A bookstore. . .

We have in our parish a mighty fine little bookstore run by a dedicated and knowledgeable woman who keeps us well stocked with good and orthodox books, hymnals, crucifixes, children's literature, and even an array of cards all that reflect and support the faith.  Every parish should be so blessed!  We know how good it is because when we have had seminary or college singing groups here, they often go home with less money in the wallets and more pounds in the luggage.

One of the problems is that it is sometimes difficult to get the folks in our pews to pay attention to and shop at our bookstore.  It is not hidden (fairly obvious, by the way) and the prices are exceptionally reasonable but for whatever reason, it is not utilized as it could be and should be.  I am in hopes that this will change and it will continue to flourish and serve us with good books and resources to support the faith.

That brings up the whole idea of books.  Close to the Reformation anniversary, it is hard to imagine what we would have to celebrate without the printing press and the many books and pamphlets and later missals and hymnals and catechisms that would read the faith into the hearts and minds of the people.  We, more than any other, were dependent upon books for our own particular history.  What is even more impressive is that these books were not meant for the erudite and educated but written for the ordinary lay folk to read and understand.  That remains one of the hallmarks of our Concordia Publishing House today -- the access to great books which themselves are easily readable and accessible to lay folk.

The internet is a great thing but it cannot always help you distinguish between that which is faithful and that which is not.  So many resources are available and yet not all of them are worthy of your time or money.  Don't depend upon Amazon's recommendations or ratings.  Make sure that you are reading good and salutary authors and books.  Did I mention the new liturgical theology volume Lutheran Service Book:  Companion to the Services?  You cannot get that on Amazon.    

When it first came out I sent my father a copy of the Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions.  He literally could not put it down.  It became a joke (real to my mom) that this book caused his pastor no small amount of grief as my father read what we confessed and then took a look at his own congregation (where he had been a member since his new birth in baptism as an infant).  He was not trying to make trouble but figured that if we wrote those words, we meant them; if we meant them then, we mean them still; and if we mean them still, we ought to live by them and practice them.  That book drove him into the Scriptures even more.  It all began with a book.

My suggestion is this.  Take an obvious but unoccupied corner of your parish narthex, set up a bookcase or display of some sort, spend $1,000 on the good books of our faith (CPH will gladly help you set up a larger Lutheran library of resources for sale), and then tell the folks in the pews about it.  Leave the CPH catalog and other good Lutheran sources out there for people to peruse and offer to purchase the resources for them and make a buck here or there so that this might be a self-sustaining effort.  It can work and will and it will reap many benefits.

So, thank you, Jan, for your work now and to Ginny, who went before her, for your good efforts.  To the rest of us, take a look and see what wonderful resources are available in that bookstore.  We all benefit by a well read and informed laity, who know the Scriptures, creeds, and confessions, and who know the liturgical resources of our faith (hymnal and catechism).  And, who remember that even a crucifix can be a sacramental tool to bring the faith before us without words.  Hats off to you for the work you do for us at Grace and for bookstores in parishes everywhere.