 1: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” His theme was clear: the mission of God is not a relic of the past but the living call of the Church today. The words spoken to the apostles are not descriptive of the first century alone; they are proscriptive for the entire life of the Church.
Archbishop Wood acknowledged the impossibility of the task. To reach the ends of the earth with the Gospel is beyond human ability. Only the Spirit of God can empower such a mission. He drew the congregation again to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians, that “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The Gospel, he said, is not a force that builds walls of hostility. Rather, it tears down the walls that separate peoples and creates unity where division once reigned.
The mission of Christ compels believers to cross boundaries of ethnicity, nationality, social status, and even politics. God’s plan has always been global, Archbishop Wood reminded us, and Revelation’s vision of every tribe, tongue, and nation worshiping the Lamb reveals both the end and the beginning of the Gospel’s story. The mission of God is not only global in scope but unstoppable in its progress. He concluded by inviting prayers for the Spirit’s power to make us faithful witnesses. “Begin where you are,” he urged. “Be witnesses in your own Jerusalem before you set your sights on the nations.” If we start small, God will lead us outward.
Following the preaching, the assembly heard a moving testimony from Sheryl Shaw, joined by two young women, Mattie and Victoria. They shared how, through their involvement with New Wineskins, God called them to lead a new program called Role Call, a nine-month internship that places young people directly in the mission field. Sheryl spoke about the power of saying “Yes” to God. She reminded the audience that the story of salvation history is marked by men and women who said yes: Abraham, Moses, Mary, Paul, and countless saints who followed after them. Each “yes” became a hinge on which God’s purposes swung open into the world. She recounted her own journey of saying yes to God, first in her call to serve as a missionary, and now in her call to mentor and send others into the harvest. Watching Mattie and Victoria step forward as living examples of this call underscored the impact of obedience. Their testimony became a charge to all present to listen for God’s invitation and to respond with willingness, trusting Him with the outcome. After they spoke, there was a commissioning prayer, led by Abp. Steve Wood, for all those who were missionaries in North America and abroad.
The service then moved into the Eucharist, which became a vivid picture of the unity of Christ’s body. Priests and bishops from different continents stood side by side at the Lord’s Table, breaking bread and lifting the cup. The congregation came forward row by row, and in that long procession one could see the breadth of the Church’s global family. African believers in bright patterned garments worshipped beside North American clergy in clerical collars. Asian missionaries stood shoulder to shoulder with Latin American evangelists. Young and old, men and women, those who had traveled from nearby towns and those who had come from across the seas, all ate from the bread and drank from the cup as one family.
The Eucharist was more than a ritual closing. It was a sign of the kingdom. Every person who approached the altar carried their own stories: stories of persecution, of triumph, of planting churches, of suffering losses, of longing to see Christ known in their communities. Yet at the Table, those stories met in the larger story of salvation. In the Eucharist, cultural differences and national distinctions faded, not erased but gathered into a greater whole. It was a living expression of Paul’s words: there is one body and one Spirit, one hope to which we are called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
As the final hymn rose, the atmosphere was one of both celebration and sending. Participants knew that their time together was ending, but the mission before them was only beginning. Just as the disciples left Jerusalem empowered by the Spirit to take the Gospel outward, so too the people of New Wineskins are leaving Ridgecrest ready to carry the light of Christ back into their homes, churches, and mission fields. New Wineskins 2025 ended not with a conclusion but with a beginning. The nations had come together in worship, and now they were sent out to bear witness, to the ends of the earth.