In 1849, the LCMS created a publication society to provide "the most inexpensive and most general distribution of orthodox evangelical Lutheran books for education and edification".

The society was to sell bonds to congregations, pastors, teachers, and lay members of the synod, who would then be repaid with the published material.

[1] In 1857, the LCMS began using the firm of August Wiebusch und Sohn as its printer and appointed a publishing committee to negotiate prices and oversee the selection of goods to be sold.

Therefore, in late 1867 or 1868, the publishing committee installed a small printing press for $3,000 on the grounds of Concordia Seminary, which at that time was on South Jefferson Avenue in St.

The response was immediate and very successful, enabling construction of the first buildings of the physical plant on Miami Street between Jefferson and Indiana avenues, which remains the current site of CPH.

[4] Martin C. Barthel, who had run a bookstore near Trinity Church that served as a retail outlet for LCMS publications starting in the 1850s, became general manager of the wholesale operations of CPH in 1869.

The retail and wholesale sides were combined in 1874, when the second building of CPH opened at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Miami Street.

The 1870s saw attacks on church rights and parish schools as states began adding versions of the Blaine Amendment to their constitutions; this led CPH to take shelter under Concordia Seminary, which had been incorporated since 1853 and therefore had the legal right to hold real estate and bequests in trust for the LCMS, but the publishing house continued to operate independently.

[4] In 1878, the synodical convention officially established the name of CPH as Lutherischer Concordia-Verlag (Lutheran Concordia Publishing House).

[9] CPH work made up a large part of the Proceedings of the 1887 convention, and grew even larger in 1890 as delegates had to deal with debt collection resolutions.

This structure remained in place until World War II, when the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration filed suits for income taxes against church-related organizations that were not incorporated in a compatible manner.

Found competent for trial, he confessed to the synod on July 23, 1892, and to the court on August 1, 1892, that he had embezzled $50,000 over the years.

[15] In 1853, the synod established Lehre und Wehre as a theological journal for the clergy, allowing Der Lutheraner to be aimed at the laity.

The final issue was November–December 1974, with a run of 2,400 copies, many of which were sent to members of the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany and to subscribers in Brazil and Finland.

Published between 1880 and 1910 and known as the "St. Louis Edition", it is arguably the largest German-language work ever printed in the United States.

It has been suggested it was a case of "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" — that is, since so few of the pastors and theologians of the LCMS were conversant in English, CPH had to take what was available.

[25] The 1948 catalog also demonstrated an increasing reliance on conservative Protestant, especially Presbyterian, writings because many of the standard German Lutheran works had not yet been translated into English.

[26] After World War II, LCMS theologians entered into conversation with their counterparts in Germany, leading to the use of historical criticism of the Bible in the synod's institutions such as CPH and Concordia Seminary.

The 1971 catalog featured a number of works by liberal mainline Protestants that embraced the historical critical method, the social gospel, and ecumenical movements.

The synod in convention reacted negatively to these trends, resulting in the Seminex crisis, and subsequently replaced the Mission:Life material.

CPH published volumes 1–30, consisting of Luther's exegetical writings, with Jaroslav Pelikan as general editor, between 1955 and 1976.

Fortress published volumes 31–54, consisting of Luther's non-exegetical theological writings, with Helmut T. Lehmann as general editor, between 1957 and 1986.

The 1941 convention of the LCMS requested that CPH produce a Lutheran Bible commentary series, resulting in three volumes being published in 1952 and 1956.

However, with the translation of Luther's Works beginning at that time, CPH did not have the resources to develop both projects, so the "Bible Commentary" series was put on hold.

[37] During 1990, interest in restarting the Concordia Commentary series led to an initial proposal for a 20-year project costing $1.5 to $2 million to produce either 26, 31, or 35 volumes covering all the books of the Bible, with a target audience of pastors and theologians.

[39] A series of meetings were held with interested parties in the LCMS in 1991 and 1992 to determine support for the project, and the Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation agreed to provide funding for 1992 through 1999,[40] Arthur A.

Rather than attempt to condense his work and lose the depth of what he had written, CPH decided to add a second volume for Luke, setting a precedent for the remaining commentaries.

[47] In 1884, the Cleveland District Pastoral Conference decided the magazine had accomplished its goals, and ended the financial support.

The Witness editors at that time said that "the district edition plan" was the single most important factor in their effort to have a "church paper in every home".

CPH published a comprehensive edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's Orgelbüchlein, complete with short analyses of each chorale in 1984.