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.