Who We Are

What we believe
New Wine, New Wineskins emphasizes setting tables and building bridges. The Triune God we worship loves table fellowship. The Father, Son, and Spirit dwell in eternal loving and holy communion, creating the world so that we might participate in their glorious fellowship. This infinitely personal and relational God formed humanity in his image. The Bible is God’s own authoritative and true written word, communicating to us who he is and how we should live in light of his identity and loving actions towards us.
The Bible teaches that God’s ultimate call on our lives is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves. However, it also teaches that we have turned away from God and our neighbors and turned in on ourselves. Selfish love has replaced selfless love, which proves destructive to all creaturely life. But God longs to restore relationship with us and transform humanity and the world so that we might experience shalom, which is God’s just, equitable, and dignifying peace. Thus, God sent his Son into the world in the power of the Spirit to rebuild the relational bridge and invite us back to table fellowship. Jesus, who is fully God, became fully human, yet without sin. Endowed with the Spirit, he alone loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself. Through the eternal Spirit, he shares his life with us and transforms us from the inside out so that we might experience eternal life here and now. He became what we were and identified fully with us in our broken and messed up condition. He longs to take us to himself, absorb our guilt and shame, remove our sense of isolation and alienation, and fill us with God’s Spirit of holy love. As we respond and turn back to God through faith, we enter communion with God and fellow believers as Jesus’ people. Jesus calls the church—his new wine, new wineskins community—to stretch itself as God pours his love into our hearts through the Spirit so that we will share that love with others. The church is Jesus’ upside-down kingdom community and identifies with the widow, orphan, and stranger in their distress. God’s love compels us to lay down our lives for others and invite all people to experience God’s shalom and taste God’s goodness rather than exist forever in hellish isolation and alienation. In dependence on God’s Son and the Spirit, we build relational bridges and set tables in pursuit of God’s just, equitable, lasting, joyful peace in diverse unity. We live in view of the day when Jesus returns and transforms our lives and our world. We long for the day when we will dwell together with whomever will come and dine with the Father, Son and Spirit at their heavenly kingdom table forever.
NEW WINE, NEW WINESKINS
New Wine, New Wineskins exists to mobilize local churches and other Christian organizations to share effectively the good news of the Father, Son and Spirit’s just love and peace, foster meaningful dialogue with diverse communities, and identify and serve marginalized populations against the backdrop of increasing cultural divisions. New Wine provides consultation and training in such difficult areas as race and class, sexuality and gender, faith and science, and religious pluralism. The goal of New Wine’s work is to help equip generations of Jesus’ followers to extinguish hate, intolerance and misunderstanding and maximize grace and truth for human flourishing in our world today.
Our Mission
Transforming the church’s conflicts, both within the church and with the surrounding culture, into opportunities for unity through the Triune God’s grace and truth.
Our Vision
Jesus’ followers will be known for their healing impact in matters of cultural conflict and their support of marginalized people.
Our Values
- Love Reflecting the posture of the Father, Son and Spirit (the Triune God) in engaging culture.
- Truth Articulating a biblical understanding of God, humanity, and creation.
- Civility Approaching areas of conflict with tenacious grace and an inquisitive posture.
- Common Good Pursuing diverse partnerships in areas of conflict with others from across the cultural spectrum for human flourishing.
- Advocacy Following God’s command to care for all manner of marginalized people groups.
History
Japanese bridges, Bridgetown, iconic tables, and potlucks adorn New Wine’s imagination and our history and story to the present day. If you look closely, you can find a table/bridge and an “n” and “w” in the New Wine logo. The brushstroke look of the logo embodies a scratchy, gritty, stretchable quality that is required of those who would be new wineskins through which Jesus pours out his new wine.
New Wine Team
The New Wine team includes a diverse and collaborative group of faculty, coordinators, leaders, and consultants.




MINISTRY COUNCIL

Philip Berlin
Philip Berlin
Phil Berlin, a son of Jamaican immigrants, was born and raised in Northeast Portland and is a husband and father. He has served in various ministry roles in Northeast Portland, primarily in African-American churches. Over the past 20 years, he has worked in banking and finance, while completing a Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Divinity degrees from Multnomah University. During his studies, he has developed a heart for Old Testament biblical theology, trinitarian thought, and African-American church history. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree from Portland Seminary focusing on the theological and cultural impact of the African-American Church in the city of Portland.

