Concordia Publishing House: Scott's Brief History

 Right up front, please let me say that I have not made an extended reading of the history of Concordia Publishing House. Rather than give exact dates and locations and the like, I aim more to share the rationale behind having  a publishing house for a church body and how that impacts our daily lives. In addition, I hope to convey how CPH seeks to extend God's kingdom especially in discipleship growth of those who utilize its resources.

Concordia Publishing House traces back almost to the beginnings of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. When the German settlers came to the US and settled in Missouri, Rev. C. F. W. Walther recognized the need for those Christians to continue their growth in Christ Jesus. As a fledgling church body who also had untold opportunities to bear witness to Christ, he recognized that resources would be needed for pastors to effectively preach and teach, as well as overall Christians to have resources to encourage them in their walk with Christ. Thus was the concept of a publishing house born.

To be quite up front, the primary reason for Walther looking to establish a publishing house was to grow people in Christ Jesus. There were helpful resources that went a long way to assisting in that, such as Luther's Small Catechism (a small book of basic Christian teaching, often used to teach children the basics of the faith) and the Book of Concord (an extended collection of Lutheran confessional documents, outlining the basics of biblical teaching to which Lutherans generally adhere). There were also additional resources that began to be created, such as periodical publications like magazines to inform and encourage the faithful.

Over the years, the demands of the church body shaped the offerings of the publishing house. As schools began to flourish, teaching resources grew. As tremendous outreach opportunities arose, manuals and guides to sharing the message of the Bible and of Christ Jesus were created and distributed. To aid in the education of pastors and other church workers, resources appropriate to the task were created.

Concordia Publishing House has always been the publishing house for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. However, the resources that they produce are not intended merely for Lutherans who belong to this particular church body. With a strong doctrinal leaning and teaching, these resources look to engage Christians in their various vocations (a derivative of a Latin word which means the various roles we play in life) to life faithful and faith-filled lives. The publishing house is unquestionably Lutheran in its teachings, and yet, creates resources that are easily engaged even by those of different Christian backgrounds. 

In recent years, the advent of the internet and various social media platforms have led CPH to branch out greatly in these areas. In future posts, I will highlight some of these. As a person who does love the feel of a paper book in my hands, though, I may tend to focus on books and other resources that you can actually hold in your hand. But make no mistake, for those who are electronically driven, there are ample resources to utilize, some of which I will also be highlighting in the future.

Christian Resources

 One of my favorite places to shop is the publishing house for the church body which I serve and of which I am a part. That publishing house is called Concordia Publishing House. Over the years, I have spent a small fortune there for resources that helped me in my pastoral knowledge and skills, and have recommended resources for others to guide them in their Christian lives. These resources have generally been very well received and appropriate to the needs of people.

Because I utilize their resources so much, I have been giving some thought to sharing a bit about any number of these resources via this blog. I provide these as a means for others to gauge their usefulness for their particular situations, and will gladly entertain any questions that someone might have about them. 

I already am in possession of many of Concordia Publishing House's (CPH) resources, and continue to receive many for professional and personal reasons. As I write up thoughts and brief reviews on these, some of them will be ones that I already have. Others will be ones that I acquire from the publishing house. As much as possible, I will give pertinent information should someone be moved to look to acquire the resource.

For those who may be wanting to check out CPH's resources, you can go to their website at www.cph.org. I highly recommend their products, and want to make it clear that I do not receive any compensation from CPH for writing about them. I simply believe highly in what they produce.

As a brief aside, the majority of items that Concordia Publishing House carries are based upon the confession of faith of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Tomorrow's post will carry a bit of the history of CPH and the LCMS, at least from what I can recall from past reading. I hope that these posts help resource you for your continued Christian growth, or to guide you as you consider being a Christian.

Book Review: Forward, by Ronnie Floyd

 Forward: 7 Distinguishing Marks for Future Leaders, Ronnie W. Floyd, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN, 2015

Ronnie Floyd examines seven marks that will define leaders who look to lead forward into the future. These marks will define how effective a leader can be leading into the coming years into the changing future. In brief fashion, Floyd looks at each of these seven, examining their content, why they are important, and how leaders can incorporate them into their leadership for their organizations. 

Floyd's seven marks are relevant matters that have become more important for the changing landscape of organizations, and especially churches. His seven marks are areas that leaders will have to grapple with, and simply cannot be ignored as the landscape in which leaders operate change. These seven marks are Forward Truth, being Cross-Generational, being a Futuristic Thinker, being Culturally Sensitive, having a Growing Teachability, being Compelled by Compassion, and being Driven by Something More. As Christians, and especially as leaders in Christian churches and organizations, these marks will greatly define the ability to reach neighborhoods that surround congregations with the Gospel message.

