Happy New Year! Welcome to this new chapter of your life!

This year is brand new, and we will only live through it once—so every moment counts.  This unfolding year holds many opportunities for each one of us to do good.  Because of God’s great grace, we all have a chance, by applying our learning from last year, to benefit people more poignantly this year, thanks to our spiritual growth.

For me, there are two main thrusts I’d like to share with you.

First: Three Books in the Making — and an Invitation to Join the Process

In 2026, I am determined to finally externalize a few of the books that have long been living in my head. And I want to invite you to join me in the process of articulating and discussing all three books-in-the-making.

• A book on headship—in which I aim to explain how “Christ is the Head” reveals the genius of God’s plan.  Whereas people generally think of headship in terms of the debate between complementarians and egalitarians, that is just one aspect of this subject.  Yes, headship speaks to issues such as manhood, womanhood, marriage, divorce, homosexuality, race, and disability, and everything regarding identity politics, but it also has to do with both the tragedy and the comedy of life.  Headship is so epic that it literally reveals the culmination of history and the Meaning of life. 

• A book on self-respect—in which I want to help Christians understand theologically how to be a “self” who isn’t selfish.  Selfhood is a subject so captured by psychology that many in the church think more therapeutically than biblically.  Self-respect, I argue, is a spiritual necessity if we want to emulate Christ.  Yet many in the church have been taught to try to be self-less, as opposed to being a “self” who truly loves.  Details of how to build the dignity of selfhood are vast and surprisingly empowering—and very much part of biblical sanctification for those in the Kingdom of God. 

•  A book about basking in the elegance of God—the Table of Contents alone fills my eyes with tears.  This is a worshipful piece, a book meant to calm God’s people, offload anxiety, restore right perspective, and fill your mind with beauty and fascinating truth about God’s glory.  In it, we will talk about the structure of creation, the structure of salvation, and the structure of life with God.  Together we’ll engage in in-depth conversations about darkness, light, truth, math, music, art, evil, sin, suffering, healing, stillness, attention, faith, hope and finally end with insights about the power of love. 

Second: Making Theological Training Radically More Accessible

This summer I felt convicted to make theological training even more affordable than we have ever offered it before. Though Right On Mission tuition has cost only about one-fifth as much as university-seminary prices, we’re slashing prices down for theological learning an additional 80–85%.  I really want to make it financially accessible to you, your family and friends, young adults, and our mentees, and to Christians all over the world who desperately need training.  That is why we’re launching a new Subscription Service that provides seminary-level training, yet with no homework. 

More details about meeting times, session topics, and how to join the Subscription Service are being shared this month in four identical Zoom gatherings that you hereby are officially invited to.  Look for an email-invite and be sure to RSVP. 

Looking Ahead with Hope

As we begin this new year, we hope you’ll consider signing up for what we’re calling “Theological Formation” -– which includes all three of the studies described above.  If you have not yet invested in doing Strategic Futuring, I cannot urge that enough.  If the process of Strategic Futuring helps you as it has helped me, it will steer you in the right direction away from wasting time into stewarding your life in ways that may not otherwise have been possible.

If you have been involved in Right On Mission for years, thank you for being part of this community.  If you are new, we warmly welcome you and look forward to growing together and getting to know you more.  Our new Subscription model is designed to provide very affordable access to a rhythm of formation and a venue for forging relationships that last.  

From all of us at Right On Mission, Happy New Year — may 2026 be your best year in the Lord,

Sarah Sumner