Paul Lyda
Paul Lyda
Paul serves as Senior Chaplain for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (OR).
He is an ordained minister in good standing with the Oregon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and a rostered member chaplain with the International Conference of Police Chaplains and Public Safety Chaplaincy .
Prior to the call to be a full-time law enforcement chaplain, Reverend Lyda served as an Associate Pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, OR. In addition to preaching, teaching, and pastoral care responsibilities, he supported congregational efforts surrounding missions, outreach, and evangelism. This work sought to better encourage, equip, and empower everyone to compassionately serve their neighbors everywhere in response to Jesus’ call to go love our world.
Over the past several years he has pursued and developed collaborative partnerships with: New Wine, New Wineskins (Multnomah Seminary); Union Gospel Mission (Portland); City of Beaverton; Beaverton School District; Institute for Christian-Muslim Understanding; Family Promise (Beaverton); Compassion Connect; and, Medical Teams International (MTI).
Paul is certified in Mental Health First Aid and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). He believes a thoughtful approach to faith-based, trauma-informed ministry is especially needed in conflicted, chaotic, and grief-stricken lives. He received his Master of Divinity (MDiv) from George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Paul also serves on the Board of Directors for the Union Gospel Mission of Portland, as well as the Advisory Council for Public Safety Chaplaincy, and the Ministry Council for New Wine, New Wineskins.
Paul is blessed to be a husband to Keri (married for 25 years) and a father to their four daughters, Emma, Abby, Olivia, and Molly. He considers it an honor to be known as “abu el banat,” which means “father of daughters” in Arabic. It is through a God-breathed and Spirit-filled faith, Paul echoes the psalmist, singing to the Lord, “Because your love is better than life, I will praise you” (Psalm 63:3, NCV).

James Sang
James Sang
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in late 1956, James’ childhood was fairly carefree, having been sheltered from the harsh realities of life by parents who worked hard and long hours, running their restaurant. His parents had relocated there from China, sometime after the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949. And the Dominican Republic certainly had its share of political uncertainty, but still James was insulated from those challenges. That came to an end, with the Dominican Civil War in 1965.
James, two of his brothers, and his parents settled in Portland, OR in September 1965, then were joined by two older brothers and two older sisters in the summer of 1966. Over the next few years, all the children attended schools in the Portland area, and their parents tried to operate their own restaurant, finally succeeding after a few attempts. As American culture became more theirs, they all continued schooling and working together in the family businesses. James graduated from Oregon State University in June 1979 and rejoined the family restaurant. After the business was sold in 1981, James was employed by IBM, progressing through a number of positions.
In August 1984, at his 10-year high school reunion (Tigard High School), James connected with a former classmate, Trudi Cleveland. They began dating in January 1985, became engaged in March 1986, then were married in August 1986. Their son Luke was born in February 1988, and their first adopted daughter Eliza was born in August 1992, joining the family the day after her birth.
Trudi had returned to regular church attendance, and it was agreed that the children would be raised with Christian values. It would be another few years, but James eventually became convinced to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, in November 1995. Their second adopted daughter joined them in September 1996. Through the next few years, James absorbed more of God’s Way, and came to embrace and enjoy serving. A foster daughter joined the family in July 2004, staying until January 2016.
After Trudi began studies at Multnomah Seminary in 2010, James accompanied her to New Wine New Wineskins activities, such as the weekend retreats, the semi-annual conferences held on the university campus, and the cross-cultural dinners with Zen Buddhists. James credits this participation for the greater recent growth in his faith and in his acceptance of the responsibility that comes with following Christ seriously, representing Him with love and compassion.