This is a small book with great content and easy readability. Such a book is necessary for Christian leaders who may not always have a great deal of time to dedicate to learning leadership, as needed as such learning may be. And Floyd focuses mostly on what the content of each short chapter consists of, rather than trying to paint a picture of what it would look like. In some respects, this is a fair tradeoff, given that every circumstance of ministry will look different and will call for these marks to be practiced in different manners. He does give examples of how each one looks at the completion of each chapter, which can help give an idea of how this content comes to life in the leader.

In order to help make that content applicable for the reader, Floyd offers contemplation questions at the completion of each chapter. Such an exercise helps bring the specific content to play in the context in which the leader resides. If you read this book, I suggest taking the time think through the questions for greater reflection and applicability to your given circumstances.

For me, I appreciated how Floyd addressed the Futuristic Thinker content. Quite often, we think of a visionary leader as someone who is going to come in, paint a completely different picture of what is happening in the congregation or ministry, and has an overarching plan for making that happen. While that can be the case, more often, I would suggest that such futuristic thinking happens as Floyd suggests. It happens by looking at the context in which the church/ministry is situated, and then examines to see what is possible there. It may involve something significant that has not happened in that context before, but more often, it is simply going to involve small changes that have great impact, and does not require massive changes in focus or direction for the congregation or ministry.

I would recommend this book for most pastors, but especially for lay leadership within a congregation or ministry. I make this recommendation, not so much because I think that it would suddenly raise up more lay leaders, but because it will help lay leaders to assist with realistic vision for congregations and ministry, and can serve to bring the leadership of the ministry together. It can promote greater unity in where ministry takes place and what it looks like, and for that reason, would make a good read for all ministry leaders, whether pastoral, lay, or otherwise.

Who is a Leader?

A few years back, I remember a discussion that was taking place with some leaders in a congregation in which I was serving.  I was trying to emphasize the importance of being a leader when someone is chosen for an official position within the congregation.  One gentleman somewhat objected to the way that I was using the word leader.  He spoke about how he saw his wife as a leader, as she lived out her Christian life in a way that would be obvious to those around her.  As the discussion progressed, I realized that he and I were using the same term, but meaning different thing, and therefore we ended up talking past each other quite a bit.  (In the end, I suggested that his use of the word leader might better be replaced with the word witness in the context in which he was talking.)

I am convinced that we frequently find ourselves talking past each other when we assume that we mean the same thing with the words that we use.  For instance, with the word today, it can easily be assumed that everyone knows what a leader is.  And yet, as the conversation above indicates, people may have different variations to how they understand the word.  That's why it is advantageous to actually take time to describe what you mean when you use a particular word, especially in circumstances where the conversation may be stalling for some reason.

So what do I mean by the word "leader" here?  In the context in which I primarily use it, it means that you are the person who sets the direction for those within your organization, however large or small.  You are the one tasked with getting others to perform certain tasks and actions, to have a common message, to meet certain expectations, and you are the one who sets many of those.  A variety of terms are used for this (boss, manager, director, etc.), but it basically means that you are the one in charge.

To recap, the leader is the one who sets the vision for the organization, who then is tasked with communicating that vision, aligning the people toward that vision, and setting up the expectations and behaviors that lend themselves toward that end. As you can tell from this simple definition, this is quite the task. There are many elements to this, many of which I will be writing about in future posts. more than anything, this post is to make sure that I am communicating clearly what I mean when I use the word leader.  Yes, there may be other definitions, but I provide this to attempt to keep us talking about things from a common understanding.

Leaders and the "Safe" Place

One thing leaders are responsible for is the overall "atmosphere" of the place where they are in charge.  I realize this nebulous term "atmosphere" can be descriptive of many different things.  How I am using it here is to describe the overall sense that all people in the workplace have toward the workplace.  Is there suspicion at work? Do the workers come away with a sense of completeness to their work?  Is there camaraderie present between everyone in the workplace?  Do you avoid topics or issues?  Is there a lot of conflict present?  All of these, as well as many more, demonstrate the sense of atmosphere in a given organization.

Today I want to focus on the atmosphere being one we could call safe.  Is it a place where all who work there are able to express themselves without worry?  Do they sense that they can ask questions, even if the questions are hard questions?  Can they express doubt about direction?  If there is an issue that needs resolving, is the environment one that allows them to work through the process of resolution?  Reading through these, you likely get the sense that an answer of yes means that this is a safe atmosphere.

