Part IV: "Ask Bishop Todd"

Interview Series with Bishop Todd Hunter
(Led by Fr. Kevin Miller)

PART 4 OF 5:

Q: Unlike many dioceses, C4SO does not ask for a 10-percent contribution from a parish like Savior. Instead, you ask for 5% for the diocese, and 5% for local mission (primarily church planting). How well is this working? Does the diocese have enough money to operate well? What are churches doing with their local-mission funds?

Bishop Todd Hunter:

There is a truism associated with elections: “all politics are local.” If that is true about politics, it is even more true about ministry. Missiologists call this the principle of contextualization. Contextualization is simply a reminder that all ministry is situated, and a specific situation and person is the starting point for ministry. As helpful as missiologists have been to me over the decades, my main imagination for this comes from Jesus. In the Gospels, there are more than a dozen personal conversations Jesus has with individuals or groups. In each case he starts where people are, with their present understanding or misunderstanding, as the case may be. We could say Jesus is starting with the context of their mind, their social setting and their religious presuppositions. Having discerned that context, Jesus then begins to talk, to minister.  

That worldview is what undergirds my philosophy of ministry regarding local, contextual control of money spent on mission. C4SO has churches in scores of contexts in America. I am not expert on any of them. I don’t love them in the passionate way a specifically-called church planter or rector does. I have no business, just because I am the bishop, to sit in an episcopal ivory tower and tell leaders what to do. Regarding mission and ministry, I am not looking for conformity or compliance, I am looking for intelligent, contextualized, Spirit-led discernment that leads to good fruit.  As Roland Allen has written: There is a summons to everyone who will hear to submit inherited patterns of Church life to the searching scrutiny of the Spirit. We need to give pre-eminence to the Holy Spirit in all the work of the Church. This in no way lessens the importance of ordered life in the church; this is taken for granted; what we need to do is not neglect the direction of the Spirit within our ordered structure.

The 5/5 policy is meant to invest in the local work that emerges from that thinking. Up till now, I have not kept track of which churches actually spend 5% of their budget on local mission. But given human nature, I am sure some do not do so. Others are saving money to plant a church or start some other new ministry. That, of course, is fine. C4SO has always be able to meet its budget in the 5/5 model. Until the pandemic hit, we have never had a financial problem. Like all our churches, we are adjusting our budget for 2020 (and maybe 2021?), but right now our finances are “OK” given the magnitude of the challenge.

Photo Credit: c4so.org

Part III: "Ask Bishop Todd"

Interview Series with Bishop Todd Hunter
(Led by Fr. Kevin Miller)

PART 3 OF 5:

Q: You’ve said that our diocese (C4SO) is “a movement rather than an institution.” What do you mean by that?

Bishop Todd Hunter:

Movements and institutions have very different impulses and hoped-for outcomes. Over time, institutions become disconnected from the vision and values that gave them birth. At that point all that is left is to preserve the institution itself. In modern life this can happen very fast—in some cases, it takes only a decade, certainly not generations, as was the case before information and humans moved as fast as we now do.

Movements, on the other hand, are inspired by passionate, childlike faith. If institutions are risk-averse (we don’t do that; we’ve never done it that way before; we don’t have the money; etc), movements celebrate risk and change for the sake of following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Movements tend to be focused on the present and on preparing for the future. Institutions tend to focus on defining and defending the past. Movements can be quick when needed; institutions move slowly. Movements have a laser focus on vision and a sharp awareness of being called into being for a clear purpose—a cause that animates them. Institutions suffer from mission-drift.

Movements have an imagination soaked in the narrative of Scripture and the purpose of God for humanity that emerges from that story. In order to live into that story, movements, trusting the Spirit and (typically) young, creative leadership, readily adapt to their times and places and the crying needs of their mission field. Institutions are usually too self-protective to engage in such things. Movements tend to inspire and deploy lay leadership. Institutions are often guilty of a clericalism that stifles the gifts of lay people. 

My goal in all this “movement talk” is simply to plant and cultivate church communities which are embassies of the kingdom of God and which develop followers of Jesus who are Spirit-enabled ambassadors of the kingdom sent into the world for the sake of others. Respecting Anglican norms, I intend to create in C4SO an overall corporate culture, and the corresponding practices, that make kingdom, Spirit, formation, and mission ultimate. Religious institutionalism is a far second place for me. 

I want to establish beachheads of Jesus’ person, word, and power in the midst of a grim and often hostile humanity. I want to create a family of churches who evermore perfectly live into God’s intention for the church by increasingly being a community of clergy and churches who find their core meaning as ambassadors and embassies or outposts of the rule and reign of God. I want to foment the journey inward and the journey outward (to quote Elizabeth O’Connor); the come-ness of followership and transformation and the sent-ness of mission.

Photo Credit: c4so.org

Part II: "Ask Bishop Todd"

Interview Series with Bishop Todd Hunter
(Led by Fr. Kevin Miller)

PART 2 OF 5:

Q: You’re a lifelong Southern Californian, but you moved your home to Nashville last year, and you moved the diocesan office to Nashville this year. What do you hope these moves will do? And how do you like living in Nashville?  

Bishop Todd Hunter:

We moved to an area of Nashville called Franklin. We love it here. We do not miss the “place” of Southern California at all! But we do miss family and friends. The last couple months we have been having “Zoom-Easter” and “Zoom-birthday parties” with our family and friends in California. 

