30 Years of New Wineskins Conferences - Attending the First in 1994 & the Most Recent in 2025
“First and Last”
I have had the privilege of attending two New Wineskins for Global Missions conferences in my years of being part of the Episcopal/Anglican Church. What makes my experience unique is that I attended the very first conference (1994) and the most recent conference (2025) and none in between! My perspective of the two events carries, for me, both wonderful memories and a vision of God’s faithfulness both to me and to the enduring influence that the New Wineskins movement has had on the Anglican Communion and the Great Commission movement throughout the world.
1994—My First
In 1994 I was in my second year of study at (the then) Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. The student body was given word about a mission conference called “New Wineskins for Global Missions” to be held at a conference center in North Carolina. We were also told that the seminary would shut down during the week of the conference, allowing the student body, staff and faculty to attend. A primary reason for the seminary’s support of the conference was that it was being organized by an adjunct mission professor and his wife, Walter and Louise Hannum who also served as the directors of the Episcopal Church Missionary Community (ECMC). The Hannums were residents of Ambridge and loved within the seminary community.
What made attending the conference challenging for many in the Trinity community was the seven-hour drive to North Carolina. Many students, staff and faculty members carpooled to the Ridgecrest Conference Center, just outside Ashville NC. I borrowed my dad’s Volvo and drove to Ridgecrest with Trinity staff member Langly Grandberry and fellow students Joseph Martin and Mario Bergner. My memories of the event (limited after 30 years!) include amazing worship, wonderful fellowship, new friendships, passionate speakers and gaining a deeper personal understanding of the Great Commission of Jesus to take His gospel to the ends of the earth.
2025—God Willing, Not My Last
Thirty years later, after ordination to the diaconate and priesthood and 25 years of parish ministry on the staff of three different parishes, I was a couple years into a new role serving as Canon to the Ordinary in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh (ADP). My Bishop, Alex Cameron, wanted the diocese to be represented well at the 2025 New Wineskins Conference. Bishop Alex and I attended along with our wives as well as diocesan staff member Sarah Kwolek and many people from the ADP. The 2025 conference, Hope for the Nations, included many of the same aspects that I remembered from the first conference—amazing worship, wonderful fellowship, passionate speakers and an affirmation of the centrality of the Great Commission of Jesus. The added blessing of the 2025 conference was the “family reunion” quality for my wife Dana and me. We found ourselves reconnecting with so many old friends, many who we had not seen in 30 years. Many of my fellow student from 1994 are now experienced missionaries whom God had used in powerful ways over the years. To reconnect with old friends like Norman and Beth Beale and Matt and Mave Walter was deeply moving. What a joy to share the stories of God’s faithfulness in our lives over the 30 years since we had last seen each other.
It has been a life blessing to have experienced “bookend” New Wineskins conferences! Reflecting on my experiences, I can clearly see God’s faithfulness to me in my life and ministry. I can also see God’s faithfulness to the passion and efforts of Walter and Louise Hannum. How amazing that the vision of this humble couple, passionate for the mission of Jesus and his Great Commission, has endured and thrived for over thirty years! I praise God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for his faithfulness to his humble servants!
As canon to the ordinary, Bill Henry assists the bishop in the mission of the Diocese, facilitating the bishop’s work (as senior pastor and diocesan CEO) and functioning as COO. Bill was previously senior associate rector at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Sewickley, PA, where he served for seventeen years. He is a native of western Pennsylvania, attended Quaker Valley High School, and was confirmed at St. Stephen’s. His wife of 32 years, Dana, is a licensed professional counselor, and together they have led marriage retreats for the diocese and for churches around the country. They have three grown children (Wilson, Annie, and Charlie) and two grandchildren (Beau and Bella). Bill is a graduate of Trinity School for Ministry (M.Div. 1998, D.Min. 2018), and he and Dana served at churches in Florida and South Carolina before returning to St. Stephen’s in 2006.
