Concordia Publishing House Popular Books

Concordia Publishing House Biography & Facts

Concordia Publishing House (CPH), founded in 1869, is the official publishing arm of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, at 3558 S. Jefferson Avenue, CPH publishes the synod's official monthly magazine, The Lutheran Witness, and the synod's hymnals, including The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), Lutheran Worship (1982), and Lutheran Service Book (2006). It publishes a wide range of resources for churches, schools, and homes and is the publisher of the world's most widely circulated daily devotional resource, Portals of Prayer. Its children's books, known as Arch Books, have been published in millions of copies. Concordia Publishing House is the oldest publishing company west of the Mississippi River and the world's largest distinctly Lutheran publishing house. History Background In 1849, the LCMS created a publication society to provide "the most inexpensive and most general distribution of orthodox evangelical Lutheran books for education and edification". The society was to sell bonds to congregations, pastors, teachers, and lay members of the synod, who would then be repaid with the published material. However, few wanted to pay in advance for goods that might never be received, so by 1850, the society had failed. In April 1853, C. F. W. Walther and his congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church, started a separate Evangelical Lutheran Bible Society which initially imported German Bibles and later printed its own editions.In 1857, the LCMS began using the firm of August Wiebusch und Sohn as its printer and appointed a publishing committee to negotiate prices and oversee the selection of goods to be sold. In return, Wiebusch agreed to not to print anything other than the synod's publications. This again proved to be unworkable because Wiebusch did not want his presses to sit idle when no synodical work was available. Therefore, in late 1867 or 1868, the publishing committee installed a small printing press for $3,000 on the grounds of Concordia Seminary, which at that time was on South Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis. Early years On September 11, 1869, the LCMS convention resolved to create a synodical typesetting facility and to fund a publishing facility by selling $25 bonds, redeemable in five years at 0 percent interest. The response was immediate and very successful, enabling construction of the first buildings of the physical plant on Miami Street between Jefferson and Indiana avenues, which remains the current site of CPH. The first CPH building was dedicated on February 28, 1870.Martin C. Barthel, who had run a bookstore near Trinity Church that served as a retail outlet for LCMS publications starting in the 1850s, became general manager of the wholesale operations of CPH in 1869. The retail and wholesale sides were combined in 1874, when the second building of CPH opened at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Miami Street. By 1888, two additions to the second building had been built. In 1893, a third building was opened on Jefferson Avenue at Miami Street (the current 3558 South Jefferson Avenue address of CPH), with additions in 1911, 1925, and 1941.Neither CPH nor the LCMS were incorporated during their early years. The 1870s saw attacks on church rights and parish schools as states began adding versions of the Blaine Amendment to their constitutions; this led CPH to take shelter under Concordia Seminary, which had been incorporated since 1853 and therefore had the legal right to hold real estate and bequests in trust for the LCMS, but the publishing house continued to operate independently.In 1878, the synodical convention officially established the name of CPH as Lutherischer Concordia-Verlag (Lutheran Concordia Publishing House). The English name "Concordia Publishing House" was used as early as 1882. In 1887, the Bible society founded by Walther was merged into CPH, bringing with it the society's $17,407.73 in assets. The 1887 convention noted that CPH had been supplementing the synod's general fund since 1881, providing $97,700 in 1887.CPH work made up a large part of the Proceedings of the 1887 convention, and grew even larger in 1890 as delegates had to deal with debt collection resolutions. Therefore, the 1890 convention authorized CPH to incorporate, which it did on May 27, 1891, as a stock company with 196 shares at $1,000 each, held in good faith by seven members of the board of directors, 28 shares each. This structure remained in place until World War II, when the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration filed suits for income taxes against church-related organizations that were not incorporated in a compatible manner. CPH lost the case in court and reincorporated as a not-for-profit soon thereafter.On August 14, 1891, a scandal erupted when the assistant general manager, Martin S. Tirmenstein, detected an unauthorized $50 check made out to M. C. Barthel, the general manager. An audit found irregularities involving both Barthel and his son, M. R. Barthel Jr. The younger Barthel fled, and his father was initially declared mentally unfit for trial. However, a grand jury indicted the elder Barthel on May 23, 1892. Found competent for trial, he confessed to the synod on July 23, 1892, and to the court on August 1, 1892, that he had embezzled $50,000 over the years. The events were covered in the national trade publication, The Publishers Weekly. As a result of the report on the incident to the 1893 synodical convention, the LCMS incorporated on June 2, 1894.Tirmenstein became the general manager on November 17, 1891, and held that position until March 10, 1907, when he resigned to take a similar position at a printing firm in Germany. Under his leadership, CPH presented a display at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis that won the grand prize for excellence of workmanship and materials for the books shown, after having similar displays at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. CPH installed its first Linotype hot-metal press in 1905, and had seven by 1922. The publishing plant was electrified in 1908. Notable German-language publications The LCMS was originally an exclusively German-language synod, so works published by CPH were in that language. Even after English language publications were introduced and ultimately became predominant, some German works were still being published until the 1970s. In September 1844, Walther began publishing Der Lutheraner, using the printing firm of Weber and Olhausen, who also published the German-language newspaper Anzeiger des Westens. The arrangement ended in 1850 due to differences in philosophical outlook between the LCMS and the firm. Moritz Niedner was the printer from 1850 to 1857 and Wiebusch from 1857 to 1869, at which point CPH was established. In 1853, the synod established Lehre und Wehre as a theological journal for the clergy, allowing Der Lutheraner to be aimed at the laity. Lehre und Wehre ev.... Discover the Concordia Publishing House popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Concordia Publishing House books.