Trudi Sang
Trudi Sang
Trudi Sang serves as New Wine, New Wineskins Advisory Council Co-Chair and New Wine Disability Advocate. She is also Director of Care and Serve at NW Christian Church Tigard Campus, President of Interfaith Disability Network of Oregon, Delta Kappa Gamma Beta Beta Chapter Committee Lead (community and school supports), and member of the Early Learning Washington County Steering Committee as a faith representative.
Trudi has received her Master’s in Education with a focus on Early Children and minor in Special Education from the University of Oregon, and her Master of Divinity in Chaplaincy from Multnomah University. She is currently in the process of obtaining a Doctor of Ministry in Cultural Engagement from Multnomah University. Trudi Sang serves on a variety of community networks that address education and the needs of the community. She is a volunteer for the Portland Rose Festival Clowns and has been awarded Clown of the Year in 2018 by Clowns of America International. Trudi is married to James Sang. They have one biological son who has been diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome (exhibits similar to autism), two adopted girls who are half-sisters, and a foster daughter. Trudi and James love going to and serving at their church camp, Camp Wi-Ne-Ma on the Oregon coast. They also have a passion for short term missions for families with special needs children; they have served and supported children in Romania and Ukraine.

Tom Schiave
Tom Schiave
Encouraging followers of Jesus to enjoy the Father, build others in their faith, and engage in creative, culture-making ministries gets Tom out of bed every morning. For 44 years, He has been immersed in church ministry as a youth pastor, college pastor, associate pastor, and lead pastor in seven churches. He has also served as president of a regional association of churches. He teaches at retreats, conferences, and churches throughout the West and has coached varsity football and lacrosse. Tom has been an Instructor in Pastoral Ministries and Spiritual Formation at Multnomah Biblical Seminary for 24 years. When not shepherding at Gateway Church or teaching at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Tom can be found with his wife, Kathy, hiking in the Gorge, watching the waves at the Oregon Coast, or taking in a movie at one of the area theaters. He also enjoys a good plate of pasta, a round of golf and taking his granddaughter, Aubree Dawn, to the mailbox.

Jim Sequeira
Jim Sequeira
Jim is Native Hawaiian who grew up on the big island of Oregon in Salem. He is married to Glenna and they have two married adult kids and two grandchildren. Jim lives and pastors in Vancouver, WA the ancestral land and waterways of the Chinook Peoples. He received his M.Div from Western Seminary, an M.A. in Intercultural Studies from the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies, ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church and pastors at Cascade View Covenant Church in Vancouver. Jim’s been involved with addressing issues of justice, mercy and racial righteousness at local, conference and denominational levels. He was also involved with the work of the ECC’s passing of the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. He serves on the board for Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice. Jim has a love and passion for his Hawaiian culture as well as the culture and stories of Native American and other Indigenous Peoples. Jim also enjoys playing music, wood carving, building models and is a Star Wars and Sci-Fi geek.

Desiree Titus
Desiree Titus
Music, coffee, and relationships between people, the Godhead, and beliefs give depth to Desiree’s days.
Desiree grew up in the Christian faith in a bilingual, multiracial, multiethnic American family with deep roots in the Pacific Northwest. Her experience living in the American Southwest around people from across the US and the world contributed to her drive to discover “the ‘why’ behind the ‘what,’” as she often puts it. It also added to her passion for clear communication.
Since she was a young child, Desiree has been and continues to be involved in ministry and leadership in formal and informal ways. This has included work with worship music teams, youth groups, the elderly, those experiencing homelessness and other trauma, international students, recent immigrants, and community members.
She is continually more convinced of the need for practicality and practice to be wedded to Godly principles. She believes that since we are made in the image of God, the “living out” of our faith is done in light of the nature of God, understanding the relationship between the Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, truly loving God and others just as God does. She finds this a beautifully challenging and rewarding experience and invites others in her spheres of influence to seek it as well.
Desiree and her husband Sam are parallel entrepreneurs, home educators, and homemakers, and have been married over a decade. They have four children, live with the younger three of them, and fondly remember their firstborn daughter, who was stillborn at 31 weeks.
When not searching for peace and quiet in her downtime, Desiree can be found reading, talking with people, enjoying the great outdoors while hiking, gardening, or picnicking, and brainstorming with her husband and kids. She also enjoys food from around the world.

