Part 4 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series

"That's Not True" — Why Discipleship Alone Is Not the Purpose of NAMS | Anglican Church Planting Podcast

Many NAMS companions have come to believe the purpose of the society is to make disciples. In episode 130, Jon Shuler says plainly: that's not true. The purpose of NAMS is to plant new Great Commission congregations — and you cannot plant what you don't understand. Turning to Article III of the 2017 NAMS Rule, Shuler unpacks what a Great Commission congregation actually is, why it is a deliberate technical term and not a denominational label, and what Jesus himself says about his disciples in nine specific passages of the New Testament. A clarifying — and challenging — episode for every companion, Anglican church planter, and Great Commission Christian.

Part 3 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series

Every Companion. Every Season. Every Location. — The Objectives That Never Stop. | Anglican Church Planting Podcast

Goals have deadlines. Objectives don't. In the third installment of this series on the 2017 NAMS Rule and Customary Order, Jon Shuler moves to Article II — "Our Continuing Objectives as a Society" — and explains why the word objectives is chosen deliberately over goals. These are not targets to be achieved and checked off. They are the lifelong commitments of every NAMS companion, pursued until death or the return of the Lord. The three objectives are: remaining faithful to the whole Gospel and the values of the Kingdom of God; building the global community of NAMS companions through bases and shared Rule; and helping plant new Great Commission congregations wherever the Lord sends — or places — you. Through the real-life example of a NAMS military chaplain serving in Alaska, Shuler illustrates that church planting participation looks different for every companion, but disengagement from it is a departure from the society's core commitment. Essential listening for Anglican church planters, NAMS companions, and those exploring missionary community life and Rule of Life spirituality.

Part 2 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series

"I Would Rather Die Than Deny It" — The Charge That Defines NAMS | Anglican Church Planting Podcast

Continuing the series on the 2017 NAMS Rule and Customary Order, episode 128 turns to Article I — the NAMS Charge. On May 29, 1998, Archbishop Moses Tay gave Jon Shuler four sentences over lunch in Singapore that have shaped the New Anglican Missionary Society ever since. Shuler walks through each clause in detail: Preach and teach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Plant new churches wherever God opens the door. Always obey the Holy Spirit. Never break the Word of God. Each phrase is unpacked theologically and practically — drawing on Paul's letters to the Corinthians and Colossians, and the Gospel of John — and Shuler makes the case that a companion who has truly internalized the Charge needs no further guidance to know their calling in any circumstance. Vital listening for NAMS companions, Anglican missionaries, church planters, and anyone exploring what it means to live under a Rule of Life oriented toward the Great Commission.

Part 1 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series

What Does NAMS Mean by "Church," "Mission," and "Pioneering"? | Anglican Church Planting Podcast

In the opening episode of this series walking through the 2017 NAMS Rule and Customary Order, host Jon Shuler unpacks three foundational words embedded in the preamble — words that define everything the New Anglican Missionary Society does globally. What does NAMS mean by "church"? It's Apostolic Christianity as revealed in the life of the apostles and recorded in Holy Scripture. What is "mission"? The one mission Christ gave his church in Matthew 28:19 — to make disciples of all nations. And what does "pioneering" really mean for a global missionary society operating across nine countries? Jon explains three distinct ways NAMS is called to go first: where there is no church, where something of Apostolic Christianity is missing, and where an existing church is resisting the reforming work of the Holy Spirit. Essential listening for anyone interested in Anglican church planting, missionary community life, Rule of Life spirituality, or the theology of the Great Commission.

Jon begins to discuss the NAMS Rule of 2017

Jon Discusses the next steps for the NAMS Board and the NAMS Order.

Continuing the discussion of the history of the NAMS Rule, Jon shares the good news that has come from the recent global leadership 4 day retreat.

Jon continues to the story of the NAMS rule and brings us up to 2022

The mission and ministry of NAMS as an order of church planters is guided and bounded by the Rule (2024), but it must be carefully interpreted in the light of it’s development in order that we do the work that God has called us to do from the beginning. This series tries to give to the Society that history in order to strengthen our faithfulness in the years ahead. 

Jon continues the discussion of the NAMS rule.

The mission and ministry of NAMS as an order of church planters is guided and bounded by the Rule(2024), but it must be carefully interpreted in the light of it’s development in order that we do the work that God has called us to do from the beginning. This series tries to give to the Society that history in order to strengthen our faithfulness in the years ahead. 

Jon begins a series that will discuss The NAMS Rule: History and Practice.

The mission and ministry of NAMS as an order of church planters is guided and bounded by the Rule(2024), but it must be carefully interpreted in the light of it’s development in order that we do the work that God has called us to do from the beginning. This series tries to give to the Society that history in order to strengthen our faithfulness in the years ahead.