Hope for the Nations: New Wineskins Missions Network
For more than 50 years, New Wineskins Missions Network has been at the forefront of a global Anglican missions movement, passionately committed to advancing the Kingdom of God by equipping Anglicans for authentic, cross-cultural partnership. The network finds its roots in the Great Commission:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20
New Wineskins exists to inspire, equip, and connect the Anglican Church for active participation in God’s global mission.
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The Story of New Wineskins
But how did New Wineskins get its start? New Wineskins’ founders, Walter and Louise Hannum, served as Episcopal missionaries in Alaska for 20 years, training the first-ever Indians and Eskimos for the Episcopal priesthood. In 1973, while attending Fuller Theological Seminary’s School for World Mission, their teacher and mentor, Dr. Ralph Winter, urged them to start a mission society in the Episcopal Church. Episcopal Church Missionary Community (ECMC), the first voluntary Anglican/Episcopal mission society in North America, was born on December 27, 1974.
Continuing Leadership and Mission
Sharon Steinmiller, a former missionary to China, joined the Hannums on the ECMC staff in 1986 as Assistant to the Director and became Executive Director in 1994, where she served for 22 years. In 2003, Sharon helped establish the Anglican Global Mission Partners (AGMP), a network of missions agencies and ministries, churches, dioceses, and seminaries. Now, that network is called New Wineskins Anglican Partners, and its membership has grown to over 60 missional entities. ECMC officially changed its name to New Wineskins Missionary Network in 2005 and to New Wineskins Missions Network in 2025. The name draws inspiration from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 9:
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:16-17 (NIV)
Upon Sharon’s retirement in 2016, Jenny Noyes became the third Executive Director. Over the past decade, Jenny has further expanded New Wineskins’ global impact by presenting at international gatherings of Anglicans such as GAFCON, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, and the Diocese of Singapore’s Missions Roundtable Consultation. Jenny believes everyone has a role in God’s global mission and wants to support Anglicans worldwide in finding their part to play.
A Vital Connector for Mission
Unlike many denominations, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) does not have a centralized missions department. This is where New Wineskins steps in—with vision, strategy, and a strong foundation of prayer. New Wineskins acts as a vital connector between sending agencies, dioceses, churches, missional ministries, provinces, and individuals across the ACNA and throughout the broader Anglican Communion.
New Wineskins’ mission is simple, but urgent: to help every Anglican find their role in fulfilling the Great Commission, whether by going to the mission field, sending and supporting missionaries, or praying for cross-cultural workers. Jenny Noyes says, “If we as Anglicans aren’t raising up and supporting Anglican missionaries, who will?”
New Wineskins facilitates collaboration and encourages mission engagement through:
Online Resources
Offering tools to equip churches, dioceses, and individuals for active engagement in global missions, including training courses, prayer guides, and mobilization materials. A 6-week Introduction to Anglican Missions course designed for small groups, Sunday school classes, or weekend intensives lays a biblical and missional foundation for Anglicans and is now available on Amazon.
Mission Networks
Focused communities built around specific mission passions—such as International Student Ministry, Creation Care, Healing in Missions, Human Trafficking (Rescued Kingdom), Prayer for All Nations, and the Persecuted Church. These networks foster ongoing collaboration, idea-sharing, and prayerful support.
Prayer Initiatives
Recognizing prayer as the foundation of all mission work, New Wineskins develops prayer resources for churches and individuals. These include a monthly e-newsletter, Anglicans in Prayer, a family-friendly tool to raise up the next generation of intercessors for global missions and the persecuted church.
Mission Conferences
Every three years, New Wineskins hosts a unique and Spirit-filled Global Missions Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. This conference brings together Anglicans of all ages from across the globe for a single, unified purpose: to engage, equip, and empower the church for global mission. These gatherings are catalytic moments for connection, prayer, and global strategy.
Understanding the scope of global missions and the task remaining in world evangelization is critical to discipleship and church growth. New Wineskins emphasizes that the call to mission is not reserved for a select few—it is a call to every follower of Jesus Christ. Through its comprehensive approach—combining training, networking, resourcing, and prayer—New Wineskins is preparing the Anglican Church to take its place in God’s global story.
Hope for the Nations 2025
This year’s conference, Hope for the Nations 2025, will take place September 17-20, and it promises to be a powerful time of worship, learning, networking, and discernment focused on the mission of God to the nations. The conference will feature 90 MAP Talks (Mission Awareness Presentations), more than 12 pre-conference and two post-conference options. It will also feature opportunities to engage in prayer through artistic expression, and even a chance to help pack 30,000 meals bound for a diocese in Northern Uganda.
Hope for the Nations 2025 is more than an event—it’s a moment. It’s a sacred space where mission callings begin, networks form, and the Church goes forth again on mission. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. In a time when many believers are asking, “What is my role in the Great Commission?”, New Wineskins offers both clarity and community. Whether you are called to go, to give, or to intercede—there is a place for you in this movement. The mission is too critical, and the harvest too great, for anyone to be left on the sidelines.
Photo by Tinnakorn Jorruang from Getty Images Pro, courtesy of Canva. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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