Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1969 · 48th Convention › Page 405
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 405

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

CHURCH LITERATURE AND PUBLICATIONS; PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS 405

continues to be one of the biggest suppliers of religious
audiovisuals to the churches in Europe.

Concordia’s production facility on the west coast,
Family Films, continues to provide valuable professional
film and filmstrip service to the church.

In January of this year we were saddened at the
sudden death of Mr. Sam Hersh, founder of Family
Films and managing head at the time of his death. His
two sons are carrying forward the work in a very
capable manner.

The 26 filmstrips produced for the Concordia Cate-
chism Series and the four filmstrips for the Concordia
Sex Education Series have been big facto1‘s in the grow-
ing sales of Concordia Films. More than 14,000 sex edu-
cation filmstrip sets are now in use. An experimental
version of the sex series for inner-city use is being field-
tested.

Also being investigated is the highly successful Arch
Book Series, to see whether it can be converted to mo-
tion pictures and filmstrips.

Pastors and teachers are kept informed of available
materials and new releases. Particularly valuable is the
ongoing utilization program through the bimonthly pub-
lication Forward and the Guide to Audiovisual Materials.

One of the significant AV productions completed
during CPH's 100th-anniversary year was “Studies in
Lutheranism,” a series of four filmstrips with recordings
for Bible classes and congregational groups.

Communicating Through Music

During the biennium the Concordia Music Depart-
ment has continued to serve the church with new pub-
lications designed to help congregations in their weekly
worship. The new publications are for all types of
parishes — Lutheran and non-Lutheran, small, medium-
size, large, rural, inner-city, and urban. Concordia music
today is being sung and played in churches of most de-
nominations.

Publications of liturgical music head the list. During
the last 2 years CPH published the Introits and Grad-
uals for the Church Year (complete) by Healey Willan.

By agreement with Barenreiter Verlag. CPH has be-
come the exclusive publisher of English editions of the
church music of Hugo Distler for the U.S.A. To date
the cantatas A Little Advent Music and The Christmas
Story, several chorales and motets, and the Selections
from Der Jahrkreis have appeared in print, together
with the first biography, Hugo Distler and His Church
Music, by Larry Palmer.

The Organ Handbook, by Hans Klotz. designed for
organists, pastors, architects, and church organ com-
mittees, is a first of its kind.

To complement the popular Parish Organist Scries.
CPH published the first three volumes in the Church
Organist Series. In addition, the Music Department
continues to serve the church musician through the pub-
lication of catalogs and selected choral and organ music
of all publishers and also by the popular ExamPak
custom.

The new Worship Supplement to The Lutheran Hym-

nal, to be dedicated at the Denver convention, is now in
process of production and will be made available for the
first time at the convention. The book contains numer-
ous worship forms in addition to 92 hymns.

Distributing the Word

Bringing people and product together is ever a chal-
lenge, occupying much time and manpower at CPH.

Ongoing research is undertaken to identify needs in
the field, to “feed back” to CPH a range and depth of
opinion that is invaluable in developing new religious
resources and in uncovering new uses and new areas of
outreach. The marketplace is changing. No longer can
Concordia, or any religious publisher for that matter,
depend solely on automatic customer loyalty to one’s
own denominational house.

Modern distribution of the Word calls for systematic.
housewide planning and wise decision-making es-
pecially by the people in CPH’s Marketing Division.
Aiding in the process are new IBM data-processing ma-
chines that provide fast. sophisticated sales, inventory,
and production reports.

To implement the divine commission to carry out the
full implications of the Detroit Mission Affirmations
means a world outlook and a right understanding of our
fellow redeemed. Concordia’s centennial Bible-torch-
world symbol and theme, “New Horizons in Christian
Communication,” appropriately emphasizes this global
view. Today Concordia materials are available through
more than 5,200 outlets around the world.

Eight salesmen (including one in England) work full
time, personally calling on large and small bookstores
throughout the United States, Canada, and England.

Concordia Publishing House Ltd. in London is CPH’s
one wholesale and retail distribution link with conti-
nental Europe and South Africa. A special working
agreement with the Lutheran Publishing House of Ade-
laide extends CPH's outreach throughout Australia,
New Zealand. and the Pacific Islands.

Special displays and exhibits at more than 500 annual
church conventions, workshops, retreats, trade shows,
state fairs, and book fairs bring Concordia materials to
thousands within and without the church.

Millions are reached by advertising in religious peri-
odicals and in such mass media as Ladies’ Home Jour-
nal, Time, and National Observer with more than 30
different catalogs, by direct mail, and through special
promotion and merchandising efforts. All this is supple-
mented with news and publicity that communicates to
strategic publics the unique spiritual ministry of CPH,
what CPH is doing and why and for whom.

Radio, TV. and nationally syndicated features are all
used in a constant effort to increase awareness of Con-
cordia’s Christ-centered materials.

Motivated Men — Modern Machines

Many fellow publishers come to CPH to see its large,
well-equipped. up-to-date plant and to study its
operations.

Every effort is made to keep pace with new techno-