A Tale of Two Todds

Every now and again we come across a situation that makes us really proud to be able to call ourselves Christians. Admittedly there are also many other situations that make us want to bury our heads in the sand rather than being associated with our fellow believers, but today I'm blessed to be able to tell you a story that demonstrates the former.

This is a tale of two Todds. On the left is Todd Hunter, Bishop of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA). On the right is Todd Proctor, senior pastor of the Southern California church of RockHarbor. I am honored to count these two incredible men of the Lord as my friends. The story of how their lives intersect is one that should bring encouragement to the wider Church.

Now before I get into the story I have to clear up a few introductory housekeeping issues... First, when I say Church (with the big "C") I am referring to the worldwide community of Christian believers. There are many Christian churches out there, but only one Church that cuts across denominational lines. Second, this post has nothing to do with the internal divisions seen as of late within Anglicanism. As a former Episcopalian I have great sadness over the state of animosity that has grown among the Anglican factions. I have many dear friends on both sides of the aisle who all love Jesus dearly. If you are looking for a post throwing flames, this is not the one for you.

A little over a month ago I wrote a post entitled Links in a Chain in which I described the many connections between the Vineyard movement, RockHarbor, and Anglicanism. If you are new to the blog it might be a helpful starting point for you.

Todd Hunter: I have known Todd since the late 1990s when he was the national director of the Association of Vineyard Churches. While I won't delineate Todd's entire biography (he would be much more qualified at that kind of task) I can sketch out some of the important details of his history. Some time after leaving the Vineyard Todd became the international director of Alpha, an ecumenical evangelistic outreach used around the world. As I mentioned in Links in a Chain the Alpha movement began in the Church of England. Vineyard and Anglicanism have had a long history of mutual respect and cooperation so Todd working with Alpha was a natural fit.

Let me take you on a bit of a rabbit trail, but one that should eventually bring us back to the main point... the United States currently finds itself in an interesting spot. While the majority of today's most influential theologians are still white western guys that look a lot like me, more and more missionaries are far from that stereotype. In fact, there has been a major shift in the complexion of worldwide Christianity over the past few decades. Church historian Mark A. Noll argues in his book, The New Shape of World Christianity, that over the past fifty years the Christian Church has experienced a greater geographical shift than in any period in history other than the first decades of Christianity. No longer is the Church limited to Europe and the Americas. In fact we now represent the minority position. Though the United States has not yet approached the levels of Europe, we are being seen more and more as a post-Christian nation. While missionaries used to be primarily sent out from the western "first" world, now more missionaries are being sent westward, originating from Africa, Asia, and South America.

The Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMiA) is an African missionary organization that is equipping and sending missionaries to the United States and Canada. A few years ago AMiA sought out Todd Hunter, who has a great deal of background in church planting, to consult them. Over time an obvious synergy was seen and AMiA decided it would be wise to pull Todd into their fold. AMiA knew that Todd would be an excellent resource as a church planting overseer for the mission, but they wanted to remain consistent with the structure of episcopacy definitive to Anglicanism. So AMiA chose to consecrate Todd as an Anglican bishop in 2009.

Todd Proctor: I honestly don't know Todd Proctor as well so the background I provide for him is going to be a bit slimmer and more influenced by my own perceptions. Todd is the senior pastor of the Costa Mesa-based mega-church of RockHarbor. Todd is also a gifted worship leader who has written a number of anointed songs over the years.

My family and I attend RockHarbor and have grown in our admiration and respect for Todd and his style of leadership. We actually attended the church for a bit over six months before we ever heard him preach. Todd knows what his primary gifts are and he doesn't have any need to prove anything. He would much rather get out of the spotlight and provide the tools needed to encourage the people around him to work out their gifts. Todd does a great deal of traveling around the country meeting with church leaders across the denominational spectrum learning what God is up to. He has a strong desire to bless the wider Church.

The convergence: The Todds have known each other for quite awhile and maintain a high level of mutual respect and admiration. When Todd Hunter first made plans to plant Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Orange County he was faced with the challenge of location. His initial thought was to find a local church that he could lease as a meeting spot during one of the host church's off times. A little over a year ago Todd Proctor, hearing of Todd Hunter's need, told Holy Trinity to look no further. RockHarbor offered Holy Trinity (1) a free space, (2) free childcare, (3) free storage, and (4) tons of support and encouragement. I remember the weekend of Holy Trinity's initial gathering on the RH campus. Todd Proctor announced to all five RockHarbor services what Holy Trinity was doing. And he not only made an announcement, he encouraged his people to go check it out if they felt God was leading them in that direction. Rather than seeing Holy Trinity as a competitor, RockHarbor chose to bless them. Remember how at the beginning of this post I made a distinction between the Church and the church? Well this is exactly what I mean by that.

This past Sunday was Holy Trinity's last service at RockHarbor. This upcoming Sunday they will be meeting at a new spot. The past year RH, under the leadership of Todd Proctor, has blessed the Church and the church.

On Monday I wrote a post about the body. I wrote how each of the parts of the body depend on one another and are only strongest when working from a posture of mutuality. This story is a tangible display of that kind of mutuality. How can we bless the Church? I have a feeling that when some of the people reading this post got to the four letters A-M-i-A they either cheered or groaned. Some may have even closed the webpage altogether. I really hope that isn't the case, but I do believe it's possible. How can we bless one another if we allow huge walls of division to stand between us? If we are solely committed to furthering our own agendas we will often fail to see how we can offer help or comfort to someone else in need. What do you think? Do you have other stories of selfless blessing? I'd love to hear them!