The Accidental Anglican

In his new book, Todd Hunter, recounts the unexpected trail that took him from the Jesus People movement of the 1970s through the Vineyard community of churches to his recent appointment as an Anglican Bishop charged with the mission of planting two hundred new Episcopalian churches in the western United States in the next 20 years. Is that a wild and crazy ambition, or what?

My own notions of high church Episcopalianism were set by my family's outlook. I grew up as the product of several generations of Southern fundamentalists, and we were more than a little suspicious of what we regarded as the "rigamarole" of Episcopalianism--not too far distant from the heresy of Catholicism. We figured that any prayer that had to be read--e.g., from the Book of Common Prayer--could not possibly be a sincere or genuine prayer, from the heart. We were suspicious of choir robes and ministerial garb of any kind. We never used the word "liturgy" to describe anything that we were doing, and I was pretty sure that any "liturgical" church was full of people who were going to hell because they were more focused on form than substance. 

So it is fascinating to me to read Todd Hunter's stated mission of creating "Churches for the Sake of Others." By that phrase, he means something fundamental about how he approaches his Christian faith. Hunter says faith is all about serving others, listening to others, loving others. It's a funny form of self-denial, which, says Hunter, rebounds to do unexpectedly good things for the person who follows that path. By setting out to serve and listen to others, you find fulfillment and happiness for yourself.  

Far from being deadly and formalistic, Hunter says, liturgy is vital to how he understands and practices his faith. It provides him a structure for his practice of Christian love and faith; it gives him a consistent and trustworthy community of fellow practitioners; and it leads to  respect and reverence--an increased love of God  and neighbor. I will be interested to hear more of where Todd Hunter's calling takes him.