NEW, COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE SUPPORTS AND ENCOURAGES DAILY PRAYER

Saint Louis, MO—Concordia Publishing House (CPH) announces the launch of the most comprehensive Lutheran prayer resource ever published. At an impressive 1600 pages, the Lutheran publisher's Treasury of Daily Prayer is described by the company as an "all-in-one resource for daily devotions for individuals, families, and small groups."  The new resource contributes a "distinctively Lutheran offering" into the Christian book market.

A promotional Web site, www.cph.org/prayer, provides an extensive opportunity to explore the product, read testimonials, and post comments. Potential readers can even participate in a related Facebook community focused on discussion of the resource and its uses. Concordia Publishing House is providing a download of Treasury's complete readings for the month of September as a "free sample" at the Web site. Pre-sale is now available. The product is scheduled to release on October 23, 2008.

Treasury of Daily Prayer is a well-timed release into the American religious landscape. According to a current comparison study from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 69% of Protestants claim to pray once a day or more. Among Lutherans, 55% say they pray once a day or more, while 23% indicate praying once or a few times each week (U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons). "Clearly, the importance of prayer  as part of the Christian life cannot be overemphasized, and in today's culture daily prayer among mainline Christians is hovering around 50%" shares Rev. Paul T. McCain, Executive Director for Editorial . "More than ever, Concordia Publishing House wants to support and encourage the personal and family practice of prayer. Treasury is our contribution to guide and support an ordered prayer life for Lutherans and for all Christian people."

Treasury of Daily Prayer can be found online at www.cph.org/prayer.

Free Downloadable Resource

Get your youth talking about American Teen and the challenges they face each day with this free downloadable discussion guide.

Jake. Megan. Hannah. Colin. Mitch. If you haven't heard about these five students yet, you soon will. And so will your students, thanks to a highly coordinated, social media- driven publicity campaign direct from Hollywood.

These are the five high school seniors from Warsaw, Indiana and they are coming to a multiplex screen near you as the very real, very Midwest stars of American Teen (www.americanteenthemovie.com).

American Teen is a documentary from director Nanette Burstein that follows the lives of five students and their classmates from the first day of school through graduation. The result is what some have called the Breakfast Club of the new millennium. First released at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, American Teen has gathered critical acclaim from many sectors. Its extremely well orchestrated media campaign has already attracted the attention of thousands of teenagers via Facebook, and the flood of interest will only increase.

On the surface, the film's five stars embody the stereotypical high school roles of jock, princess, rebel, geek, and heartthrob; but in reality, their lives are much more complicated. The students navigate a constantly changing landscape of friends, family, and personal issues. They are searching (either with awareness or with a disturbing lack of clarity) for something better in life. And the film is their unscripted story.

Christian viewers can expect to be uncomfortable with the film's un-editorialized portrayal of teen language, sexual behavior, and alcohol use. The director does not prescribe how audiences should receive or respond to the content of the film, which makes it a bit of a moral morass for immature viewers. But adults will quickly realize that, like it or not, and good or bad, the scenario of American Teen is not too far removed from the average teen landscape of today's culture.

The question, for those of us who care about kids and recognize that something is very wrong with today's student experience, is: what do we want to do with the themes of this film as we engage youth with the message of God's Word?

Concordia Publishing House is offering a free downloadable discussion guide to assist caring adults in uncovering and discussing the ideas and themes found in American Teen with students. Consider using it with the youth of your church following a viewing of American Teen, or use the guide to prepare yourself to discuss the film with students who come to youth group discussing what they have seen.

Concordia Publishing, It’s Your House premiers on St. Louis station, KSDK NewsChannel 5, September 11, 2008.
Tune in at 8:00p.m. on September 11, 2008 to St. Louis KSDK, NewsChannel5 and view a fresh 30-minute documentary that defines St. Louis' premier Christian publisher through three compelling stories. Don't live in the St. Louis viewing area? Stay tuned to cph.org to view the documentary online later in September. Learn more.