Cody Whittington
Cody Whittington
Cody Whittington serves as the Lead Pastor for The Table Community, a highly relational and non-traditional church in Belgrade, MT. Cody has eleven years of pastoral ministry experience in student ministry, worship, discipleship, and church planting. He and his wife, Christie, have three kids, Cove, Maggie, and Audrey. They moved from Georgia in 2017 to help start The Table but are originally from Texas. Currently, Cody is concluding his doctorate of ministry in Cross-Cultural Engagement and the Church at Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He is looking forward to starting his Ph.D., where he will concentrate on the work of Leslie Newbigin. Cody enjoys teaching on the intersection of theology, culture, and the church. In his free time, he enjoys the outdoor fun of Montana with his family.

CJ Young
CJ Young
CJ Young is the Senior Pastor at Adventure of Faith Church in Port Orchard, Washington. In his current position, he coordinates teams for both local and global outreach, heads up various Christian education opportunities, facilitates leadership development in addition to regular senior pastor duties (counseling, teaching, staff development, preaching/teaching, etc.).
It took a long time for C.J. to enter into full-time pastoral ministry, but he has been doing it for most of his life as a volunteer. Vocationally he has worked as a Nuclear Marine Electrician, an inner-city school teacher, and an Instructional Coach for teachers. C.J. has an A.T.A. in Nuclear Marine Electronics, a B.A. in Education, and an M.Div. from Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
C.J.’s personal calling in life is to help people become the people God has called them to be, and he lives that out in his current vocation by providing creative opportunities for discipleship, for conversations concerning cultural engagement, leadership development, and biblical instruction in various contexts. He is passionate about pursuing missional, biblical community. He loves serving the community he is in all the different ways he gets to serve them, but his greatest joy is the day-to-day conversations with people seeing how God is working in their everyday lives. C.J. is married to his wife, Jennifer, and has four biological children (Jack, Henry, Calvin, and Joanna Grace) and two bonus daughters (Haley and Allyson).
Board of Directors

Cliff Chappell
Cliff Chappell
Cliff Chappell is married to Diana since Nov 1975 (celebrating 46+ years) and lives in Vancouver, Washington. He has been in ministry for 40+ years including 35+ years as senior pastor. He currently serves as the pastor of the St. Johns All Nations Church Of God In Christ in Portland, Oregon, a multi-Cultural/Multi-Ethnic Church. Pastor Chappell has spent his life as a community activist working to promote strong family values for the good of the community.
Pastor Chappell, a US Navy (Vietnam) Veteran, has a BS in Civil/Structural Engineering, a Master of Divinity Degree, and is completing a Doctor of Ministry in Cross Cultural Engagement from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. He is a Trustee on the Board of Directors for Multnomah University. He also works with the National director to develop the online training for the CH Mason Jurisdictional Institutes for the Church of God in Christ, as well as serves as the Western States Dean. In addition, he is the Founder and Director of Man-Up, a community outreach program that addresses Domestic, Sexual and Gang Violence by healing the “Soul Trauma” in men and women, and recently serves on The Council of Trust for The Oregon Cares Fund.
For his activist work with the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Pastor Cliff received their distinguished Midori Award for Leadership in May 2018. He is the only man and only Pastor to receive this award in their 40+ year history. He was the facilitator at the call to action for the “Not One More Drop” gang intervention program with City of Portland, Multnomah County, Gang Violence Task Force, and the Gang Enforcement Unit with the Multnomah Co. Court System; and for his leadership within and out of the church, his work as a faith leader in the community, and his work as a community activist, Pastor Cliff was recognized in 2014 by the Church of God In Christ as one of their ‘100 Influential Pastors.’

David Greenidge
David Greenidge
Pastor David Greenidge has been the Senior Pastor at Tigard Covenant Church for over 12 years. He is married to Trish Greenidge and has three sons, Kyon, Timothy, and Michael. Pastor David was born and raised in New York City and moved to the west coast. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Washington. He attended Fuller Theological Seminary and George Fox Seminary. He is an ordained Minister with the Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination with which Tigard Covenant is affiliated. He served on the New Wine, New Wineskins Advisory Council several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of making a difference in the community in cultural engagement around key issues of justice and the environment. Pastor David says, “My respect for Paul Metzger has continued to grow over the years and I look forward to continued service and ministry with him and the New Wine community.”
Pastor David has a love of sports, the outdoors, and meeting and socializing with people of diverse backgrounds.

