Great Commission, Great Confusion, or Great Confession?: The Mission of the Holy Christian Church

There is a great debate going on in the church today. It centers on one question: "What is the mission of the church?" From culturally relevant, emerging congregations to strategic methods of organization and outreach, many claim they have the answer. They say the mission must become "missional." Yet the churches of North America continue to struggle. Uncertainty is growing. "What does it really mean to be 'missional'"? Competing claims abound. "Get the message out!" "Get the message right!" Great confusion has set in, particularly in the postmodern North American church. The Gospel is getting lost. Yet, throughout the ages, the creedal confession of the Holy Christian Church has carried her through uncertainty and struggle. The Apostles' Creed has steadied and stayed the mission of the church for centuries. It centers on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit--the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. This book celebrates the historic mission of the Holy Christian Church, and it invites the North American church to do the same.

"Lucas Woodford takes us . . . on a personal journey . . . [He] examines the role of confession in the church . . . , concern [from church-growth advocates] for cultural relevance, the impact of modernism and post-modernism[,]. . . , and the value of the great confession of faith . . . This study . . . is of great value . . . to any . . . Christian [who] longs to seize the wonderful opportunity for the proclamation of the gospel . . . to this confused and confusing generation."
--John W. Kleinig
Author of Grace upon Grace: Spirituality for Today

"Woodford takes on one of the most timely questions and theological conflicts of our age: the hidden confusion of an ecclesiology reinterpreted through the lens of pragmatism, rather than the lens of sola scriptura."
--Jonathan Fisk
Lutheran pastor and proprietor of wordlvieweverlasting.com/

€œPastors looking for a resource to assist them in thinking theologically and strategically about Lutheran identity and mission will benefit from this book.€
-- John T. Pless, as reviewed in the Winter 2013 issue of Lutheran Quarterly

Lucas V. Woodford is the senior pastor of Zion Lutheran Church and School. He hosts a regular blog that seeks to foster collegial dialogue about Lutheran theology and mission of the Holy Christian Church (www.thisweconfess.wordpress.com).