Introducing Deacon Shelly Sorem as New Wineskins’ Assistant Director
My faith journey began at an Episcopal church that was meeting in a school. My husband and I began attending this church with our two young daughters because they were known for their kid’s program. The priest said the salvation prayer during one of the services and said, “If you’ve never given your life to Jesus, you can pray along with me and begin today.” I repeated the words he said silently in my head and began following Jesus. The Lord began to give me a hunger for His Word. I began attending Bible studies and Alpha and began serving in the church.
Because of my teaching background, I was asked to work in the children’s ministry program and write Sunday school curriculum for pre-K – 5th grade. The first lesson I was asked to write was on Noah and the rainbow. Because I had never really read the Bible, I had to read and learn about Noah in order to write the lessons for the children. The Lord was gracious to me and had me learning the Bible in order to teach it to the children. After three years I became the youth minister where I served for two years, and my faith continued to grow before we moved to Doha, Qatar, for my husband’s job.
It was in Doha that my faith grew exponentially. Being taken out of my comfort zone had me lean on the Lord in new ways and learn to fully trust Him. I began leading Bible studies, was on the women’s ministry team of the church, and began speaking at women’s conferences and retreats.
When we returned to the States in 2010, I helped plant an Anglican church and served on the staff before being ordained to the deaconate in 2015. Every step of the way, the Lord has guided my faith journey. As a new believer, I was teaching children, and as my faith grew, I began teaching youth. As my faith matured, I began teaching adults.
I attended the Anglican Leadership Institute (ALI) in 2023. It was here that the Lord ignited my passion for global missions. I loved it so much that I volunteered to serve at the next ALI cohort training. It was at ALI #11 that I had a divine appointment with Jenny Noyes. She was looking for a group to undergird the New Wineskins ministry and in particular the New Wineskins Conference in prayer. As the President for the Provincial Council of the Order of the Daughters of the Holy Cross (DHC), I knew I had the group of prayer warriors for her. Daughters began praying for the ministry, I became more involved by becoming a Global Mission Initiative Advocate (GMI) for my diocese, and Daughters joined Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP). At the AGMP meeting in June 2024, I was on a prayer task force, and the monthly email for global missions called Anglicans in Prayer was formed. I jumped in with both feet to help get this prayer initiative started.
As a GMI Advocate, I was introduced to the new Anglican Introduction to Missions (AIM) curriculum. I immediately fell in love with it and had a strong desire to teach it. Because of my heart for Anglican organizations to partner together, I co-led an online course for AIM with the partnership of the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, the NGLI Women’s Leadership Network, and DHC.
My time with Jenny at ALI was definitely a divine appointment. It has led to a treasured friendship and opportunities to work with her in prayer partnership with DHC, as a GMI Advocate, launching Anglicans in Prayer, and teaching the AIM curriculum. As the Lord stirred in my heart a passion for global missions, the opportunities to serve in global missions continued to come forth. I am humbled and excited to join the New Wineskins team as Assistant Director and to work with others who have a heart for the name of Jesus to be taken to the ends of the earth.
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.