New Wineskins Conference Inspires, Equips a Thousand Anglicans
“We have been called by God, consecrated by the Spirit and commissioned by Christ to take the salvation message of Jesus into all the world.” This encouragement was the message of the Rt. Rev. Rennis Ponniah, Assistant Bishop of Singapore, to some 1,000 participants at the New Wineskins for Global Mission conference held April 11–15 near Asheville, NC.
The triennial conference is sponsored by the New Wineskins Missionary Network, an Anglican Communion Network-affiliated organization. Formerly known as ECMC (Episcopal Church Missionary Community), New Wineskins is based in Ambridge, PA. Since its founding, it has trained 350 Episcopalians for missionary endeavors overseas.
Conference participants learned about a broad spectrum of mission work around the world including reaching Somali Muslims, training local leaders at new Anglican seminaries in Peru, the expanding use of micro-enterprise in missions and the vast mission field of India.
Another plenary speaker was the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Kwashi, a bishop of Jos, Nigeria. He explained why the Anglican Church in Nigeria is experiencing exponential growth. “We have a simple vision for evangelism and discipleship that each member of the church can embrace: the catch phrase ‘one-one-one’ calls for each member to evangelize one person every year, and ‘one-one-three’ calls for each member to disciple one person every three years,” said Kwashi. “If you make up your mind to reach one person for Jesus Christ, then you do. The transforming power to save is from Jesus Christ!”
Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP), the mission-mobilizing arm of the Anglican Communion Network, also took the opportunity to have its bi-annual meeting for two days just after the conference ended. Many representatives of the more than 30 agencies that make up the AGMP staffed exhibits, taught workshops and led plenary sessions during the New Wineskins conference.
Missionary agencies often take advantage of the timing of the New Wineskins conference to gather together their missionaries from around the world. South American Missionary Society (SAMS), an AGMP partner, did just that. “The New Wineskins conference is a wonderful way to enable people in the U.S. who pray for and support missionaries to get to know them and their ministry in a more intimate way,” said Stewart Wicker, President and Mission Director of SAMS. “There is no substitute for face-to-face conversation in building relationships as well as for discerning God’s calling on your life to step further into His global mission.” Another AGMP Partner, Rock the World concurrently held a missions conference called re:mix which attracted 160 young people.
“The opportunity to meet Christians from around the world; the networking that takes place among missionaries, mission agencies and the people in the pews; and the mission commitment of so many people that is deepened by the impact of experiencing this conference are some of the reasons that we continue to hold New Wineskins,” said Sharon Steinmiller, Director of New Wineskins. “Our goal of helping the church to understand that ‘mission is central to the church’s call because God loves the whole world’ was once again realized, and we look forward to seeing the fruit that will be produced from this event in the years to come.”
To follow up on New Wineskins and for those who weren’t able to attend the New Wineskins conference, several smaller regional missions conferences are being held:
Simpsonville, SC – Fri.-Sun., October 12–14, St. George’s APA (Anglican Province of America) Church. Contact: Judy Ellis, rv8builder2@earthlink.net.
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas – Sat., October 27, 2007 from 10–3 at the University of Dallas. Contact: Lollie Twyman, lollie617@aol.com or Diane Stanton, ugandau@sbcglobal.net.
New England area – Spring 2008. Contact: Leah Turner, bryntess@comcast.net.
Newport Beach, CA – Sat., March 29, 2008, St. James Anglican Church. Contact: Fr. Richard Menees, rmenees@stjamesnb.org.
Washington, DC area – Sat., April 19, 2008, All Saints Chevy Chase, Maryland. Contact: missionconf.allsaints@yahoo.com.
Rock the World Student Missions Conference, April 2008. Contact: Whis Hays, whishays@rocktheworld.org.
Save the dates for the next New Wineskins for Global Mission conference: April 7–11, 2010!
Posted 5/4/07