Fortress Press

“Missa Est! is a terrific piece of ecclesiological writing. Among its many virtues, it serves as a corrective to the Pelagianism that too often besets contemporary talk about Christian mission. Schlesinger effectively dismantles the artificial contrast between koinonia and missional ecclesiologies, for the true church is both. I found this book very helpful in clarifying my own thinking.”

"In any ecclesiology rooted in the historical missions of the Son and Spirit, liturgical worship of God and mission to the world are central. But a focus on the liturgy (with its Godward praise) can seem to be in tension with a focus on ethical and evangelizing mission (with its directedness toward the world). Drawing upon a dazzling array of scholarship, and attuned especially to Pope Francis, Kilmartin, Chauvet, von Balthasar, Augustine, Vatican II, and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, Schlesinger demonstrates that participation in Christ's liturgical self-offering cannot be separated from participation in Christ's liberative self-offering to the world. This is a book to savor, a book that shines a light on the path ahead."

"Grounding his ecclesiology in the paschal mystery affected through sacramental liturgy, Schlesinger demonstrates how false is the polarizing alternative between the 'inner' work of communio and the 'outer' work of mission. By building on his extensive pastoral experience in Evangelical Protestantism while turning to such Roman Catholic luminaries as Lonergan, von Balthasar, and de Lubac, Schlesinger contributes to the ecumenical theological work in church and sacraments so essential to the vitality, if not viability, of the church in the twenty-first century."