New Wineskins 2025 Update
New Wineskins Hope for the Nations: 2025 Conference
Last week, Janna Gilbert and I traveled to Black Mountain, North Carolina for the 2025 New Wineskins Missions Conference. This conference, which occurs every three years, is a gathering of 1,500 Anglican missionaries, missions organizations, clergy, church members, college students, and families from all around the world. In his remarks on Saturday morning, the Most Rev. Steve Wood, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, commented on how incredible it is that the largest gathering of the ANCA is a missions conference. This speaks to the heart of the ACNA’s (as well as Trinity’s!) mission to reach every corner of our local community and the world with the love of Jesus.
I was particularly inspired by how God is working through an organization called Anglican Frontier Mission (AFM). Even though more than 2,000 years have passed since Jesus’ resurrection, there are still nearly 5,000 people groups (over two billion people) who have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. AFM trains, equips, supports, and sends missionaries to love, care for, and share the Good News of Christ in areas where the church does not yet exist. We heard countless stories from AFM missionaries who are using the Prayer Book (the same one we use every Sunday!) to disciple believers from Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, tribal, and secular backgrounds. There are currently hundreds of AFM missionaries serving around the world!
Even after hearing stories of mission work with unreached people groups, it is still easy to turn on the news or scroll through social media and be discouraged by what you see and hear. Headlines often turn our attention to ongoing crises like war and famine in places like South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Nigeria. If we are honest with ourselves, I believe there are moments in all our lives when we see these stories and question where God is in all of them.Despite these stories and feelings, I left New Wineskins feeling more encouraged about
the state of the global church than ever before. The Holy Spirit is indeed moving in incredible ways despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. As one Anglican bishop in a war-torn region of Nigeria explained, the light of the Gospel shines brightest when everything around us is the darkest.
I’ll share just a few examples of the amazing places where the light of the Gospel is shining and growing. In Uganda, Uganda Christian University (which the ANCA and our diocese has supported for long time) has grown from 600 total students in 1999 to having a graduating class of 986 students in 2023. Through the work of one priest in Nigeria, 119 Muslims came to faith in Christ despite threats of violence from groups like
Boko Haram. The Archbishop of Rwanda shared about how the Anglican churches throughout Africa are working together equip the next generation of church leaders, educators, healthcare workers, and so many others to proclaim the Gospel in their local communities.
So, what can we as a church learn from this and what can we do going forward?
First, be encouraged! Despite what you see and hear, be confident that God is at work in incredible ways throughout the world. Also, be encouraged by the fact that our church is part of a Global, Anglican fellowship that is striving to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Second, pray. I would encourage you to explore the New Wineskins and AFM websites and pray for the names of the people and organizations you see. I would also invite you to pray for Trinity as we discern how we can form long-term partnerships with organizations, churches, or missionaries both locally and abroad.
Lastly, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider how God is calling you to the mission field. I’m not saying you need to hop on the next plane to a foreign country! There are so many people in our own neighborhoods who haven’t had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. Jesus calls us to answer the call of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 in many unique ways both abroad and locally.
In all, I am so excited about how God is at work at Trinity, in our community, and across the world. If you’d like to hear more stories from New Wineskins or would simply like to talk about missions and outreach, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me!
In Christ,
Matt+ (matt @ trinityburke . com)