There is a great debate in the church today: “What is the mission of the church?” This podcast discusses how to resolve the confusion between “getting the message right,” and “getting the message out” by focusing on the historic, credal confessions of the church which center on the Gospel, and which steadies the church for faithful witness, particularly amid the daily vocations of everyday life.
In this episode, Rev. Dr. Lucas Woodford, President of the Minnesota South District of the LCMS, joins hosts Rev. Dr. Steve Schave, Director of LCMS Church Planting, and Rev. Dr. Mark Larson, Manager of Church Planting in the Mission Field: USA initiative, to explore the mission of the church.
About Rev. Dr. Lucas Woodford: Rev. Dr. Lucas Woodford is president of the Minnesota South District, LCMS. He is a graduate of Concordia University, St. Paul (1998) and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (M.Div. 2002 and S.T.M. 2003). He has 15 years of parish ministry experience in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He holds a D.Min. in Christian outreach from Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne (2011). His project dissertation was published as Great Commission, Great Confusion, or Great Confession?: The Mission of the Holy Christian Church (Wipf & Stock, 2012) available on Amazon.
Pres. Woodford has been published in The Lutheran Witness, LOGIA, and Seelsorger. He recently coauthored Church Leadership & Strategy: For the Care of Souls (Lexham Press, 2019) available on Amazon. Pres. Woodford serves as a fellow with DOXOLOGY.
Pres. Woodford and his wife, Rebecca, are parents to Isabella (2003), Thaddeus (2007), Aletheia (2009), Ekklacia (“Klaci”, 2011), Soteria (2014), and Titus (2017). He enjoys reading, writing, hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family.
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The “Mission Field: USA – Church Planting” podcast series, provided by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Office of National Mission, offers a theological background and best practices for launching new congregations and ministries within a Lutheran framework.
