Go: The Church's Main Purpose - Softcover

Churches and denominations often appear to settle for a primaryobjective that is less than what the apostles recommended. If we arehonest, most church leaders acknowledge that our institutional sense ofpurpose is inconsistent, at best. In some places the purpose of thechurch is quite narrowly defined, and in others the definition is sobroad that it seems meaningless.

People wonder, “Is this allthere is to the church?” It’s a good question, and George Hunter, alongtime keen observer of the church, demonstrates the answer. Hunter’srichly descriptive explanation of the “missional church” will convinceleaders and students to recover a clear and consistent sense of purpose.

As we are the stewards of “the faith once delivered to thesaints,” so we are the heirs of the mission once entrusted to theapostles and their movements. The church’s mission, locally andglobally, is or should be its main business. The “real church” is an“ecclesia”—God’s “called out” people whom the Lord shapes into an“apostolate”—and “sends out” to be publicly present in the world—but notof it. This mission is a serving, witnessing, inviting outreach to allpeople.

George G. Hunter III is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Asbury Theological Seminary's School of World Mission and Evangelism, where he served as Dean for 18 years and Distinguished Professor for 10 years. He served as the founding dean of Asbury's E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism. A sought-after speaker and workshop leader, he is one of the country's foremost experts on evangelism and church growth. He has written over a dozen books, including How To Reach Secular People, Church for the Unchurched, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Leading & Managing a Growing Church, Radical Outreach: The Recovery of Apostolic Ministry and Evangelism, Christian, Evangelical and . . . Democrat?, The Apostolic Congregation: Church Growth Reconceived for a New Generation, and The Recovery of a Contagious Methodist Movement--all published by Abingdon Press.