What is the importance of a safe atmosphere in the workplace?  It allows individuals the opportunity to truly focus on doing well what they are there to do. If the workers always have to worry about offending the boss or someone else, they will spend copious amounts of energy to avoid doing so.  If conflict is constantly present, everyone involved spends needless time and effort worrying about its impact on them.  If suspicion is present, everyone spends much energy protecting themselves.  In all of these situations, productivity suffers.

Leaders are the ones in charge of creating the safe place.  To do that, the leader must be comfortable working through the challenges and issues that lead to an environment that is not safe.  The leader also must be someone who sets the tone firmly, yet can be gentle with people.  It is tremendously helpful for the leader to be curious about people, to find out what is most helpful to each one in creating that safe place.  The leader must be pushed to consider all the different people involved, their reactions, and to be prepared to shift course if any chosen course of action threatens.

A safe environment allows everyone involved to have a sense of joy in the workplace while also challenging them to strive for more.  When you have a safe workplace, both of these can and do exist at the same time.

Those for Whom the Leader Cares

I recently started reading a book, Leaders Eat Last, by Simon Sinek.  I'm only a few chapters in, but one thing that has stood out so far in this book is a thought I thought worth sharing today.  It's the thought considering those for whom the leader cares.

I would suggest that we often think of the leader (in whatever kind of organization) as the one to whom others answer.  Our thought of leadership tends to be one that looks down from above.  By that, I mean that the leader looks at those beneath him/her and gives them guidance and direction in what to do.  Those beneath him/her respond by doing what the leader says, so that the leader is pleased with what they do.  In this type of situation, others are doing what they do to serve the leader.

Sinek, though, really hits home with a different idea.  The leader is the one who is serving the people beneath him/her. The leader looks to care for the people who are in the organization, making sure that their needs are met.  These needs are not only the proper equipping for the roles they play, but also include the need of feeling as though they are a vital part of the organization.  They need to feel respected and valued.  They need the leader to recognize what their needs are beyond the work environment, and then strive to meet those needs as possible.  In other words, the leader serves the people.

I haven't read any particular studies on this, but I would imagine that if I did, I would see that the research would greatly demonstrate that leaders who serve those who work under them work to give greater effort when they perceive that they are valued, needed, and that their needs are important to the leader and the organization.  Think about it.  Where would you feel more valued, in a situation in which the leader sought to get as much out of you, didn't relate with you, and viewed you as replaceable, or a situation in which the leader intentionally asked how things were going and actively worked to make changes to care for your expressed needs?

Caring for those who work for you, and even those who work alongside as equals, goes a long way toward building a healthy, strong and productive work environment.  In your various roles, how can you look to better serve those with whom you work, or those who report to you?

Introduction to the New Blog

If you are reading this, welcome to my new blog.  The other blog that I operate focuses on Christian thoughts and the like, as well as books that I happen to be reading.  However, I began to discover that my interest in leadership was starting to take over the blog.  While leadership is something that is seen throughout the Bible, the reality is that leadership is not often seen as a particularly "Christian" topic. 

I wrestled with the thought for a while.  Should I give up blogging about leadership ideas and keep my focus on Christian thoughts and musings?  Should I just continue as is, mixing leadership in along with my Christian thoughts and musings?  Or, should I look for a new context in which to talk about leadership?  Viola!  That's when the idea of starting a second blog arose.  This one can focus solely on leadership and related books to the topic.  The other will be my "catchall" for Christian thoughts and other such matters.

So, what can you expect on this blog?  Well, if you have followed me for a while, you likely know that I love to read.  So book reviews on leadership topics will continue to pop up as I complete them.  Also, as I come across different ideas and thoughts on leadership that strike me, or upon which I have thoughts, I'll likely dive in here and express a few thoughts on them. 

What shouldn't you expect on this blog?  Even though I am a wholeheartedly committed Christian, I won't be trying to show how leadership and Christianity tie together.  Yes, there are times where I will make clear connections in the two, but overall, this blog is intended to focus on leadership, studies on leadership, practices of leadership, and thoughts about leadership.  While many of the ideas and discussions could carry over to Christian circles and organizations, I won't be making many overt attempts at doing so.

I hope you find this blog to be useful.  I will aim to post 3-5 times per week, as I am able.  I encourage comments and thoughts, whether you agree or disagree with me on certain topics.  Above all, I hope that reading through what I put on here makes you think about how leadership and its practices are evident in your life.  So, with that, happy reading, and I look forward to the conversations we will have.