New Wineskins

This week's enews is guest post by Emily McAfee a member of COTC's Missions Team. 

The last week of September, myself, Peter and Andrew had the privilege of attending the New Wineskins Anglican Missionary Network conference. The gathering brought together missionaries, missiologists, clergy, NGO workers and parishioners from around the world to worship God and learn about what he’s doing for the sake of His name near and far. Since Church of the Cross is growing and we want to support local and global missionary partners wisely, we went seeking ways to connect Church of the Cross to missions opportunities and a huge responsibility within that is knowing what opportunities are out there.

It was a refreshing time of hearing stories about how the boundaries of the kingdom of God are growing. While most participants and featured organizations in the conference were Anglican, there was a strong focus on Jesus’ name and the gospel above any denominational and doctrinal lines. There was significant diversity and a strong representation of clergy from Africa and Asia. It was humbling to learn from bishops and leaders who face persistent persecution in places like Sudan, Somalia, and Sri Lanka. There was a lot of specific encouragement from these brothers and sisters in the church to never forget to pray as a first resort, not as a last resort. We were freshly reminded of the scope of the Great Commission; 7000 unreached people groups exist worldwide and of the 5 cents on the dollar that American churches give to missions, only 1% of that goes to efforts to reach unreached people groups.

We learned about tools and resources that could be useful for COTC as well. We heard stories about the growth of disciple-making movements and the utility of discovery bible studies, as well as new ways to approach international student ministry and ministry toward groups like Muslims and refugees. One session that fascinated me personally focused on how one longtime Anglican pastor used Anglican liturgy as an integral part of relating to his Muslim Turkish neighbors. I also came away with new contact information for people to contact to ask for counsel as we pray and explore where God is taking COTC in terms of missions.

We look forward to what God has in store for us! Please join us in praying for our participation in God's mission here in Austin and around the globe. 

In Christ,

Emily McAfee