Wineskins Update

[Adapted from Matt Dabbs at Kingdom Living.]

Time for an update on what is happening with long-time Restoration Movement resource Wineskins.org. For those of you who haven’t ever heard of it, Wineskins was started as a print magazine by a group that included Rubel Shelly and Steve Diggs.

A second print magazine, Image, was founded by Denny Boultinghouse, working with Reuel Lemmons, the former editor of the Firm Foundation. Image and Wineskins merged and Wineskins eventually became an Internet-only publication.

Over the years, it has been edited by Mike Cope, Greg Taylor, and most recently by Keith Brenton, and Wineskins has been one of the most significant voices in Restoration theology on the web.

Keith has graciously allowed Matt Dabb, Brad Palmore, and I to take the site and rework it into an updated format we believe will continue to serve as a much needed voice within the Restoration Movement. We are appreciative of all those who have put in time, attention, heart, soul and so much more into the site over the years. We are standing on the shoulders of giants!

Matt serves as editor-in-chief. Brad is webmaster. I express opinions.

Here is what Rubel Shelly had to say about the re-launch,

I’m thrilled that “New Wineskins” is in such capable hands! I wish you the best in continuing to urge believers to a bold and responsible faith that is willing to take risks for the sake of the kingdom. In times this challenging, God is calling leaders with bright minds, innovative spirits, and courageous hearts to model and share the truth.

To keep everyone updated on what is happening with the site, we started a Wineskins Facebook page. Please “Like” that page to continue getting updates. The support we have received has been overwhelming. In just 3 weeks over 1,250 people have “liked” the page. Over 5,000 people have viewed the site. Nearly 20,000 people have seen the site referenced on someone’s Facebook page. Those are huge numbers in the world of Church of Christ blogging, and we’re thrilled at this show of support.

To get going, we started a fundraising campaign to raise money to meet the future needs of the site and have already raised nearly $2,000 of our $5,000 goal. If you would like to contribute to this effort you can donate here. 100% of donations will go directly to the re-launch and you can get some perks with various donation amounts, explained in the donate link.

Contributions are not deductible. We’ve not qualified as a 501(c)(3) organization. But the money isn’t going to our pockets. It’s to buy enough server capacity to host all the blogs and the magazine at the volumes we anticipate.

We have been recruiting some of the best talent out there to be featured authors, whose blogs will be hosted via Wineskins.org to help make Wineskins an amazing resource. Here are the bloggers we have on board that have been announced to this point (more on the way!)

Bobby Valentine
Sean Palmer
Jonathan Storment
Paula Harrington
Patrick Mead
Josh Graves
Matt Dabbs
Jay Guin
Brad Palmore

We will continue with monthly themed articles on relevant doctrinal issues, ministry, and congregational challenges.

This is also about forming a safe and loving community where we can discuss what is going on in Christianity, be supported by other Christians, and grow in our knowledge, love, and ministry. And so we also have plans to set up a forum where conversations can take place apart from the blogs and articles.

In addition to all of that, we are going to continue to produce and make available some great resources for churches and Christians to use to encourage spiritual transformation.

If any of this excites you, please “Like” the Facebook page and keep up to date with all of the latest news and updates on Wineskins!