To Direct Concordia Publishing House to Eliminate Shipping Charges

Official Workbook overture source text

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 
W
HEREAS, 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 
W
HEREAS, 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/shipping-
information), 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 
W
HEREAS, 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 Synod-
approved 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 
W
HEREAS, 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 congregati ons (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 tha t 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, 
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.