To Direct Concordia Publishing House to Prioritize Mission and Distribution

WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) was established in 1869 to serve the congregations of The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod by publishing materials that are useful to the Church and faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions; and

WHEREAS, The mission statement of CPH further states that it “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 throughout the world. All to the Glory of God” (CPH, “Who We Are,” about.cph.org/who-we-are.html, accessed Feb. 25, 2026); and

WHEREAS, The vision statement of CPH states that they will “strive to be the premier publisher and provider of choice for products and services that are faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions” (ibid.), but does not envision a role in the Great Commission purpose of the Church (Matt. 28:16–20); and

WHEREAS, CPH is well known for producing materials that serve well in North American congregations that can afford them, but that may be too expensive for our mission partners in other nations; and

WHEREAS, CPH, which holds net assets of over $50 million, generously offers discounts to our Synod missionaries for their personal books, but does not offer such assistance for bulk distribution of helpful teaching materials that can be used to extend the kingdom of God in the world; and

WHEREAS, Northwestern Publishing House provides us with a praiseworthy example of support for the mission of the church by providing publications to Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod missionaries for free or for a steep discount (see online.nph.net/multi-language-productions); and

WHEREAS, The protection of copyrights has discouraged our missionaries from translating useful materials into the languages of their mission field by making them prohibitively expensive, and has hampered our missionaries in their task of reaching the lost with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ; and

WHEREAS, Even our confessional documents and catechisms are protected by copyright from wide distribution in the mission field (e.g., CPH sells the Book of Concord in Spanish for $34.99, cph.org/libro-de-concordia-the-book-of-concord); therefore be it

Resolved, That CPH, in addition to its mission to provide products that are faithful to the Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, be directed to prioritize the Great Commission and seek every way to provide free or low-cost materials for use by Synod missionaries and congregations in their contexts and communities; and be it further

Resolved, That CPH be directed to make available to any member of the Synod a royalty-free license to duplicate, translate, excerpt, and distribute any edition of the Lutheran confessional writings controlled by CPH, or of The Lutheran Hymnal and Lutheran Worship and their related liturgical resources, without charge; and be it finally

Resolved, That the laborers and congregations of the Synod give thanks to God for the faithful authors, hymn writers, and others who often work in obscurity to provide useful teaching material to the Church and pray God bless the wide distribution of their labors to the glory of God and the coming of His kingdom.