toddhunterHis mind is always on the game. The mission game, that is. To that end, Bishop Todd Hunter can best be described as a missionary bishop who deeply respects the traditional model of the episcopate, but consistently seeks to adapt it for his vision of a missionary diocese.

“We are trying to honor the traditional structures while bending them always towards mission, towards simplicity and away from an ever-growing complexity that structures often generate,” he explains.

“As a Diocese, we have a particular focus on church planting, and I am intentionally a rector bishop who has planted two churches in five years so that I am practicing what I preach,” he notes. “Rarely a day goes by when I don’t have a conversation with a church planter and am able to relate to the challenges, frustrations, and joys he or she is experiencing. I see my role as a coach, mentor, and teacher.”

This missionary vision colors the ethos of C4SO, which has intentionally embraced a commitment to “plant churches that plant churches.” Bishop Todd characterizes the value of planting a new church every five years as “building a culture for replication.” He teaches leaders, both lay and ordained, to “exegete their local context”—to design churches in conversation with their mission fields. He believes this is important for new churches as well as established congregations and sees it as an ongoing process.

Bishop Todd is constantly on the lookout for women and men with a heart for mission and who are being led to live out their faith in an Anglican context.

“We have a really dynamic group of veteran Anglicans working alongside passionate visionaries, and they are able to feed off and learn from each other—it’s mutually edifying.”

He also considers all clergy and laity as missionaries.

“A church planting movement by definition requires the gifts of lay people to be pronounced,” Bishop Todd says. “Clergy have an important but clearly defined role, but this kingdom work presents a breadth of tasks to be filled by godly, enthusiastic lay people. Church planting is birthed in the heart of one or two, but it is never a solo effort.”

With a high value for collaboration, Bishop Todd naturally gravitates toward building partnerships and initiatives with other bishops and dioceses. He sees C4SO as a servant to the whole church with a goal to spin off missional dioceses where churches are related more geographically. In addition, he wants to help dioceses build their own models for church planting and to facilitate the growth of healthy church plants outside C4SO.

“Our simple protocol is designed to help mentor, build, and nurture new congregations in various areas,” Bishop Hunter says. “The local Diocesan Bishop and I offer oversight together until these churches reach a level of maturity, and after that, they go under the sole authority of that Diocese. So far we have worked with four or five dioceses and bishops, and it’s been quite successful. We make it all about the Kingdom.”

Bishop Todd stands in a rich tradition of Anglican missionary bishops worldwide. In 1835, Jackson Kemper was consecrated as the first missionary bishop, a new office in America established to address the growing spiritual needs of the American frontier. In his sermon at the service, Bishop George Washington Doane of New Jersey asked important questions: “Is it right that it should be done? Is it wise in us to do it?” Based upon the unchanging gospel imperative, he proclaimed that it was consistent with the mandate of Scripture. The C4SO model within the Anglican Church in North America is a new concept for our time, one which also seeks to fulfill Christ’s Great Commandment and Great Commission.

A missionary diocese for the 21st century.