Official Workbook PDF page source text

LCMS 2026 Convention Workbook: Reports and Overtures, PDF page 475

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 
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. 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 
W
HEREAS, 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, for
cing 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 a llow 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 
W
HEREAS, 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 
2026 Convention Workbook
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