What will 2015 hold for the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others? If the past is any indicator, C4SO is primed for another pioneering year of missionary work and discovery as it announces, embodies and demonstrates the Kingdom of God. Just a year and a half old, the Diocese has already discovered rich geographic diversity from the Bay Area to Southern California to the Midwest to Texas, as well as a broad range of demographics and ministry contexts. The ongoing challenges of building a culture of replication and contextualizing the Gospel for each community are characteristic of a Diocese that started as a church planting movement and now pushes the boundaries when it comes to helping people connect with Christ.
“We will continue to be a pioneering Diocese,” Bishop Todd Hunter says. “We are committed to being lifelong learners. We are always living in a vibe that’s more like research and development than a rootedness in something we’re not willing to change. We co-labor with the heart of Cranmer.”
He reminds us that Cranmer was not afraid to take risks—which for him meant becoming a scapegoat for making a prayer book, Bible and rule of life to help people encounter God and His grace. For us, it’s still the entrepreneurial task of explaining the gospel in the vernacular of the people. For Bishop Todd, it means being pro-God and pro-the lost, broken and those disconnected from Christ.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes as a man, bishop and rector to stand with Cranmer and help people get connected with Christ in the 21st century,” he says.
Cutting edge as those methods may be, Bishop Todd also values a healthy amount of structure—but adds that it should not hold the Diocese back from innovation and even failure.
“While we need enough structure to keep the train on the rails…I want to implore us to a joyful, humble, childlike faith that is very risk-tolerant,” he says. “We must learn to celebrate risk, failure, to fail forward, to not judge or pigeonhole each other, but to celebrate when someone is trying to do something sincerely in the grace and goodness of God.”
Many are attempting such tasks this year. C4SO is helping plant 10 churches and guiding 32 individuals through the ordination process in 2015. “We want to continue to strengthen our relationships in ways that are mutually edifying, we want to continue to be a learning community, and we want to keep whittling away at our vision of planting churches and new missional dioceses.”
To facilitate the ongoing growth, development and unity of the Diocese, two major events are scheduled: February’s Leadership Retreat in Dallas with speaker Richard Hays and our second annual Diocesan Convention on Saturday, November 7. Meanwhile, Bishop Todd will continue to travel the country supporting C4SO churches, canons, deans and clergy as well as inviting and equipping others to join in his vision of a missionary diocese seeking to fulfill Christ’s Great Commandment and Great Commission.
“As people, churches, deaneries, and a Diocese, we must be committed to our own growth and formation,” Bishop Todd says. “I’m trying to lead the way in that. I’m deeply committed to my own personal, spiritual, professional growth and being trained by Jesus to His way of life. Jesus is picturing more people being called to Him, mentored and sent out in the energizing, empowering, gifting, transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Come and join us in 2015.”
