Why You Should Put Your Old Wine in New Wineskins

by Eddie Pipkin

I’m in Virginia this week, visiting with an old friend who has changed things up by moving from the big city to a small bucolic town where she bought a 115-year-old house with great bones and quirky character. This friend has a sophisticated sense of style in all contexts and a natural flair for decorating, so it’s been fun to see how she has repurposed and repositioned her mementos, tchotchkes, and bric-a-brac. It turns out that reinterpreting old, familiar favorites can breathe fresh life into them. And as we always say, what’s true for home décor is true for ministry!

Over the years my friend has carefully curated an engaging assortment of mementos, art, photos, and books. Each item was woven seamlessly into the décor of her previous home, each room worthy of a magazine photo shoot. Each item had its own story, and wandering through her home studying and enjoying them was a portal to having a sense of who she was. And now they are still a portal to who she is, even as that identity is evolving with a new location and a new small town, laid-back vibe. You can’t just recreate the tableaus that served the old space – the two homes are contrasting neighborhoods are nothing alike. Thoughtful deliberation must be given to how precious memories can be transplanted into the new context. And that is exactly what she has successfully done.

The new house, as the design choices, remodeling, and redecorating have come together, is also magazine worthy, of course, but the spirit of the space is transformative. It’s still her in every way, but her for a different season, reflective of all the experiences that have led to this moment while clearly anticipating all the new experiences to come.

One of the things that has been fun about spending time in her new loved and lovely space has been rediscovering the constellation of her collected objects, rearranged and recontextualized. Photos are not only placed in different relationships to types of rooms and furniture arrangements, but they are also grouped differently with other photos and wall art. Books that were housed on one large shelf wall are now distributed on tables and nooks throughout the entire house. Souvenirs and keepsakes that were previously arranged as a themed assemblage are now highlighted as individual featured articles, while former stand-alone items are now combined in new forms that tell new versions of old stories.

Walking through each room and observing, I saw old favorites in a new light (sometimes literally in a new light). Memories were reignited. New stories were stirred. Details I had not fully appreciated before were revealed. Books I had never paid attention to because they were part of an anonymous glut on a shelf became featured players that I eagerly picked up and leafed through.

For those of us trying to bring new life to old ministry initiatives, these principles have power.

Sometimes by shifting elements of those old ministry standbys, we can help people rediscover what they loved about them in the first place, and we can help new people connect with them by seeing them in a slightly new light. Things need a kickstart on occasion.

Even small shifts can provoke big dividends, silly though they may seem on the surface:

Changing the time. Sometimes a shift in the schedule can open up more opportunities for people to participate (whether exciting new leaders or curious new participants). Sometimes the mood is different and more productive on a different day of the week.
Changing the location. A different room, the abandonment of an inside space for an outside space, a shift from a stuffy classroom to the open hospitality of someone’s home: any of these changes can have an impact. If a group moves from a place that’s noisy to a place that’s quiet, the conversation can deepen, and more sharing is natural. Even changing spaces within our main building space can have subtle effects on how we interact – it’s a great experiment, even if done on a temporary basis.
Changing the décor. Nothing breathes new life into an old, familiar space like a major redecoration. It’s a project people can get excited about and work on together to build team spirit. Spaces can move from generic “concrete walls and folding chairs” to having a distinct personality that serves the people who hang out there. If you can’t pull off a major rebrand, add small, thoughtful touches.
Changing the materials. Sometimes it’s the curriculum that needs to changed. New ideas presented in a new format can spark new vitality in a group. Don’t be afraid to consult a wider circle for ideas, and don’t be afraid to test drive some viable options, even unlikely options. It’s important to be sure about what you don’t like as what you do!
Changing the leadership. Sometimes it’s time for a new person to run the show (and it’s a phenomenon in local churches that the person in charge of something may be burned out and ready to step back, but they just aren’t sure how to make that transition happen). Build a culture where leadership rotates, changes as a matter of healthy course, and shares time in different environments (say, leaders do short stints in different silos of influence as guest hosts).

People will inevitably resist such changes, large or small. Even for a struggling activity, there will be a hardcore following that will insist on things staying just like they always have been. Yet, the predictable push-back and drama of the resistance to changes can itself be useful. People, passionately defending the old ways can sometimes reconnect with what got them excited about a program, event, or activity. Perspectives can shift, and new relationships can be built in dealing openly with the hard work of change (even small change).

We all have war stories about our attempts to implement radical change for something that is desperately struggling (see the entry from the blog archive about when things should be allowed to gracefully expire). The key is to inject some healthy, provocative edits in the timeframe when things have lost their luster but aren’t yet spiraling into irrelevance.

Note that the two times when the kinds of changes I’m talking about are introduced tend to be 1) when a program or event has already deteriorated into crisis mode or 2) when a new sheriff is in town, either new pastor, new staff member, or new key volunteer, and they want to change things up for the sake of demonstrating that they have the power to shake things up. Small tweaks and reimaginings should not wait for crisis moments. They should be part of our regular freshening routine.

You will recall the parable of the wineskins from Luke 5:37-39, referenced in this blog title. “You can’t put new wine in old wineskins,” has been cited by many a ministry leader to justify innovation. That’s a straightforward metaphor that makes sense and speaks to our ongoing need to stay relevant to the communities we serve. More obtuse, however, is the last verse of that passage, “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old wine is better.’”

So, you have to put the new wine in new wineskins. But the old wine is still pretty good stuff! So, what happens when we put the old wine in new wineskins? We preserve the best of the old as we’re adapting to the future, maybe even tweaking the flavor of things in interesting ways.

Are you and your team deft at mixing in tweaks and adjustments that keep the old wine fresh? Are you averse to changing things up? Is the culture of your community receptive to reimaginings or a “die on this hill of things will always be this way and this way only” crew? Have you seen examples of small changes paying unexpectedly big dividends or helping you see things in a new light? Share your stories!