On January 1, Bishop TJ Johnston will begin an exciting new role that combines his past experience with his passion for serving those on the margins.
He will partner with a longtime friend and environmental engineer, George Green, to launch the Global Water Center (GWC), a non-profit for convening safe water organizations, corporate partners, governmental agencies and millions of individuals to work together to end global water poverty. George brings many years of on-the-ground experience as founder of Water Mission, and Bishop TJ brings a proven track record of mobilizing people for mission.
Together, with partners all over the world, they will rapidly scale the world’s efforts to provide safe water to the 2.2 billion people who live in water poverty. They hope to serve as the catalyst for a worldwide strategy to bring the number of people affected by water poverty to 0.
“The thing that motivates me to take on this work is Jesus’ words about giving a cup of water in his name,” Bishop TJ says. “When you do it for the least of these, you do it for me. There is no more essential need in life than safe water for drinking and sanitation.”
Seeking to meet that need, the GWC has established:
- A Discovery Center to call attention to the urgency of the Global Water Crisis and demonstrate a viable and affordable path to drive the enormous number of people living in water poverty to zero.
- A Resource Center to be a repository of standards and best practices for solving water problems in any region of the world. It will offer monitoring, training, support services, expertise, and high-end equipment at cost.
Bishop TJ’s responsibility is to oversee the build-out of the Resource Center, drawing on the relational expertise and leadership development skills he acquired as a lawyer, overseas missionary, pastor, church planter and bishop. 
“I have the privilege and joy to partner with some of the most amazing, passionate, and focused engineers and experts from the global safe water sector,” he says. “I want to foment a creative, passionate, technically smart, and relationally sticky culture at the GWC. … I’ll help people implementing water safety all over the world to see themselves as a collaborative movement.”
The new role means full retirement as the Senior Pastor of Saint Peter’s Church, leaving matters in the capable hands of new Lead Pastor AJ Sherrill. It also means stepping back from his formal duties as C4SO’s Assisting Bishop, though he will still be available to assist Bishop Todd from time to time and will remain on the Executive Leadership Team. He will also continue to serve as liaison between C4SO and LAMB Institute, a ministry run by C4SO priest the Rev. Suzy McCall in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
While Bishop TJ will miss many things about his prior roles with C4SO and Saint Peter’s—the frequency of his connections with Bishop Todd, the creative collaboration of C4SO’s ministry team, and the relationships with church leadership and parishioners—he is excited for this new season.
“The Anglican kingdom-oriented mission that I’ve been involved in with Bishop Todd over the last two decades has prepared me for this,” Bishop TJ says. “I remain committed to missional Anglicanism and grateful for its huge shaping influence on my life and the many relational connections it has facilitated to other parts of the world. Just as I did at C4SO, I look forward to helping create a culture at the GWC that serves and resources leaders around their gifts and passions.”