We moved to Tennessee for a few reasons: First, I am 64, and I hope to work another ten years, but we needed to put the finishing touches on a plan for retirement over the next decade—and there is no way we can afford to retire in coastal Orange County, CA. Second, Debbie’s brother and sister-in-law, with whom we are close, live in Franklin. Third, and I’d guess surprising to many of you, most C4SO churches are closer to Nashville than to Southern California.  

So we hope the move will settle Debbie and me for the future and will settle C4SO too. C4SO is now 54 churches spread all over America, from coast to coast, in fifteen states. We have excellent, anointed, godly leaders around the country. But we need a hub that can serve the activity associated with the rapid growth of C4SO. The idea is that the Franklin hub, with me, operations, communications and finance, etc., will enable the trusted leaders and local churches to pursue fruitful ministry. I will soon announce the specifics of this new plan and the associated personnel.

Photo Credit: c4so.org

Part I: "Ask Bishop Todd"

Interview Series with Bishop Todd Hunter
(Led by Fr. Kevin Miller)

Part 1 of 5:

Q: You frequently talk about being a “non-anxious presence” in the world. What are your recommendations for people in this time of heightened anxiety?

Bishop Todd Hunter:
The unknown is a heavy weight that is a constant part of human life. One study from last week showed that:

·      100% of surveyed Americans agree they’ll snap if stay-at-home orders last longer than six months. 

·      1 in 4 adults have already reached their wits’ end.

·      Top breaking point issues are loneliness, frequent arguments with loved ones, constant anxiety.

Regarding anxiety, the first consideration for many Christians is this: Try not to compound anxiety with guilt or shame or hiding/isolating. Most experiences of anxiety are not sinful. They are simply human reactions to life that we bring to our wise, gracious, loving Father as we seek to cultivate an inner self in which anxiety doesn’t rule us. What we do want to shoot for is not being controlled by anxiety. This is possible because as human beings we are not merely our emotions. Our thoughts, wills and soul can be brought to bear in helping us deal maturely with feelings such as anxiety. I am aware that there are cases in which anxiety has underlying causes that require medication and therapy, but that cannot be tackled in this space.

The better path to peace is simple to ask, with a faith-filled, child-like attitude: “God, why am I feeling this way?” Then gently begin to pull things back until you get to the underlying cause. When you do, you will find God waiting there with a smile, and with deliverance little-by-little, day-by-day.

It is astounding to me that some of the best biblical advice on dealing with anxiety comes from Peter. Peter who:

·      Was filled with so much anxiety he denied knowing the Lord;

·      Whose anxiety overflowed in odd ways on the Mount of Transfiguration

·      Who in the midst of a storm, joined the other disciples in anxiously accusing Jesus: “Lord, don’t you care that we are about to drown?” 

 “Don’t you care…” Think about those words again. Consider that they came from very same person who wrote: Cast all your anxiety on Jesus because he cares for you… (1 Peter 5.7) Apparently, the three occasions listed above, along with being forgiven and redeployed in the famous beach scene in John 21, taught Peter something about what one does in the grip of serious anxiety: cast it upon Jesus. 

Peter’s thought seems to be: take any affliction, difficulty, hardship, misfortune, trouble, or complicated circumstance and toss it out of your hands and on to Jesus. Let it go!

Why? Because Jesus has the characteristic strength and wisdom to be completely competent love for us. “He cares” means that he takes an interest in us. Jesus is attentive. He has regard for us. Peter seems to think that anxiety is banished in favor of a revelation into the reality of being cared for--and an invitation to a new kind of life in which worry is unnecessary…the knowing that it does not add anything good to life (Matthew 6).

Lastly, the notion that “he cares for you” is crucial. Jesus’ care is not an abstract notion. It is a deeply personal experience of knowing a specific, personal kind of care.  This is why Peter, apparently an expert on anxiety, does not tell us to stuff anxious feelings, and just get on with life. He knows such an approach to anxiety will pop out in behaviors that make life even harder. Instead, Peter is inviting us to notice what we are going through, and to peacefully and faithfully name the anxiety associated with it in the midst of Jesus, who cares for us.

One last thing—and I can’t say much about it, but: commonly, we cannot get at anxiety directly. We also must train other aspects of our being through the wise, grace-based use of appropriately chosen spiritual disciplines and with the help of a spiritual director or a mature spiritual friend. 

If you find yourself struggling in these days of uncertainty, perhaps we could begin with contemplating a simple thought: God is here with us. He is not surprised by what is happening in the world. He created and sustains the whole cosmos. This means he has shoulders and a heart big enough that you can cast your cares/anxieties upon him. He is utterly capable love. He is able and ready to help…thus the invitation to let our worries and fears go. 

Now, before you set this article down, simply rest a moment in God’s presence. Let his grace settle and strengthen you - let Him give you what you need today to non-anxiously be and do in the manner of Jesus.

Photo Credit: c4so.org

Join Savior in our Mission to Support Others

I am continually struck by the powerful experience that I receive when I help others. Yes - it takes discipline. Yes - it takes energy to prioritize others above yourself. Yes - it takes financial sacrifice to give outwardly. But the reward is greater than you can imagine.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Dear friends of the Savior, we have the opportunity to support those around us that are experiencing need. I encourage you to visit the Giving page of our website, and prayerfully consider giving in this challenging season of the Coronavirus.