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'{{Short description|Anglican diocese in the United States}} {{Infobox diocese | jurisdiction = Diocese | name = Churches for the Sake of Others | rite = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] | image = Churches for the Sake of Others Logo.png | image_size = | caption = | province = [[Anglican Church in North America]] | bishop = [[Todd Hunter (bishop)|Todd Hunter]] | bishop_title = Diocesan bishop | suffragan = [[Brian Wallace]] | headquarters = [[Franklin, Tennessee]] | cathedral = | parishes = 53 (2023)<ref name="acna-2023-stats">{{cite web |title=Congregational Reporting: 2023 in Review |url=https://archive.today/20240625212352/https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/311edrr7amypnm25ofz00/AI95pKnAePIf76nep4CZZeE/Congregational%20Report%20of%202023%20to%20Provincial%20Council%202024.pdf?rlkey=lhi2pqxjfp1w3ip0ah1auqnuh&e=2&dl=0 |publisher=Anglican Church in North America |access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref> | members = 9,282 (2023)<ref name="acna-2023-stats" /> | website = {{official URL}} | footnotes = }} The '''Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others (C4SO)''' is a non-geographical diocese of the [[Anglican Church in North America]]. Formed as a diocese in 2013, C4SO originated as the West Coast [[church planting]] initiative in the [[Anglican Mission in the Americas]] but today has member churches across the United States. Founded by [[Todd Hunter (bishop)|Todd Hunter]], who was a leader in the North American [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] movement before he became Anglican, the C4SO diocese embodies [[Charismatic Christianity|charismatic]] and "[[Post-evangelicalism|post-evangelical]]" streams within the [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] tradition.<ref name="Bonner-2021">{{cite news |last1=Bonner |first1=Jeremy |title=Missionary Anglicanism Redux: A New Paradigm? |url=https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2021/04/16/missionary-anglicanism-redux-a-new-paradigm/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=The Living Church |date=April 16, 2021}}</ref><ref name="CT-2023">{{cite news |last1=Shellnutt |first1=Kate |title=Two Anglican Church Plants Leave for the Episcopal Church |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/august/acna-anglican-leave-episcopal-rez-south-austin-church-table.html |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Christianity Today |date=August 11, 2023}}</ref> By attendance and membership, the diocese is one of the largest in the ACNA.<ref name="Walton-2023">{{cite news |last1=Walton |first1=Jeffrey |title=Anglican Attendance Strongly Rebounds |url=https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/06/23/anglican-attendance-strongly-rebounds/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Juicy Ecumenism |date=June 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Bonner-Goodhew-2021">{{cite news |last1=Bonner |first1=Jeremy |last2=Goodhew |first2=David |title=The Growth and Decline of the Anglican Church in North America |url=https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2021/02/24/the-growth-and-decline-of-the-anglican-church-in-north-america/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=The Living Church |date=February 4, 2021}}</ref> ==History== C4SO began in 2009 as a church planting movement within the AMiA, when AMiA was the missionary body of the [[Anglican Church of Rwanda]] in North America during the [[Anglican realignment]]. C4SO's original goal was to plant 100 churches over a decade.<ref name="AMIA-2009">{{cite web |title=Anglican Mission Announces West Coast Church Planting Initiative |url=http://www.theamia.org/new/news/archived-news/anglican-mission-announces-west-coast-church-planting-initiative |publisher=Anglican Mission in the Americas |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=February 8, 2009 |archive-date=31 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331152110/http://www.theamia.org/new/news/archived-news/anglican-mission-announces-west-coast-church-planting-initiative |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> The West Coast focus was in part due to the concentration of [[atheism|atheists]], [[agnosticism|agnostics]] and so-called "[[Irreligion|nones]]" in the Western United States.