Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod President Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick has written a book about the LCMS titled Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Birth, Growth, Decline, and 
Rebirth of an American Church.
“People in our church body have a right to know what’s in the head and heart of the president of their church body,” Kieschnick says. “And with this book I have the opportunity to share some of who I am, and what I’m called by God to do in a way that hopefully provides a combination of history, present diagnosis, and a prescription for the LCMS.”
The book, released Jan. 29 by Concordia Publishing House, is written for pastors, church leaders, and individuals within and outside of the LCMS.
“The major purpose of this book is to communicate to whoever reads it something of importance regarding a church body that began in America more than a century and a half ago, that in many ways has had a glorious past, and that, like most other Christian church bodies in America, is faced with many challenges and opportunities in present times and in future years,” Kieschnick says in the book’s Preface.
In seven chapters and a conclusion, the Synod president shares “what is on my mind and in my heart as I consider the past and look toward the future, specifically of our church body, but in a general way also of Christendom as a whole.”
In the book, dedicated to his wife, Terry, Kieschnick examines:
- the identity and formation of the LCMS.
- what the Synod’s members believe, teach, and confess.
- why the church body became “non-productive.”
- “fixing” and funding the church’s mission.
- witnessing in a “post-church culture.”
- the church’s “vision and mission” in the 21st century.
- leadership, “especially in difficult times.”
- the future of the LCMS.
Explaining the book’s title, Kieschnick says the Synod is “large, strong, and laden with talent and purpose,” and yet, as a sleeping giant, “we don’t seem to accomplish as much as we might.”
But he adds that he believes the church body “is awakening, taking more time in doing so than many of us would like, but awakening nonetheless.”
The LCMS giant, he says, “has much potential for bringing hope, health, and wholeness to many.”
To order Waking the Sleeping Giant ($16.99, item no. 12-4361), call CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit its Web site at www.cph.org. Price quoted does not include shipping charge.
Posted March 10, 2010
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