Randy Grove
Randy Grove
T. Randall Grove is a shareholder and chair of the trust and estate group at Landerholm, P.S., in Vancouver, Washington where he has practiced law since 1982. Randy is a member of the bar associations for Washington and Oregon; he is also a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and is serving as a Regent for ACTEC. He has also served as ACTEC state chair for Washington and as chair of the ACTEC Business Planning Committee. Randy’s practice focuses on wealth preservation and transfer planning, as well as estate and trust administration. He also advises nonprofit organizations and serves on planned giving committees for several nonprofits in Vancouver. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Trusts and Estates and in annual listings of Washington State Super Lawyers since 2005. He received his B.A. from Seattle Pacific University, his J.D. from Willamette University and his LL.M., in Taxation from New York University. Randy and his wife, Julie, live in Vancouver, Washington and they have 4 young adult children. Randy has been involved at New Heights Church for over 33 years in a variety of serving, leadership and teaching capacities. He is currently serving on the Board of the New Heights Clinic. Randy is also involved in small groups in various venues (including church, workplace, community and professional organizations) that help others grow in faith as followers of Jesus.

Will Haag
Will Haag
Will Haag loves Jesus, his wife (Stephanie), and their two daughters. Formerly an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, Will currently pastors a dinner church in central Washington. During his time at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Will was extensively involved with New Wine, New Wineskins while serving as an intern, student coordinator, and advisory council member. Will holds a DMin from Seattle University and his passions include practical theology and the burgeoning Dinner Church Movement.

Ross Halbach
Ross Halbach
Ross is an alum of Multnomah University who was deeply impacted by New Wine beginning with his time in seminary. He went on from Multnomah to complete a PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He later revised and published his research under the title Bonhoeffer and the Racialized Church. He currently works as the Chief Financial Officer for a Japanese Outdoor Camping brand. As part of New Wine’s board of directors, he enjoys combining his experiences in the business world with New Wine’s impulses to build better dialogue around pressing issues within the Christian church and beyond it.

Paul Louis Metzger
Paul Louis Metzger
Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the Founder and Director of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins and Professor of Christian Theology & Theology of Culture at Multnomah University and Seminary. Dr. Metzger is also the editor of New Wine’s journal Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture. Integrating theology and spirituality with cultural sensitivity stands at the center of Dr. Metzger’s ministry vision. He and his wife, Mariko, a native of Japan, have been active in intercultural ministry in churches in the States, Japan, and England.
Dr. Metzger is the author of Setting the Spiritual Clock: Sacred Time Breaking Through the Secular Eclipse (Cascade, 2020); Beatitudes, Not Platitudes: Jesus’ Invitation to the Good Life (Cascade, 2018); Evangelical Zen: A Christian’s Spiritual Travels With a Buddhist Friend (Patheos, 2015); Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths (Thomas Nelson, May 2012); New Wine Tastings: Theological Essays of Cultural Engagement (Cascade, 2011); The Gospel of John: When Love Comes to Town (InterVarsity Press, 2010); Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (co-authored with Brad Harper; Brazos, 2009); Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church (Eerdmans, 2007); and The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Sacred and Secular through the Theology of Karl Barth (Eerdmans, 2003). He is co-editor of A World for All?: Global Civil Society in Political Theory and Trinitarian Theology (co-edited with William F. Storrar and Peter J. Casarella; Eerdmans, 2011); and editor of Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (T&T Clark International, 2005).
Dr. Metzger is a member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey, and Senior Mission Scholar in Residence, Spring 2018 at the Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut. The Metzgers have two children and one grandchild. He has a keen interest in the art of Katsushika Hokusai and Georges Rouault, the writings of John Steinbeck, and the music of Johnny Cash, The Doors, and Nirvana. Dr. Metzger blogs frequently at Uncommon God, Common Good. Dr. Metzger’s present research projects include a forthcoming volume on social ethics inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s personalist philosophy and public theology, most notably Dr. King’s prophetic critique of the Vietnam War.

