THE ACCIDENTAL ANGLICAN
The surprising appeal of the liturgical church
By Todd D. Hunter. IVP. 138 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 844 745 081
What might the next 50 years hold for charismatics in new denominations?
One answer comes in this interesting and important book. Todd Hunter explains how he went from President of Vineyard USA to Anglican bishop. Its 70 pages of biography are followed by 70 pages of ‘what I like about Anglicanism’. Todd is easy to read, and disarmingly honest.
Todd is a church planter aiming to start 200 new Anglican churches in the Western USA. But, despite geography, this is a very English book, with Packer, Stott, Wright and Millar the key influences.
His big idea is that, to evangelise contemporary culture, we need to rediscover the Anglican treasure chest, meaning liturgy, lectionary, sacraments, and comprehensiveness. For an Anglican evangelical, this is a flattering read — the President of Vineyard became like me to plant churches better. But I was left with lots of questions and, in the end, was concerned as well as inspired. Starting with the big idea, is liturgy what unbelievers are hungering for? In America, many, both conservatives and charismatics, think so, but in the UK many still seem put off by it.
Reading the biographical half, I noticed Todd’s journey is opposite to mine. Incense makes him cough, vestments make him feel like an awkward kid at his first formal dance, but he embraces them, whereas I moved away from them when I become an evangelical.
In the second half of the book, he makes clear that his Anglicanism is the Word-centred kind that has broken away from the liberal Episcopal Church. But, still, you feel he loves Anglican evangelism more than Anglican evangelicalism. This raises questions for non-Anglican evangelicals. As he talks with infectious enthusiasm for what he has gained, I worry about what that says to churches with the Word but without the treasure chest. If Todd’s UK equivalents travel the same journey, will doctrinal unity with fellow evangelicals be replaced by visible unity with Anglo-Catholics?
The book is a useful mirror for UK evangelicals. Are we too strict in our fear of ceremony, or is he too accepting? Is Anglican comprehensiveness a treasure, or a liability?
Charlie Skrine,
student minister at St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate, London