<ref name="Hunter-2012">{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Todd |title=Bishop Todd Hunter answers some question regarding the move to ACNA. |url=http://www.c4so.org/ |publisher=Churches for the Sake of Others |date=May 4, 2012 |access-date=January 18, 2024 |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208011318/http://www.c4so.org/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Hunter—who had previously held leadership roles in the [[Calvary Chapel Association|Calvary Chapel]], [[Association of Vineyard Churches|Vineyard]] and [[Alpha course|Alpha]] organizations—was ordained as an Anglican deacon in 2008 and as a priest in the spring of 2009 and then elected an AMIA bishop in the summer of 2009 to lead the C4SO initiative,<ref name="AMIA-Bishop-2009">{{cite news |title=Three New Bishops Elected to Serve in the Anglican Mission |url=http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5722610723.html |access-date=18 January 2024 |agency=Christian Newswire |publisher=Anglican Mission in the Americas |date=June 22, 2009}}</ref> whose name was tied to Hunter's 2009 book ''Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others''.<ref name="Hunter-Book-2009">{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Todd D. |title=Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others |date=2009 |publisher=IVP Books |location=Downers Grove, Illinois |isbn=0830833153}}</ref> ===Relationship with the ACNA=== [[File:Holy-Trinity-Edmonds.jpg|thumb|Holy Trinity Edmonds, planted in 2014 in collaboration with C4SO and the Diocese of Cascadia.]]In 2010, AMIA—which had been a founding member of the ACNA the year before—left full membership, changing its status in ACNA to "ministry partner."<ref name="aac-amia-breakdown">{{cite news |last1=Lundy |first1=Robert H. |title=Anglican Mission in the Americas: The Aftermath |url=http://www.americananglican.org/anglican-mission-in-the-americas-the-aftermath-2 |access-date=21 November 2022 |work=Encompass |issue=First Quarter 2012 |publisher=American Anglican Council |archive-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530221242/http://www.americananglican.org/anglican-mission-in-the-americas-the-aftermath-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the next year, the relationship between AMIA chairman Murphy and the Anglican Church of Rwanda's house of bishops, led by Kolini's successor [[Onesphore Rwaje]], had broken down over questions of financial transparency and collegiality.<ref name="episcopal-4">{{cite book |author1=Terrell L. Glenn |editor1-last=Arten |editor1-first=Isaac |editor2-last=Glass |editor2-first=William |title=A House Divided? Ways Forward for North American Anglicans |date=2015 |publisher=Wipf and Stock |page=64 |chapter=A Unity Greater Than Doctrine}}</ref> All but two AMIA bishops, Johnston among them, followed Murphy and AMIA out of Rwandan jurisdiction and restructured it as a "missionary society."<ref name="amia-collapse">{{cite news |last1=Virtue |first1=David |title=An Unholy Mess: Clash of Wills, Power Struggles, & Theological Direction Mark AMIA-ACNA Struggle |url=https://theaquilareport.com/an-unholy-mess-clash-of-wills-power-struggles-theological-direction-mark-amia-acna-struggle/ |access-date=21 November 2022 |work=Virtue Online |date=October 9, 2012}}</ref> While most AMIA congregations left the organization, either to join ACNA directly or to canonical "dual citizenship" with ACNA and Rwanda in [[PEARUSA]], C4SO initially remained in the AMIA.<ref name=CT-2011>{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Bobby|title=Leaving Rwanda: Breakaway Anglicans Break Away Again|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/decemberweb-only/leavingrwanda.html/|accessdate=September 11, 2012|newspaper=Christianity Today|date=July 12, 2011}}</ref> In 2012, Hunter was received as an assisting bishop in the [[Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh]] under Archbishop [[Robert Duncan (bishop)|Robert Duncan]] and "re-launched" C4SO within the ACNA, pledging that C4SO "will happily plant churches in partnership with PEARUSA, [AMIA] and the ACNA."<ref name="Hunter-2012" /> C4SO was officially recognized as a diocese by the ACNA’s Provincial Council in June 2013, with the investiture of Hunter as diocesan bishop taking place during the ACNA College of Bishops meeting on January 6, 2014.