# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S223 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) SYNODICAL ADMINISTRATION 223 sponsibilities attendant to a contemporary publishing operation. As for its history, CPH made the transition from synodical printery (Synodaldruckerei) to synodical pub- lisher when by resolution of the Synod, in 1878, it was named Concordia-Verlag. Its close ties with Der Luthe- raner as publisher were evident from the beginning. The publishing of this periodical was in fact a principal reason why Trinity Church in St. Louis and later the Synod set up a specific institution as its publishing arm. The Lutheran Witness, at first the project (and fi- nancial problem child) of a pastoral conference in Ohio, then of the English Synod, was, in the words of Dr. Edmund P. Seuel (in the book Ebenezer, p. 303), “ab- sorbed by Concordia Publishing House” when that Synod became a District in the Missouri Synod in 1911. The competent services Concordia has rendered com- mend its continuance as the Synod’s publisher. It is equipped and staffed to perform continued service in the publishing ministry with which the Synod charged it. It is entirely capable of shouldering the responsi- bilities of producing, distributing, and managing the Synod’s official periodicals. Not an Either-Or The argument of those who advocate such drastic change rests on a dictionary definition of a publisher as “owner” of the periodicals it publishes. This ap- proach not only ignores the historical development and special needs of the religious ministry for the Synod but flies in the face of the current situation in a major segment of the secular press. With reference to the issue at hand, their line of reasoning is this: Since CPH neither owns the Synod’s official periodicals nor can use them to promulgate its own views, it follows that it cannot be the publisher. It is added, by way of stating a false alternative: The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod is owner and operator of these periodicals, there- fore their publisher. Such reasoning is persuasive only if the Publishing House were a corporate entity entirely separate from the Synod. Then one would have to choose between CPH and the Synod. The fact is, however, that Concordia is not an independent, private firm. It is not a body foreign to the Synod. Concordia Publishing House is controlled by the Synod. Its Board of Directors is elected by the Synod. Its function is what the Synod said it should be: to be its publishing arm. Because CPH is controlled by the Synod, it has no theological views other than those to which the Synod itself is offi- cially committed. Stating the Case The signers of this report respectfully request that serious attention be given to the following observations and recommendations: 1. Concordia is the Synod’s publisher. To authorize other synodical groups to become publishers of their own materials is not only to lay the ground for the duplication of efforts and for crippling confusion but also to undercut the very institution the Synod has established for its overall publications program. 2. To take the alternative course is to exchange Con- cordia’s demonstrated performance in the periodicals field for an untried, unknown, and unpredictable ad- venture, and this at a time when publishing enterprises in Christendom and the nation are encountering grow- ing risks and failures. This fact is witnessed to by the sudden deaths of many new journals and magazines and the slow, lingering deaths of once well-established ones. This is not the time for the periodicals board and staff, challenged as they are by their editorial responsibilities, to be burdened with the duties and decisions attendant on the overall publishing operation, burdens that de- mand their own experience and competence. 3. The cost factors involved in transferring the Synod’s periodicals from one publisher to another need far more exploration before such a step can be pru- dently taken. 4. Present working relationships call for the editorial commission and staff to be responsible for editorial content, and CPH for promotion. advertising, and other publishing tasks. Admittedly, editorial content is never totally divorced from the business and management aspects of a publications program. The signers of this minority report believe that the satisfactory working formula can be continued whereby Concordia Publishing House and the Editorial Commission for Official Peri- odicals can function together within the framework of the present relationship. 5. The signers of this minority report further be- lieve that the Synod would be well advised to reaffirm its positions in viewing Concordia Publishing House as its only publishing arm by adopting the following Hand- book revision. ART. XI. PUBLICATIONS C. LUTHERAN WITNESS, LUTHERAN WITNESS REPORTER, and DER LUTHERANER 11.81 Official Periodicals The official periodicals of The Lutheran Church — Mis- souri Synod, owned and published by the Synod, shall be the Lutheran Witness, the Lutheran Witness Reporter, and Der Lutheraner. All official notices and reports shall be published in the Lutheran Witness Reporter. 11.82 Editorial Supervision, Management, and Production a. An Editorial Commission consisting of nine members appointed by the President of the Synod after consultation with the Vice-Presidents shall be charged with editorial su- pervision of the official periodicals. The members of the Editorial Commission shall serve for terms of 4 years in such manner that the terms of four members shall alternate with the terms of the other five members. A Vice-President of the Synod, appointed by the President to represent his office, and a representative of the Board of Directors of Con- cordia Publishing House shall attend the meetings of the Editorial Commission. The Editorial Commission shall meet at least four times a year. b. Concordia Publishing House shall be charged with the production, subscription promotion, distribution, and man- agement of the Synod’s official periodicals. 11.83 Responsibilities of Editorial Commission a. The Editorial Commission shall determine the editorial