LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 55

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SYNOD REPORTS 55

R2-03
Concordia Publishing House

Concordia Publishing House, since its establishment in 1869,
has had a single purpose: to support The Lutheran Church—Mis-
souri Synod. Throughout its 138-year history, CPH has proclaimed
one message: salvation through Christ Jesus alone. The publishing
house is deeply committed to remaining true to our mission and
Lutheran heritage by providing resources that meet the needs of
our churches, schools, laypeople, and ministry partners.

Mission Statement

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 proclama-
tion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and working in partner-
ship with the agencies and congregations of the Synod to provide
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 Confessions and
which will effectively serve such proclamation to people through-
out the world. All to the glory of God.

Vision Statement

We strive to be the premier publisher and provider of choice for
products and services that are faithful to the Scriptures and the
Lutheran Confessions.

CPH Serves the Church

Concordia Publishing House helps share the one message of
Christ through its superior customer relations. We engage our cus-
tomers in ongoing interactive dialogue through our Web site, Cus-
tomer Service initiatives, Church Resource Consultants, and
conference representatives. Our deployed Church Resource Con-
sultants make personal visits to several hundred congregations and
schools each year. In late 2006, we launched our Customer Rela-
tionship initiative in order to increase the level of personal contact
with our churches and schools.

CPH’s strongest measure of performance is customer satisfac-
tion. The past year was a record year for customer satisfaction. In
2006, more than 98 percent of our customers reported that they
were very satisfied or satisfied with the service they received from
Concordia Publishing House.

Concordia Publishing House offers over 9,000 products that
share the Gospel message of Christ Jesus. We support the church
and the use of our products through workshops and training ses-
sions held throughout the nation. In addition, we continue to do ex-
tensive surveys and research to find out what products and services
we can provide in order to support our congregations and schools
now and in the future.

In keeping with our corporate policy, we are pleased to report
that we continue to share 10 percent of our income with The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. In the last triennium, we have
been blessed to be able to present over $1 million to the Synod. In
addition, a portion of our income was distributed directly to LCMS
congregations and schools in the form of $100 vouchers given to
each congregation and school.

CPH Partners in Ministry

We continually work to strengthen our relationships with vari-
ous agencies and recognized service organizations of the Synod.
We work cooperatively with several entities at the International
Center and provide an increasing amount of services to those enti-
ties. We also continue to collaborate with mission agencies and the
Synod to assist the spread of the Gospel throughout the world.

Through Concordia Gospel Outreach, published materials are dis-
tributed directly to the mission field.

We serve our seminaries through the CPH bookstores on both
campuses, and we also operate the bookstore at Concordia Univer-
sity Chicago. Where we do not operate a bookstore, we work
closely with the institution to ensure that those entering the min-
istry are familiar with Concordia Publishing House and its array of
products offered to support professional church workers.

CPH Strives for Excellence

During the past triennium, CPH has been focused on continuous
improvement. To that end, we carry on the self-review process to
examine our policies, procedures, and processes as we strive to im-
prove our efficiency and our allocation of resources. Key perfor-
mance indicators help us to be diligent in our planning across all
CPH product lines, business groups, and functions.

Our focus on quality and service is evident in the development
of many key new products in the past triennium:

Growing in Christ Sunday School curriculum

Concordia Curriculum Guide series

Lutheran Service Book and its accompanying pieces

Lutheran Service Builder

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions—A Reader’s Edition of
the Book of Concord

The Concordia Commentary Series: Ezekiel ]~20; Ezekiel 21-48;
Ruth, Matthew 1:1—11:1; and Jonah

John Gerhard’s Theological Commonplaces (translation)

CPH Brings the Gospel to the World

Over the last three years, CPH continued our initiatives to reach
out to non-English speakers in both the United States and globally
through missions. Our Multiethnic resources share the one message
of Christ with people the world over through original works and a
growing list of translations. Recent titles include these:

Sermones de Lutero para Semana Santa (Luther’s Sermons for
Holy Week)

Martin Lutero, la voluntad determinada Refutacion a Erasmo
(Martin Luther, On the Bondage of the Will)

Hermeneutica, principios de interpretacion biblica (Hermeneutics,
Principles of Bible Interpretation)

Un globo sin control. Como volver? (Hot Air Balloon on the
Loose!, a Spanish/Bilingual Vacation Bible School)

CPH Expands Its Use of Technology

We continue to support the responsible use of new technology
to facilitate the publishing and use of our materials, as well as to
expand ministry opportunities.

Lutheran Service Builder, a custom software companion to
Lutheran Service Book, transforms service planning and bulletin
preparation into simple, manageable, and streamlined tasks.

Concordia Technology Solutions continues to support churches
through a new release of Shepherd’s Staff church management soft-
ware and the introduction of MemberConnect, a ministry tool that
allows congregations and schools to have an effective Web pres-
ence and dynamic communication.

Several of our products are now available in audio form, in-
cluding Luther’s Small Catechism and Arch Books. Luther’s Small
Catechism is also available in MP3 format.

CPH has also entered the realm of podcasting with its initial of-
fering of Growing in the Word, which provides an in-depth look at
each week’s Bible story for the Growing in Christ Sunday School
curriculum.

In the last triennium, CPH has continued to enhance our Web
site, www.cph.org, in order to provide an engaging and convenient
Web shopping experience. We recognize that our customers use
the site as an online catalog as well as a reference or communica-

2007 Convention Workbook