LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 61

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SYNODICAL REPORTS 61

cordia Publishing House continues to expand and strengthen ma-
terials for preschool through high school age children, materials
that can be used in the home, the mid-week program, or the day
school programs. We set in motion the preparation of what we are
calling The Comprehensive Curriculum Guide which will provide
resources to support and enrich the integration of the Christian faith
into al] subject areas taught in our schools. We have revised, en-
hanced, and reissued classics such as A Bible History and similar
materials for use in both the classroom and the home.

Our Adult Bible Study line of resources provides high-quality,
in-depth studies of various books of the Bible, as well as studies
on doctrinal and cultural topics. Of note in the last triennium was
the enhancement and expansion of Today’s Light, the premier
Lutheran in-depth Bible study available to congregations. The se-
ries The Lutheran Difference offers Lutheran Christians the oppor-
tunity to dig more deeply into the distinct biblical teachings and
practices of the Lutheran church in comparison with other denom-
inations, providing thoughtful reflection and explanation of vari-
ous key doctrinal subjects.

Our Music department provides a vast array of choral, organ,
instrumental, and handbell materials, along with many other wor-
ship-support materials. We recognize that there is a diversity of
musical styles in our Synod and our department works hard to
serve as many as we possibly can. We have identified a number of
excellent parish musicians and composers who are using their gifts
to offer truly unique musical settings and arrangements. Our CPH
music department produces each quarter the large Creative Wor-
ship resource for parishes that desire to use alternative wordings
and phrasings for the various parts of the liturgy.

Our periodicals continue to serve literally millions of people
every day. The daily devotional resource Portals of Prayer is our
most popular magazine, with 850,000 copies mailed out each quar-
ter, no doubt touching countless more than this who read and listen
to these daily faithful Law/Gospel and Christ-centered devotions.
Teacher’s Interaction provides an excellent workshop-in-print for
the lay teachers in Lutheran Sunday schools. Family Talk is a quar-
terly newspaper offering practical resources for families in our
parish. Today’s Light serves those who desire a helpful and practi-
cal guide for daily Bible reading. Strength for the Day is a helpful
resource for those who are shut-in or hospitalized, offering prayers,
devotions, and meditations for these occasions. Concordia Pulpit
Resources is our journal for preachers. CPR has been significantly
improved and enhanced in the past triennium and we now offer a
Web site for subscribers that offer additional materials. We also
publish the Synod’s official magazine, The Lutheran Witness,
which, like most denominational magazines, continues to experi-
ence a downward trend. CPH, in partnership with the Board for
Communication Services, the entity that produces the magazine
and is responsible for its content, continues to seek ways to reverse
the decline.

The books we produce fall into two broad categories: books de-
signed specifically for children and books that serve the needs of
adults, both laypeople and church workers. We have reduced the
number of children titles that we publish and have focused more
closely on producing truly unique children’s books with Lutheran
specific content so that our children’s books stand out from the
large crowd of other children’s materials. Our books for adults pro-
vide devotional resources and books designed for the layperson
wishing to have more depth and guidance with various life issues
and Christian teachings. Our professional and academic books pro-
vide resources for our pastors, teachers, and other church workers,
such as the teaching resources we offer, the Concordia Commen-
tary series of in-depth Bible commentaries, and a wide variety of
scholarly studies of Christian doctrine.

Our materials for youth have been expanded and enhanced by
the addition of solid material providing what the youth of today are
asking for: depth, substance, meat, and content. Our young people
are very aware of the culture and world around them. They desire
to have materials that challenge them and give them more than en-
tertainment and gimmicks. We have a number of excellent re-
sources in an expanding product line for youth, including an excel-
lent resource for youth workers in our parishes Youth Ministry
Basics.

In addition to published resources, we continue to supply offer-
ing envelopes and every Sunday bulletins to thousands of congre-
gations. This is a key part of our business and the revenue gener-
ated from these two items supports the work we do elsewhere. We
ask our congregations for their continued support for our offering
envelopes and bulletins. When our congregations use our offering
envelopes and bulletin covers they receive excellent resources
while helping to support all the other publishing work their pub-
lishing house does for their fellow LCMS Lutherans.

Our ecclesiastical art department supplies high quality materials
for the worship and congregational needs for church supplies of all
kinds. We have been expanding this line of resources as well. Per-
haps most notably we are digitizing classic works of CPH art and
making them available as beautiful framed canvas transfer prints.
We presently have over 25 different paintings available. We pre-
sented each District in our Synod with one of our most popular,
Richard Hook’s famous “Head of Christ.” You may see this paint-
ing on display in your District office.

Publishing Plan in the Previous Triennium

Below you will find a listing of the various items approved for
publication in the previous triennium. Most of these newer resources
are now in print while others are scheduled for release in the next
triennium. We would point out that these are but the newest members
of our CPH family of products and services. At the present time we
inventory and distribute over 8,000 different items.

Books for Children and Youth

Angel! Angel!

Grandma, What Is Prayer?

Jesus Is Born in Bethlehem

The Basket in the River

Make and Learn

The Life of Christ

Ten Friends Together

Play, Pray, and Hooray!

Praise God with Shapes

150 Psalms for Teens

Welcome the Baby Jesus

Baby Moses Arch Book

Easter Arch Book

Christmas Arch Book

Barabbas Arch Book

Things I Hear in Church

Things I Do in Church

Listen! Look!

It’s A Great, Awful, Inbetween Day
Mouse Prints: Journey Through the Church Year
Mouse Prints: The Time of Christmas
Mouse Prints: The Time of Easter
Mouse Prints: The Time of the Church
Favorite Action Bible Verses

Journey Through the Bible

Little Visits with God

Crunch Time: Youth Devotional
Imagine That! Devotions for Teens by Teens

2004 Convention Workbook