Augsburg Fortress

Augsburg Fortress
Parent company Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Founded 1988
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Minneapolis, Minnesota
Distribution PBD (US fulfillment)[1]
NBN International (UK)[2]
multiple distributors (Asia and the Pacific)[3]
Publication types Books, Magazines
Imprints Augsburg, Fortress
Official website www.augsburgfortress.org

Augsburg Fortress is the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), also publishing for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as Augsburg Fortress Canada. Headquartered on South Fifth Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the former headquarters of the American Lutheran Church, Augsburg Fortress publishes The Lutheran (founded 1831, renamed The Living Lutheran in 2016), the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), the Lutheran Study Bible, and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), as well as a range of academic, reference and educational books. Beth Lewis has served as the CEO of Augsburg Fortress since September 3, 2002.[4]

History

The denominational press and publisher was formed in 1988 when the Fortress Press of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania and Augsburg Publishing House of Minneapolis, Minnesota merged as their parent denominations, the Lutheran Church in America (LCA) of 1962 and the American Lutheran Church (ALC) of 1960 joined together with the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC - established 1976) to form the ELCA, with headquarters at the Lutheran Center on West Higgins Road in suburban Chicago, Illinois.[5] Its two predecessor companies were:

  • Augsburg Publishing House: At the time of the 1988 ELCA merger, the company was affiliated with The American Lutheran Church. It was founded in 1891 in Minneapolis at Augsburg Seminary.[6] At that time both the publishing house and seminary were part of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (UNLC); however the seminary would leave the UNLC to form the Lutheran Free Church in 1897. The publishing house left the campus in 1894, relocating to the downtown area in 1908. By 1960 it was the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norwegian ethnic background located in Minneapolis. With the 1960 merger of Lutheran denominations that formed the "new" The American Lutheran Church, Augsburg was designated that church's publishing arm. It then absorbed the publishing houses of the several earlier denominations that participated in the merger, including Wartburg Press (established 1881) of the "old" American Lutheran Church (formed 1930, with offices in Columbus, Ohio; and the Danish Lutheran Publishing House (established 1893) in Blair, Nebraska of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. When the Lutheran Free Church joined the ALC merger in 1963, its publishing house, Messenger Press (established 1922), was also added. Augsburg and Wartburg before, published the old ALC denominational magazine The Lutheran Standard with ancestry back to the 1840s in the ALC predecessor, the old Joint Synod of Ohio of 1818-1930.
  • Fortress Press: Fortress Press was the publishing arm of the Lutheran Church in America, headquartered in northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the unique U-shaped brick Georgian architecture style structure Muhlenberg Building at 2900 Queen's Lane, named for Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg (1711-1787), and other members of this highly influential Muhlenberg religious and political family in Americans Lutheranism. Henry is considered the "Patriarch of American Lutheranism" and the prime organizer of the first Lutheran organized body in America, the Pennsylvania Ministerium in 1746.

The LCA came into existence in 1962 with the merger of several Lutheran smaller ethnically based denominations that created the LCA. The largest forerunner of the Fortress Press was the Muhlenberg Press of the United Lutheran Church in America, (1918-1962), the largest partner in the LCA merger. The oldest ancestor was the Henkel Press, started by the son of Paul Henkel (1754-1825). a famous late 18th - early 19th century Lutheran pastor/missionary/evangelist in the Appalachian Mountains region.[7][8] Fortress published The Lutheran, monthly magazine of the LCA, also of the previous United Lutheran Church in America (1918-1962) and publication beginnings in 1831 of its predecessor the General Synod of 1820-1918.

Augsburg Fortress continues to use "Fortress Press" as an imprint for academic/reference titles and "Augsburg" for popular and spiritual titles.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Distribution Transition: Important Information for our Customers". Augsburg Fortress | One Mission Blog. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Distribution: NBN Picks Up Augsburg Fortress". Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  3. ↑ International Orders
  4. ↑ "Beth Lewis Elected to Lead Augsburg Fortress Publishers". Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. August 20, 2002. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Company History". Augsburg Fortress. 1970-01-01. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  6. ↑ Scandinavian Review, Volume 9, American-Scandinavian Foundation., 1921, Page 145
  7. ↑ Michael L. Sherer. "When a Lutheran isn't a Lutheran". Metro Lutheran. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "The Henkel Press". Virginia Historical Society. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
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