During the 15th North American General Conference (15thGC), Memorial 560 was recommended and approved, opening the door for Global Partners (GP) to be a sending agency for network missionaries.
As cited in Memorial 560, language in The Discipline was unintentionally limiting kingdom opportunities by only speaking of appointed missionaries in the context of The Wesleyan Church (TWC).
With an amendment adding that GP can “function as a missionary sending agency for non-Wesleyan Network Missionaries who align with The Wesleyan Church’s Articles of Religion (210-250) and Guides and Helps to Holy Living (260-268),” opening doors to additional missional partnerships and more potential to reach people with the gospel can be realized.
According to Ian Swyers, GP’s director of operations, and James, GP’s director of mobilization, the motivation behind submitting the memorial arose from an opportunity to pursue a partnership with a sister denomination.
As the Global Methodist Church (GMC) expanded its global mission efforts, it established a process for like-minded ministry organizations to become approved sending partners aligned with its theological vision and mission.
Since GMC and TWC are aligned in background and theology, GMC leaders approached Ian and James about GP applying to be one of their sending partners.
Upon realizing that becoming a sending partner would require a broader approval process with TWC, Ian and James began having conversations about next steps with the appropriate church leaders, including General Secretary Janelle Vernon, Assistant General Secretary Tony Casey and General Superintendent Jim Dunn, who brought valuable perspective to the process, having guided Oklahoma Wesleyan University into partnership with GMC as an approved university.
Now that the memorial has been approved, GP has the ability to go through the application process in hopes of becoming a sending partner for the GMC.
As for ensuring that future non-Wesleyan Global Partners missionaries align with The Wesleyan Church’s Articles of Religion and Guides and Helps to Holy Living, James attested that the GP Mobilization Team already does a deep dive into each applicant’s theological practice and the Wesleyan Essentials, and each applicant must sign off on the Wesleyan Articles of Religion.
Opening this door to network missionaries also opens the door to expand the kingdom. James said he’s excited to get more people involved and engaged in reaching the unreached.
“Realistically, in North America today, our Wesleyan denomination is part of a broader Wesleyan family, and there are so many people out there that are looking for ways to get involved missionally,” he said. “If we can partner with them and help them to be a part of the Great Commission, [then] that’s super exciting to think that we could get more and more people on mission,” James said.
Though Memorial 560 initially is opening up an opportunity to apply as a mission sending partner for GMC, it could also open up partnership opportunities with other like-minded denominations.
For example, Ian explained that some individuals might have a passion or calling to a certain people group or region where their denomination or sending agency doesn’t currently have work — but perhaps GP does.
Additionally, though non-Wesleyans couldn’t previously be appointed to serve as missionaries for TWC, GP’s NEXT, a two to four month mentored cross-cultural internship, has been casting a wider net, recruiting young adults from a variety of backgrounds and universities.
Part of the purpose of the internship is to help young adults discern if they’re called to serve as long-term missionaries. With the approval of Memorial 560, interns from denominations theologically aligned with TWC now have the option to stick with GP and the connections they’ve formed during their internship.
On a practical level, there are very few Christian workers in countries with unreached people groups (UPGs). James explained that the Christian workers who are serving among UPGs from different agencies and organizations are already naturally collaborating in an effort to move the gospel forward. This memorial opens the door for this type of collaboration to grow.
Heather Auker is the communication supervisor for Global Partners.
