LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 59

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 59

time and eternity, until the end of days, through Jesus Christ, the Son of

the living God and Savior of the world of sinners. Amen.”

(From: Selected Writings of C. F. W. Walther: Selected Sermons,

CPH, 1981, pg. 149ff)

While times have changed, and publishing technology has
changed as well, may our commitment to this vision for Concor-
dia Publishing House never change! Even as the Reformation ig-
nited and set the world ablaze with the Gospel through the publi-
cation of Luther’s many writings, so today, Concordia Publishing
House has wonderful opportunities to continue to spread the unique
and essential Gospel witness that is proclaimed by the Lutheran
Church, as together we spread the pure and unadulterated Word of
God for the salvation of the souls that Christ Jesus has purchased
and won with His precious blood.

Like our mothers and fathers in the faith who have gone before
us, We are zealously passionate about the work of making disciples
of all nations, spreading the good news about Jesus, and supporting
His Gospel mission and ministry that takes place on the “front
lines” of the Missouri Synod—at the altars and pulpits of our con-
gregations, in the classrooms of our schools, and in the homes and
lives of all who are part of our fellowship of faith. Together we
have joined hands to continue the work of the Lutheran Reforma-
tion, the oldest continuing evangelical movement in the church’s
history.

We give voice to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through
creative, practical, relevant products and services for churches,
schools, and homes. Materials from Concordia Publishing House
are used by groups and individuals throughout the United States
and around the world. We partner with the agencies, entities, con-
gregations, church workers, and laypeople of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod to provide printed materials to meet a
wide variety of needs, as diverse as are the people of our church
body and those to whom the Lord sends us. Through the work of
Concordia Gospel Outreach published materials are distributed
throughout our Synod’s mission fields.

We cling to Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone,
on the basis of Scripture alone. Our motto, “The Word of the Lord
endures forever,” is a constant reminder of the unchanging
promises of God in Christ Jesus that give us great hope and joy in
our work. We present the following report with gratitude to God
for permitting us the opportunity to serve Him and His people.

The past three years have been years of significant challenge
and equally significant opportunity and achievement for Concor-
dia Publishing House. Refocus and renewal would be two key
words to describe the changes that have taken place.

We began the last triennium with an improved mission state-
ment, which aptly describes what we are all about:

Concordia Publishing House is the publishing arm of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. It exists for the purposes of
strengthening and aiding member congregations in their procla-
mation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and working in part-
nership with the agencies and congregations of the Synod to pro-
vide publishing services. On their behalf, Concordia Publishing
House will develop, produce, market, and distribute products and
services that are faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Con-
fessions and which will effectively serve such proclamation to peo-
ple throughout the world. All to the Glory of God.

The bedrock for Concordia Publishing House’s mission state-
ment is our commitment to being and remaining faithful to God’s
Word and the Lutheran Confessions. We pray for God’s grace to
remain faithful. We are Concordia Publishing House. The word
“Concordia” reflects our Synod’s commitment to preserving and
extending the unique and faithful Biblical mission of those who
hold to the Book of Concord as a true and correct explanation and
exposition of Sacred Scripture. The mission statement also strongly

reflects our primary and most important focus: serving The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

During the past triennium necessary restructuring and reorgani-
zation took place, resulting in a more streamlined and efficient man-
agement and decision-making process, along with lower costs
throughout Concordia Publishing House’s operations. With God’s
blessing, these efforts produced positive results already in the first
year of implementation, moving Concordia Publishing Hoyse from
a red to black financial situation. After several years of serious and
increasing financial losses, we reached a point where losses were
approaching two million dollars annually.

A chart showing a financial “‘big picture” is included in this re-
port. It is important to note carefully that while the “top line” rev-
enue showed positive and encouraging growth in previous years,
the bottom-line income continued to go down and resulted in several
years of very grave and ever-increasingly large financial losses, as
the financials demonstrate. A necessary course-correction in the pre-
vious three years has put us firmly back into a more realistic and
profitable situation.

What happened is that there was a very well-intentioned effort to
generate more top-line income. The primary method chosen to do
this was to increase production of children and consumer books.
The effort initiated, called “Growing to a New Level,” ultimately
failed because the cost to produce new products in large numbers
far exceeded the revenue generated from sales. A high number of
returns of these books placed additional financial burdens on the
company. All these factors were driving Concordia Publishing
House further and further into the red, even while top-line income
increased.

As a result of the changes implemented, Concordia Publishing
House was blessed with a net income of over $1.6 million dollars in
2002 and a net income in 2003 of over $2.5 million dollars. In 2003,
for the first time in five years, we met and even exceeded our top
line revenue goals. Through cost containment, better inventory man-
agement, and regrouping of CPH’s resources around our core com-
petencies and mission, we have been able to achieve a strong return
on our investments in the wide variety of products and services we
produce.

We embraced a careful strategic planning process involving
three types of goals—short-, mid-, and long-term goals—described
as three “horizons.” Senior management works toward the fulfill-
ment of these goals and they are reviewed, evaluated, modified,
and improved as we move forward. Key performance indicators
across all areas of Concordia Publishing House operations help us
to be diligent in our planning, across all product lines, business
groups, and functions. This has resulted in a much more careful
process by which Concordia Publishing House seeks to provide the
best possible resources and services to the church and all whom we
serve. We work hard to be good stewards of the facilities we use in
St. Louis. Our building is a combination of various buildings built
and interconnected over the past 133 years. An old building re-
quires a lot of upkeep and maintenance, yet it frees us from the bur-
den of debt incurred by building new buildings or leasing office
space. This permits us to keep costs down.

A strong customer service initiative, launched in the last trien-
nium, has resulted in our highest customer satisfaction ever, with
nearly 99% of customers reporting satisfaction with the service
they receive from Concordia Publishing House. We have been
working at implementing personal customer service representatives
for each of the Synod’s congregations, with very positive and af-
firming feedback from the various Districts of our Synod where
this program has been rolled out. We continue to do intensive and
extensive surveys of those whom we serve, asking them to tell us
what they want and how we can improve so as to serve them better.

2004 Convention Workbook