Sudha Peethala
Sudha Peethala
Sudhanand Frederick Peethala was brought up in a Christian home. His father, Professor Augustus Frederick, taught at several Christian seminaries in India such as Serampore University and Hindustan Bible Institute. Sudha moved to Finland at the age of 19 and worked in the IT field for about 4 years before moving back to India in 2000. He was the Principal of Bethel School from 2001 to 2003, at which time he moved to the US to attend Bible college. He graduated from Multnomah Biblical Seminary with a Masters in Pastoral Studies with an emphasis on Ministry Management. He has since worked for several organizations, such as the Luis Palau Association and the Director of Passion4People and Gospel Light worldwide (India). After working for about 3 years with several organizations, Sudha attended George Fox University to pursue an MBA and graduated in July 2010. He since has been serving at India International Church as a youth/associate pastor, worship leader, and now as a current senior pastor at IIC . He also serves as the Vice President of Information Technology at Clark College.
Sudha is passionate about teaching the Bible, discipling, and helping others build genuine, healthy Christ- centered relationships. He takes immense interest in building efficient IT teams, processes, and strategies to provide quality IT services. Sudha and his wife, Monica, are blessed with three daughters – Alena Dasha, Anina Raksha and Avina Varsha.
Sudha’s Walk of Faith in Christ
At the age of 22 while I was lost in a world filled with darkness in form of wealth and desires of the flesh, and God being rich in his mercy, because of His love for me brought me back to life and clearly revealed the need for a Savior in my life. How true it is as mentioned in Ephesians 2:5, that while I was dead in my transgressions, God brought me to back to life through His son Jesus Christ. While I was still a sinner, Christ died for me, for all my sins of the past, present and future. It is this unfathomable love of God that I stand in awe of everyday. I stand in awe of His mercies that are new every morning and His love that endures forever.
I believe that my Lord, who began a good work in my life, will be faithful to bring His work to completion in my life. I rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s scripture to teach, correct, and train me to walk in righteousness.
Through the revelation of scriptures I know that I am royal priesthood, God’s own special possession chosen to declare the praises of him who called me out of darkness into his wonderful light. It is this light that shines in me that persuades me as an associate pastor and youth pastor to radiate the life of Christ and bring glory to my Father in heaven.
I primarily identify myself as a disciple of Christ and as a disciple I desire to:
- Live a life that reflects Christ’s character and His love to people.
- Build purpose filled relationships to glorify God.
- Disciple people into a mature walk with Christ.
- Unite people in Christ regardless of religion, ethnicity, and social class.
My spiritual gifts are teaching, leadership and serving. I desire to use all these gifts to the fullest to radiate the light of Christ into the life of other men and women. I envision every individual being involved in pouring into other’s lives to transform others and draw them towards a relationship with Christ. It is the light of Christ in an individual that radiates the person of Christ to another individual. My prayer and dream is to radiate the light of Christ to people of every nation, tribe and tongue, beginning with our neighbors here in our community.

Jody Rutherford
Jody Rutherford
Born in the Midwest and raised in California, Jody arrived in Portland at age 20 to attend Multnomah University, graduating in 1980 with a BS in Biblical Education. Her passion for education and commitment to being a life-long learner led her next to Lewis & Clark College for a Master of Arts in Teaching. She was an educator for thirty-four years, serving in a variety of roles in three districts and two universities until her retirement in 2017.
In the final six years of her career, Jody served on a multi-racial team of teachers who facilitated workshops on racial equity and culturally responsive teaching. Part of what led her to that work was participating in discussions about race at her church, Imago Dei Community, beginning in 2008. Through these discussions both at church and at work, she began challenging her colorblind upbringing and started asking herself the question posed by author Robin DiAngelo: “What does it mean to be white in a society that proclaims race meaningless, yet is profoundly separated by race?” Jody was drawn to New Wine many years ago because of how they engaged the topic of racial justice through a Christian lens and with a bridge-building approach.
Jody and her husband Alan have one young-adult son. They’ve recently experienced the joy of becoming grandparents. In addition to spending time with their new grandson, they enjoy biking, gardening, road trips, meals with friends, playing music together (Alan on French horn and Jody on flute), and being marriage mentors at their church.

Rod Sawatsky
Rod Sawatsky
Rod Sawatsky is a graphic designer and lettering artist with over 25 years of experience building brands for both commercial and nonprofit organizations. His creative curiosity has led him through a wide range of creative disciplines to find solutions for a variety of clients. A compelling attraction towards the beauty of Christ shapes both his creative pursuits and theological ideas. After growing up as a missionary kid in the Congo (DRC) and working with his father to establish a media center there, he worked as a freelance designer in Canada for over 15 years. He now lives with his wife and 4 kids in Canby, OR.

