New Wineskins / 40th Anniversary celebration recap

Carino Casas • October 13, 2022
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We praise God for his faithfulness to us and are grateful for all those who were able to celebrate with us in person in North Carolina

By Rev. Cariño Casas  
CMJ USA  

It’s been nearly a month, but in some ways we are still catching our breaths from the New Wineskins Global Missions Conference in late September. We are so grateful to the LORD for getting all of us there and back safely and for blessing us with such a time of great fellowship and networking.  

Israel: Key to Reaching the Nations

After a Thursday morning board meeting, we kicked things off in earnest with our Israel: Key to Reaching the N ations pre-conference. We had nearly 40 people in attendance . Rev. Alex Jacob, Tuvya Zaretsky, Rev. Philip Bottomley, and Rev. David Pileggi all gave rich talks.   

We apologize to those who attempted to join us via live stream. Sadly, the app facilitating all the New Wineskins live streams had many technical difficulties. We were able to record and stream the pre-conference. You can watch the recordings here.

Alex Jacob as seen on the live stream
Tuyva Zaretzky talks about his book He Said then She Said
Ron First gives his testimony as Philip Bottomley listens
David Pileggi speaks to the pre-conference about Christ Church Jerusalem
Theresa Newell and David Pileggi

Exhibit table

The New Wineskins conference officially started with the Thursday night plenary followed by an ice cream social in the exhibit hall. We had lots of visitors to our table and made many great connections. Our cardboard cutout of Rev. Philip Bottomley in his Great High Priest costume was a great draw the whole of the conference.    

Philip Bottomley in front of a 2D version of himself as a high priest
Aaron Gann engages with visitors to the CMJ USA table
Alex Jacob, Bishop Neil Lebhar and Marcia Lebhar catch up in the exhibit hall

40th Anniversary Luncheon

Midday Friday, we hosted 100 friends at our 40 th Anniversary L unch with Archbishop Foley Beach. ++ Foley told his personal testimony of learning late in life that he is half Jewish and how this revelation is impacting his life and ministry. He also reviewed the Jewishness of the Gospel story and of Jesus himself and encouraged and exhorted attendees to be motivated by this truth to fight antisemitism in our country and to reach out to our Jewish neighbors in friendship and ministry.  

The m eal ended with Bishop Neil Lebhar hono r ing Theresa Newell for her more than 40 years of faithful service to CMJ USA. Theresa is the founder of CMJ USA , has been an aid and counselor to CMJ USA staff throughout the years , and has help ed thousands of Christians discover Israel through Shoresh Study Tours.  

We missed seeing former directors Rev. Alfred Sawyer, Rev. Canon Daryl Fenton, and Cheryl Gonzeles, who were unable to join  us. Rev. Philip Bottomley and Marcia Lebhar celebrated with us in person.

100 friends attended the 40th anniversary luncheon
Archbishop Foley Beach was our keynote speaker
Bishop Neil Lebhar honors Theresa Newell as Philip Bottomley looks on
Bishop Neil Lebhar and Theresa Newell
Theresa Newell waves as she receives a standing ovation
Archbishop Foley Beach blesses the crowd

Shabbat and other talks

The Friday evening plenary started with a moment to remember the Sabbath. Rev. Joyce Brooks of Beth Messiah Anglican Congregation in Orange County, California, spoke briefly on Shabbat and led all New Wineskins attendees in saying the Sabbath blessings ( wat ch here ) .  

Our two M issions A wareness P resentations were also well attended . We will share those talks by Theresa Newell and Philip Bottomley if we are able to retrieve the live stream recordings. You can read a version of Theresa’s talk by downloading her paper “Jesus Masked” from our website. If you and your congregation are ready to build bridges with your Jewish neighbors , reach out to Philip ( philip.bottomley@cmj-usa.org ) about our Co-Laboring Congregation Program.   

Joyce Brooks prays the shabbat candle lighting blessing
Joyce Brooks leads New Wineskins attendees in the sabbath blessings
Theresa Newell speaks on antisemitic theologies
Philip Bottomley speaks on CMJ USA's co-laboring program

Many thanks to Aaron Gann and other volunteers for faithfully manning the exhibit table throughout the conference. We are also so grateful for the volunteers who showed up an hour early to help us decorate tables for the luncheon. We are so encouraged and blessed by your active partnership with us.   

Please keep praying for us and consider sending us a financial birthday present to finish out this momentous year.

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