By Kim Plummer Krull
ST. LOUIS (July 22, 2013) – It was just over a year ago that Dr. Bruce G. Kintz, president and CEO of Concordia Publishing House (CPH), accepted a prestigious national quality award in Washington, D.C., that, he said, every LCMS member shares.
“We exist only because of you and your desire to keep us in business to create resources that focus on Christ,” Kintz said of CPH www.cph.org, which was named by President Barack Obama and U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson as a 2011 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Kintz recalled that “thrilling” spring day during his greeting at the 65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, July 20-25, at the America’s Center Convention Complex. Some 1,200 clergy and lay voting delegates are gathered for the convention, which has the theme “Baptized for This Moment.”
CPH, the Synod’s official publishing arm, launched an intentional focus on the organization’s own stewardship focus several years ago when, Kintz said, he and coworkers reminded themselves that all the money given to CPH by LCMS congregations, schools and members for Christian resources comes from offering plates.
As a result, CPH launched an intentional focus on its own stewardship to ensure that the organization uses the best available practices and processes, Kintz said. He invited fellow LCMS members to visit CPH and see the award, named after the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, a proponent of quality management.
CPH, founded in 1869, has grown from producing resources via the printing press to the Internet and satellite, Kintz said. Today, the publishing house is in on “the cutting edge,” focusing on new resources that include eBooks, software and digital libraries, he said, “all on your behalf.”