<ref name="ACNA-2014">{{cite news |title=ACNA College of Bishops Communique |url=https://anglican.ink/2014/01/11/acna-college-of-bishops-communique/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Anglican Ink |date=January 11, 2014}}</ref> In 2016, C4SO joined the dioceses of [[Diocese of Cascadia|Cascadia]], [[Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin|San Joaquin]], the [[Anglican Diocese of the Southwest|Southwest]] and [[Diocese of Western Anglicans|Western Anglicans]] to streamline the ordination process in ACNA's western regions, with a joint exam and a joint examining board that would allow clergy ordained under the standards to serve in any participating diocese.<ref name="acna-west">{{cite news |title=Western ACNA dioceses amalgamate ordination process |url=https://anglican.ink/2016/04/19/western-acna-dioceses-amalgamate-ordination-process/ |access-date=November 8, 2022 |work=Anglican Ink |date=April 29, 2016}}</ref> During its first decade in the ACNA, C4SO experienced substantial growth through church planting and adoption, tripling between 2013 and 2019<ref name="Bonner-Goodhew-2021" /> and becoming the second-largest diocese in the ACNA, after the [[Anglican Diocese of South Carolina|Diocese of South Carolina]], by attendance.<ref name="ChurchTimes-2022">{{cite news |last1=Paveley |first1=Rebecca |title=Church-plant to leave ACNA for Episcopal Church owing to differences |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/28-october/news/world/church-plant-to-leave-acna-for-episcopal-church-owing-to-differences |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Church Times |date=October 22, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Walton-2023" /> C4SO also demonstrated high levels of congregational engagement, according to scholar Jeremy Bonner, with a "commitment index"—the ratio of average Sunday attendance to membership—of 89.3 in 2019.<ref name="Bonner-2021" /> "The growth of C4SO massively outpaces all [Episcopal Church] dioceses in the same period," write Bonner and David Goodhew.<ref name="Bonner-Goodhew-2021" /> ===Congregational departures from the ACNA=== In 2021-2023, three church plants left C4SO for denominations more [[Theological liberalism|theologically liberal]] than the ACNA and in part due to disagreements with the ACNA doctrine of [[same-sex marriage|marriage]], generating substantial media coverage.<ref name="CT-2023" /><ref name="ChurchTimes-2022" /> In September 2021, St. Mary of Bethany Parish in Nashville departed C4SO out of disagreement over "the ACNA’s emphasis that the world is in need of a church that is 'always moving forward' to 'extend' and 'advance' God’s rule with 'boot camp' training and preparation."<ref name="departure--mary-of-bethany">{{cite web |title=ACNA parish withdraws from C4S0 to join the CEEC |url=https://anglican.ink/2021/09/25/acna-parish-withdraws-from-c420-to-join-the-ceec/ |website=Anglican Ink |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref> St. Mary's rector joined the [[Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches]] and said the congregation would discern a call to join this denomination. In October 2022, Bishop [[Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows]] announced that the Table, a C4SO church plant in Indianapolis, had been accepted into the [[Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis]] as a mission church.<ref name="departure--table-indydio">{{cite web |last1=Baskerville-Burrows |first1=Jennifer |title=From Bishop Jennifer: Our Journey with The Table |url=https://indydio.org/2022/10/from-bishop-jennifer-our-journey-with-the-table/ |publisher=Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref> The congregation's members voted 44 to 4 to join the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]]. In July 2023, Resurrection South Austin, a C4SO church plant in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], announced that it had disaffiliated with C4SO and would seek membership in the [[Episcopal Diocese of Texas]].<ref name="CT-2023" /><ref name="rez-south-austin">{{cite web |last1=McCain |first1=Shawn |title=A Change in Affiliation for Resurrection |url=https://www.rezaustin.com/blog/2023/7/25/a-change-in-affiliation-for-resurrection |website=Resurrection South Austin |access-date=27 July 2023 |date=July 26, 2023}}</ref> Noting the history of congregational property litigation and animosity that had occurred between dioceses and parishes leaving the Episcopal Church for the ACNA, in all three cases, Hunter gave his blessing to the congregations and clergy wishing to depart.