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.
