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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2026, Page 440

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

FINANCE

440
Ov. 8-06

To Direct Concordia Publishing House
to Eliminate Shipping Charges
WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) serves as the
official publishing arm of the Synod, providing essential Lutheran
resources, books, curricula, and materials to support the faith,
teaching, and mission of congregations, church workers, and
individual members; and
WHEREAS, CPH currently charges shipping fees on most orders,
with limited exceptions such as free shipping for rostered church
workers on orders over $49, which can create financial barriers for
smaller purchases by individuals, small congregations, or those in
remote areas, potentially limiting access to vital confessional
Lutheran materials; and
WHEREAS, In today’s competitive online retail market, many
general book retailers offer free shipping to encourage customer
loyalty and accessibility, demonstrating that low or no-cost
shipping thresholds are standard practices that reduce friction in
purchasing and boost overall sales volume; and
WHEREAS, Numerous Christian publishers and retailers have
adopted similar shipping policies to CPH, such as Moody
Publishers (free economy shipping on orders over $35,
moodypublishers.com/faqs), Lifeway (free standard shipping on
qualifying orders over $100, lifeway.com/en/about/shippinginformation), Hendrickson Publishers (free shipping on orders over
$50, hendricksonpublishers.com/faq), Tyndale House Publishers
(free shipping on orders over $50, tyndale.com/faq), and
Christianbook (free shipping on orders over $50 with code,
christianbook.com), aligning their operations with market
expectations to better serve their religious communities; and
WHEREAS, Eliminating shipping charges would position CPH as
a leader among faith-based publishers by removing cost barriers
entirely, making it more competitive than other Christian publishers
and retailers, and encouraging broader dissemination of Synodapproved materials to foster evangelism, catechesis, and doctrinal
unity, in keeping with the Synod’s mission to “vigorously make
known the love of Christ by word and deed” (1998 Res. 1-01A, “To
Adopt a Mission Statement for the Synod,” Proc., 101); and
WHEREAS, Past Synod conventions have successfully passed
resolutions directing Synod-related entities to adjust operational
practices for the benefit of the church body, such as resolutions on
national witness, reaffirming evangelism resources and supporting
small congregations (2019 Res. 1-01A, “To Encourage God’s
People to Engage in Active Witness” and Res. 1-03, “To Study
Shared Ministry among Small Congregations”) and resolutions on
structure and administration, streamlining governance for
efficiency (2023 Res. 9-01, “To Amend Bylaws to Provide Clarity
for Cross-Circuit and Cross-District Multi-Congregation Parishes”
and Res. 9-08A, “To Strengthen Nonvoting Advisory Delegate
Participation at Conventions”), providing precedent for guiding
CPH toward policies that enhance accessibility and affordability;
therefore be it
Resolved, That the Synod in convention direct the CPH Board of
Directors to implement a policy eliminating all shipping charges on
domestic orders, regardless of order size, effective no later than Jan.
1, 2027; and be it further
Resolved, That CPH be encouraged to explore cost-recovery
measures, such as modest price adjustments on high-volume items,
2026 Convention Workbook

if necessary, while maintaining overall affordability to ensure the
long-term sustainability of this policy in service to the Synod’s
members and mission.
Christ
Milford, MI
Ov. 8-07

To Use Only Sustainable Bible Translations
WHEREAS, We accept without reservation that the Scriptures of
the Old and the New Testament are “the written Word of God and
the only rule and norm of faith and of practice” (Const. Art. II); and
WHEREAS, Passages of Holy Scripture are used throughout the
hymnals, catechisms, and other printed resources of the Synod: “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16 KJV); translations should be both
consistent (for memorization and instruction) and faithful; and
WHEREAS, As Luther writes in the Small Catechism Preface (9),
“Choose, therefore, the form of words which best pleases you, and
adhere to it perpetually” (H.E. Jacobs ed., Book of Concord,
[Philadelphia: General Council, 1908], 360); and
WHEREAS, Our printed resources must use accurate and
consistent translations of Holy Scripture from the original biblical
languages into the language of the people: “For I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the
words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things
which are written in this book.” (Rev. 22:18–19 KJV); and
WHEREAS, The copyright for the English Standard Version
(ESV) is not controlled by the Synod but is owned by Crossway, a
pan-Reformed entity that does not subscribe to a Lutheran
understanding of the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper (see crossway.org/statement-of-faith); and
WHEREAS, Crossway retains the right to change the text of the
ESV and has done so on multiple occasions making hundreds of
changes (see bible-researcher.com/esv2011changes.pdf), with the
result that the prior versions are no longer licensed, similar to the
situation that occurred when the 1984 New International Version of
the Bible (at one time, a primary translation used by the Synod) was
withdrawn by its copyright owners, forcing the Synod to change
translations after only 25 years; and
WHEREAS, This creates an untenable situation with respect to
printed materials of the Synod, because although Concordia
Publishing House (CPH) asserts that it has the right to use the prior
translation to reprint existing materials, Crossway is not obligated
to allow CPH to issue newly published written resources of the
Synod that use the original versions of the ESV and moreover, if
one buys a non-CPH ESV Bible today, it will differ from what CPH
produces; and
WHEREAS, Contemporary or political considerations should not
impact the faithful translation of God’s Word, yet the ESV has
chosen to replace the word “slave” in its original translation with
the word “bondservant” in many verses because, according to the
ESV editors, “the word ‘slave’ currently carries associations with
the often brutal and dehumanizing institution of slavery particularly
in nineteenth-century America” (esv.org/preface) as though we