<ref name="departure--mary-of-bethany" /><ref name="departure--table-hunter">{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Todd |title=Update about a C4SO Parish |url=https://mailchi.mp/c4so.org/update-about-a-c4so-parish |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=4 October 2022}}</ref><ref name="departure--rezaustin-hunter">{{cite web |last1=Hunter |first1=Todd |title=An Update on a C4SO Parish |url=https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?u=947bbe13263155969627c0595&id=d449df55f9 |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=27 July 2023 |date=July 26, 2023}}</ref> ==Beliefs and practices== [[File:Kurtley Knight ordination to the Anglican Priesthood 11.jpg|thumb|A priest is ordained in the C4SO Diocese in an outdoor service in Portland, Oregon.]] C4SO identifies its values as "kingdom, spirit, formation, mission, and sacrament."<ref name="C4SOWho">{{cite web |url=https://c4so.org/who-is-c4so/ |title=Who Is C4SO? |publisher=Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref> Hunter has described the diocese as being "thoroughly committed to [[Orthodoxy|orthodox]] Christianity" and "equally committed to figuring out how to live that out winsomely and truthfully, without engaging in culture wars constantly."<ref name="CT-2023" /> In his 2011 memoir ''The Accidental Anglican'', Hunter describes a "church for the sake of others" as one that "kept its focus on those without faith" and, "following the footsteps of Jesus, stayed in conversation with contemporary [[Church Growth|seekers]]."<ref name="Hunter-Book-2011">{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Todd D. |title=The Accidental Anglican: The Surprising Appeal Of The Liturgical Church |date=2011 |publisher=IVP Books |location=Downers Grove, Illinois |isbn=1844745082}}</ref> C4SO draws from the [[Wesleyan theology|Wesleyan]] and charismatic traditions within Anglicanism. According to Hunter, key influences on C4SO's beliefs and practices are the [[missiology]] of [[Roland Allen]] and [[Lesslie Newbigin]], the cultural engagement of Eddie Gibbs and [[Michael Green (theologian)|Michael Green]], the [[Evangelism|evangelistic]] approaches of [[Everett L. Fullam|Terry Fullam]] and [[Holy Trinity Brompton]]'s [[Sandy Millar]],<ref name="Hunter-Book-2011" /> the [[Book of Common Prayer|Prayer Book]] heritage of [[Thomas Cranmer]],<ref name="C4SOWho" /> and the "inward-outward" [[Disciple (Christianity)|discipleship]] practices described by Elizabeth O'Connor.<ref name="C4SO-Canons">{{cite web |title=Canons |url=https://c4so.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/C4SO-Canons-Final.pdf |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=2021}}</ref> ===Ordination of women=== C4SO has practiced the [[Ordination of women in the Anglican Communion|ordination of women]] both to the diaconate and the priesthood since its founding. In 2017, following the ACNA Report on Holy Orders (which affirmed the ACNA's constitutional practice of "dual integrities" on women's ordination), Hunter said that C4SO would "continue our practice of ordaining women of character and integrity as priests and deacons, enabling them to serve in whatever way their spiritual gifts, calling and temperament call for. . . . To those who have wrestled or still do with the issue of women’s ordination to the priesthood: You are welcome in C4SO too."<ref name="C4SO-Women-2017">{{cite news |title=Statement from Bishop Todd Hunter on the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood |url=https://anglican.ink/2017/09/10/statement-from-bishop-todd-hunter-on-the-ordination-of-women-to-the-priesthood/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Anglican Ink |date=September 10, 2017}}</ref> Further guidance from C4SO in 2023 requires all clergy in C4SO to "honor women’s Spirit-gifted agency for leadership, both lay and ordained," by recognizing the validity of sacraments performed by female priests and deacons, nurturing women called to ordained and lay leadership, submitting to the authority of female [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rectors]], [[Dean (Christianity)|deans]], and [[Canon (title)|canons]] in C4SO, and "[c]ommit[ing] not to preach, teach, or publicly endorse theology that undermines either our Canons, or C4SO’s vision for honoring women’s gifts of, and calling to, leadership."