Res. 8-04 — To Expand Access to the Lutheran Confessions

WHEREAS, The primary objectives of The Lutheran Church —Missouri Synod, as stated in Constitution Article III, are to: “conserve and promote the unity of the true faith (Eph. 4:3– 6; 1 Cor. 1:10), work through its official structure toward fellowship with other Christian church bodies, and provide a united defense against schism, sectarianism (Rom. 16:17), and heresy”; and to “strengthen congregations and their members in giving bold witness by word and deed to the love and work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and extend that Gospel witness into all the world”; and

WHEREAS, We pray in the collect for the Church that “Thy Word, as becometh it, may not be bound, but have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of Christ’s holy people” ( The Lutheran Hymnal, p. 14); and

WHEREAS, The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Lutheran Confessions), as listed in Const . Art. II “as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God,” are an indispensable resource for achieving the primary objectives of the Synod; and

WHEREAS, Concordia Publishing House (CPH) is the official publishing house of the Synod; and

WHEREAS, CPH in 2006 published the Lutheran Confessions under the title: Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions—40 A Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord, 2nd edition (Reader’s Edition); and

WHEREAS, The Reader’s Edition, with its historical introductions and other included materials, presents the Lutheran Confessions most intelligibly and clearly, is the generally preferred English translation among native and non-native English speakers alike, and is the preferred source for most derivative translations into other languages; and

WHEREAS, CPH has recently made public the website bookofconcord.cph.org that contains the confessional text of the Reader’s Edition (2nd ed.), but, as of yet, the website does not include any of the notes or annotations; and

WHEREAS, Since the website went live in January 2026, there have been over 32,000 active users from 139 countries, visiting over 180,000 pages (Site statistics from CEO, Jonathan Schulz); therefore be it

Resolved, That we commend CPH for making the Reader’s Edition (2nd ed.) easily available as of January 2026 and for their endeavor to provide such resources as evidenced by the upcoming release of the Spanish version of the Book of Concord; and be it further

Resolved, That CPH explore the feasibility and cost of adding the helpful notes and annotations from the Reader’s Edition (2nd) to its online publication at bookofconcord.cph.org and likewise include that as part of its report to the next convention of the Synod.