Best Seller Concordia Publishing House Books of 2024

  • Living a Chocolate Life synopsis, comments

    Living a Chocolate Life

    Deb Burma

    Fun, friendly, and engaging, Living a Chocolate Life invites women to savor God’s rich and endless supply of grace in Christ. Whether they're sampling everything from bit...

  • Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2023 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2023

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2023 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2023

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Being Lutheran synopsis, comments

    Being Lutheran

    A. Trevor Sutton

    Why are you Lutheran? It's a valid question in this modern age of denominations, distinctions, and choices. Being Lutheran is an explanation of Lutheran theology for the modern adu...

  • My Prayer Book-1980 Edition synopsis, comments

    My Prayer Book-1980 Edition

    Concordia Publishing House

    This book contains more than 200 prayers for Christian living, including special prayers foreach day of the weekpreparation for worshipfamily situationsvocationsnational affairstim...

  • Broken synopsis, comments

    Broken

    Jonathan M. Fisk

    There are only two kinds of spirituality in the world. One is false, and one is true. One is the manifestation of the old evil foe who has sent many false spiritualties out into th...

  • Why I Am a Lutheran synopsis, comments

    Why I Am a Lutheran

    Daniel Preus

    Through a blend of understandable explanations and reallife stories, Why I Am a Lutheran explores the foundational teachings of the Christian church. In each chapter, Daniel Preus ...

  • A Simple Explanation of Christian Denominations synopsis, comments

    A Simple Explanation of Christian Denominations

    Concordia Publishing House

    In today's world, there are more than 4,000. Within Christianity itself, there are countless denominations. These numbers can cause many Christians to wonder what those differences...

  • Faith Alive Student Bible - ESV Translation synopsis, comments

    Faith Alive Student Bible - ESV Translation

    Rev Dr Carl Fickenscher II

    Created for children ages 8 and older, Faith Alive Student Bible is a fullcolor Bible designed to introduce young readers to the messages and promises of God's Word. Broken into si...

  • Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2024 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2024

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Reading the Psalms with Luther synopsis, comments

    Reading the Psalms with Luther

    Martin Luther

    This is an English translation of Luther's Summaries of the Psalms, 1531 which was originally done in 1993. This latest edition includes the ESV translation of the Psalms, Luther's...

  • Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2017 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2017

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage, medita...

  • Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2017 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2017

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage, medita...

  • Treasury of Daily Prayer synopsis, comments

    Treasury of Daily Prayer

    Concordia Publishing

    Cultivate an enriching devotional life with a book that nourishes your time with God. This comprehensive Lutheran resource brings together Scripture readings, prayers, psalms, hymn...

  • Portals of Prayer, Jul-Sept 2016 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Jul-Sept 2016

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage, medita...

  • Loving Jesus, Died for Me - Arch Books synopsis, comments

    Loving Jesus, Died for Me - Arch Books

    Naomi Moon

    Sit down with your child and remember Jesus' sacrifice on the cross with this illustrated children's book. With easytoread rhyming language, kids will learn about Jesus' last days ...

  • LadyLike synopsis, comments

    LadyLike

    Rebekah Curtis & Rose Adle

    In a society where conversations about gender have too often become stale and predictable, LadyLike: Living Biblically reimagines what it means to be a Christian woman in...

  • House of Living Stones synopsis, comments

    House of Living Stones

    Katie Schuermann

    The first book in the Anthems of Zion series! In the small Illinois town of Bradbury, change doesn t come often, and it certainly doesn t come easily. So when Pastor Fletcher hires...

  • Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2022 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Jan-Mar 2022

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2022 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, Oct-Dec 2022

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Lutheran Service Book synopsis, comments

    Lutheran Service Book

    LCMS

    Lutheran Service Book is a hymnal with a rich compilation of Christcentered services, psalms, hymns, and prayers to nourish the faithful week after week for generations to com...

  • My Prayer Book synopsis, comments

    My Prayer Book

    Concordia Publishing House

    Since 1957, My Prayer Book has been a valuable companion for Christians who find it difficult to express what is in their hearts as they face both joys and sorrows.  This upda...

  • El Catecismo Menor de Lutero synopsis, comments

    El Catecismo Menor de Lutero

    Martin Luther

    Martín Lutero escribió el Catecismo como una herramienta didáctica de la doctrina cristiana y la fe para los individuos y las familias. Es una herramienta poderosa para la vida cri...

  • Lutheran Prayer Companion synopsis, comments

    Lutheran Prayer Companion

    Concordia Publishing House

    Martin Luther saw the incredible value in having a deep prayer life. He imparted his wisdom and thoughts on prayer in many of his writings, and thosealong with thoughts from other ...

  • The Lutheran Study Bible synopsis, comments

    The Lutheran Study Bible

    Various Authors

    Engage in devotional, Christcentered Bible reading and study with the distinctive, comprehensive notes and practical application of The Lutheran Study Bible. This new Bible is the ...

  • Psalms Now 3rd Edition synopsis, comments

    Psalms Now 3rd Edition

    Leslie Brandt

    Perhaps the bestknown and bestloved book of the Bible, the Psalms have long held a central position in the spiritual life of Christian believers. From the original authors to the m...

  • Pew Sisters synopsis, comments

    Pew Sisters

    Katie Schuermann

    This 12session Bible study for women “goes and tells what God has done” in the lives of real women in the church today. From alcoholism to postpartum depression to cancer, twelve d...

  • Portals of Prayer, July-Sept 2022 synopsis, comments

    Portals of Prayer, July-Sept 2022

    Concordia Publishing House

    Portals of Prayer is a favorite of readers looking for ways to stay in God's Word with easy, daily devotions.  A great way to start each day, readings feature a Bible passage,...

  • Lutheran Book of Prayer synopsis, comments

    Lutheran Book of Prayer

    Scot Kinnaman

    This beautiful volume contains personal prayers for almost every life circumstance, including: Prayers for morning and evening; Our life of worship; Throughout the church year; For...