<ref name="C4SO-Women-2023">{{cite web |title=C4SO Posture Regarding Women in Leadership |url=https://c4so.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/C4SO_Posture_Regarding_Women_in_Leadership.docx.pdf |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=2023}}</ref> ===Church planting and adoption=== In its early days in the ACNA, C4SO often planted churches collaboratively; for example, in 2014, C4SO partnered with the geographical Diocese of Cascadia to plant a church in [[Edmonds, Washington]], which eventually was released to Cascadia.<ref name="C4SO-2015">{{cite web |title=Ministry Spotlight: Kingdom Collaborators |url=https://c4so.org/ministry-spotlight-kingdom-collaborators/ |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=January 12, 2015}}</ref> Vintage Church, a [[Multi-site church|multisite church]] in the [[Los Angeles]] area, is one of the largest churches in C4SO<ref name="Virtue-2015">{{cite news |title=SANTA MONICA, CA: Built to Last, Anglican Parish Merges with Baptist Congregation |url=https://virtueonline.org/santa-monica-ca-built-last-anglican-parish-merges-baptist-congregation |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Virtue Online |date=September 14, 2015}}</ref> and was planted in conjunction with the UK-based [[HTB network]].<ref name="Vintage">{{cite web |title=Our Structure |url=https://www.vintagepasadena.com/team |publisher=Vintage Church Pasadena |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> Vintage has since supported other C4SO church plants in Southern California.<ref name="Vintage-2019">{{cite web |title=“We Believe in the Local Church” |url=https://c4so.org/we-believe-in-the-local-church/ |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024 |date=December 14, 2019}}</ref> C4SO also has a process for "adopting" established congregations that desire to move from other traditions.<ref name="C4SO-Adoption">{{cite web |title=Church Adoption |url=https://c4so.org/church-adoption/ |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> In the early 2020s, for example, several [[Presbyterian Church in America]] churches joined C4SO.<ref name="Virtue-2023">{{cite news |last1=Duin |first1=Julia |title=Anglican: 5; Presbyterians:0 - Dioceses of Rocky Mountains and C4SO |url=https://virtueonline.org/anglican-5-presbyterians0-dioceses-rocky-mountains-and-c4so |access-date=18 January 2024 |work=Virtue Online |date=April 24, 2023}}</ref> C4SO maintains a Diaspora Network to support immigrant [[diaspora]] Anglican churches worshiping in non-English languages and with home country traditions.<ref name="C4SO-Diaspora">{{cite web |title=Diaspora Network |url=https://c4so.org/diaspora-network/ |publisher=Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=18 January 2024}}</ref> ==Structure== {{Commons}}C4SO is led by Todd Hunter as its founding diocesan bishop. In the absence of a diocesan bishop, the C4SO canons call for the Executive Leadership Team, made up of elected lay and clergy delegates, to be the ecclesiastical authority.<ref name="C4SO-Canons" /> Since 2023, [[Brian Wallace]] has served under Hunter as C4SO's first full-time [[Suffragan bishop|bishop suffragan]].<ref name="Wallace">{{cite news |title=ACNA College of Bishops approves election of C4SO suffragan |url=https://anglican.ink/2023/06/21/acna-college-of-bishops-approves-election-of-c4so-suffragan/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |work=Anglican Ink |date=June 21, 2023}}</ref> Other key leaders include canon theologians [[Esau McCaulley]] and [[Scot McKnight]].<ref name="C4SOTeam">{{cite web |url=https://c4so.org/our-team/ |title=Our Team |publisher=Churches for the Sake of Others |access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{Official website}} {{authority control}} {{Anglican Church in North America}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Churches for the Sake of Others, Diocese of}} [[Category:Anglican dioceses established in the 21st century]] [[Category:Anglican realignment dioceses]] [[Category:Dioceses of the Anglican Church in North America]]'