Gloria Young
Gloria Young
Gloria Young has over 25 years of experience working in the public sector and as a management consultant in both the public and private sectors. Young was appointed by Governor Newsom to the California Workforce Force Development Agency in 2019. Young is a member of the Board of Directors of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins, and a past member of the Advisory Council. She served as the Clerk to the Board and Legislative Administrator for the City and County of San Francisco, worked for the City of Palo Alto, and held elected office on the Santa Clara Board of Education. Ms. Young created and developed the first-ever Shadowing Program for organizations which is now used by municipalities in the United States and internationally and also created the Human Advocacy (HA) Model which embraces how people relate to one another including addressing racial biases. Her management achievements have been captured in several books and Ms. Young is also the author of Knowledge Management Tales—The Tale of Two Cities from San Francisco to Johannesburg.
Consultants to the Board

David Austin
David Austin
David Austin is the Director of Strategic Partnerships with the UN World Food Programme where he works with US based foundations, organizations and private sector leaders to accelerate the momentum of economic development to help end global hunger.
Prior to coming to WFP, David worked as a Program Director with the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust after a career doing business development in Oregon, China and Nepal; he worked for the State Department in the Middle East, and while at Mercy Corps led a consortium of non-profit organizations working on food relief in North Korea. He has served in various leadership and board roles on numerous non-profit organizations, and private companies. David is a strong advocate for American humanitarian leadership, and investing in young people to secure a robust and stable future. David received his MBA at the University of Portland, Oregon; a Masters of Liberal Arts from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland; and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington. David and his wife are raising their five children in the Portland area alongside a community of friends.

Brett Bryant
Brett Bryant
Brett is a Managing Director for Midwest Trust Company. He specializes in assisting affluent clients with asset management, philanthropic planning, tax planning, and family estate planning matters. Previously, Brett was the Director of Wealth Management for Heritage Bank, Chief Relationship Officer at First Independent Bank and City Executive for Private Banking at Bank of America.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Oregon Institute of Technology and is an Honors graduate of both the National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University and the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. He is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA).
His community activities have included Chair of the Community Foundation for SW Washington, Board Member for Peace Health, Board Chair of the Clark County Food Bank and Board Chair of the Lighthouse Financial Foundation.

Tripp Graziano
Tripp Graziano
Tripp lives in Greensboro, NC with his wife Marcella and two kids. Up to this point in his life he has spent equal time in ministry and in starting multiple small businesses. He is a graduate of Multnomah Biblical Seminary (2018), and had the privilege of studying under Dr. Paul Metzger and Dr. Brad Harper during his time there. After seeing how New Wine shares the goodness of Jesus Christ with contemporary culture while in Portland, Tripp and Marcella were drawn to the mission and especially the people involved. Since then they have prayed to see New Wine spread to other regions, including their hometown in North Carolina. They are excited to see this prayer becoming a reality…

Tom Krattenmaker
Tom Krattenmaker
Tom Krattenmaker is a writer specializing in religion and values in public life and author of Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower (Convergent, 2016), honored as one of the top two religion books of the year by the Religion News Association. His first book, Onward Christian Athletes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), examined Christianity in professional sports. The book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and was named a winner in ForeWord Review’s 2009 book awards and a finalist in the Oregon Book Awards. Krattenmaker’s second book, The Evangelicals You Don’t Know (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013), on the “new evangelicals” in post-Christian America, received honorable mention in the best books competition of the Religion Newswriters Association. After nearly 20 years as a contributing columnist for USA Today, Krattenmaker in 2022 became a columnist for the new media platform OnlySky. He has been a presenter at New Wine conferences, has been interviewed for New Wine podcasts, and has written for New Wine’s Cultural Encounters.
New Wine, New Wineskins hosts conferences and events in-person and virtually. We share digital content via video, social media, podcast, blog, and our academic journal, Cultural Encounters. If you would like to get involved, we invite you to pray with us, donate to our nonprofit, and reach out if you are interested in volunteering.