Announcing the Launch of the Anglican Introduction to Missions Curriculum
New Wineskins Missionary Network is excited to announce the launch of our first global mission curriculum: An Anglican Introduction to Missions (AIM)! The course AIMs to highlight the rich theological, historical, cultural, and strategic aspects of global missions with a focus on the Anglican Communion. The purpose, intention, or AIM of this training is for every Jesus follower in the Anglican Church in North America to be meaningfully engaged with the frontiers of missions by praying, welcoming, sending, supporting, or going to those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Matt Foster and the Rev. Bev Mueffelmann leading the AIM course at the 2024 spring Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP) meeting.
AIM is a six-week introductory course co-authored through the hard work of The Rev. Matt Foster, Global Mission Initiative Advocate from the Anglican Diocese of Christ Our Hope, and The Rev. Bev Mueffelmann, Global Mission Initiative Advocate from the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas. The AIM curriculum’s layout and design were professionally produced by our graphic designer, Ken Venable.
The course provides both a Teacher Guide and a Student Book with six accessible, 45-minute sessions (with an option for 1-hour sessions) for use in a small group, Sunday school, personal study, an online study, or as a one-day intensive event. These lessons require minimal preparation on the part of the instructor and no preparation on the part of the student. Because the Teacher Guide is highly informative, it is easy for anyone to facilitate this study.
There are many additional resources that accompany the teacher and student guides including engaging 3- to 5-minute informational videos for each session about global missions. There are also multiple pdfs with additional statistics, research, history, prayer guides, and tools along with helpful websites. The New Wineskins’ website hosts a companion page (newwineskins.org/aim) for both the Teacher Guide and the Student Book that puts all the resources in one place which makes teaching and following along in the Student Book easy!
Every follower of Jesus has been set free from sin and death, has been adopted into God’s family, and is now living as part of God’s Kingdom. Yet, not all Christians are living in the fullness of God’s global purposes. God has been working in all of history to bring all peoples to himself, and he has called everyone who follows him to join him in that work.
Genesis 12:1-3 teaches us that Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the nations. Many of us use the phrase “blessed to be a blessing,” but we leave out the rest. We are blessed to be a blessing to the nations! Our view of our role in God’s Kingdom is too narrow. We see ourselves as being “blessed to be a blessing” to our neighbors, our church, or our community, and we leave out the greater impact. We are blessed to be a blessing to our neighbors, churches, and communities, but it doesn’t end there. We are blessed to be a blessing to the nations, and each one of us has a part to play.
God’s kingdom plan is to take the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth and, through this study, you will learn what your part could be. You will be equipped with information to know how to engage in global missions. You will learn about the history, the cultural aspects, as well as the state, of global missions today. This study will challenge you, inform you, and inspire you.
Understanding global missions and the task remaining in world evangelization are crucial to Christian discipleship and church growth. This would be an ideal study during Epiphany leading up to World Mission Sunday on February 23 to encourage prayer and engagement in global missions in your congregation!
The AIM curriculum can be purchased on Amazon. The student guide is $12: Order Here and the teacher guide is $20: Order Here. A Kindle or digital version will be available on Amazon soon as well. If you are interested in using the course overseas or translating it into another language, please contact us at aim@newwineskins.org.
Deacon Shelly Sorem serves in the Diocese of Western Gulf Coast. She has a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She serves on the Women’s Leadership Network, which is part of the Next Generation Leadership Initiative, and on her diocesan women’s ministry team, and she is a Global Mission Initiative Advocate in her diocese. She has served on the Provincial Council for the Order of the Daughters of the Holy Cross as president and previously vice president for the past six years. Shelly’s heart is to see the name of Jesus taken to the ends of the earth. She is active in leading women’s conferences and retreats nationally and internationally. She loves to see organizations in the Anglican communion partner with one another to further the kingdom of God. She and Bill have been married for 33 years, have two wonderful daughters, two great sons-in-law and three precious granddaughters.