In late July I attended the annual meeting of my deaconess community, the Lutheran Deaconess Conference, at which I sold a few copies of Journey to Jesus (at a special “sister” rate). Kent and I want to get the books into the hands of people serving professionally in congregations. I am thankful that so many of my deaconess sisters supported me by taking a copy home to share with others in their congregations.
At a chance sidewalk meeting with CSP President Brian Friedrich last month, I shared the news of the publication of Journey to Jesus, and then told him of my idea to email my former students now working in the church as Directors of Christian Education and Christian of Outreach, offering them a special deal on the book (and working with CSP faculty and staff to distribute the books at the upcoming LCMS National Youth Gathering). President Friedrich made a better offer, saying that CSP could purchase the books at the special discount price and gift them to my former students.
With the help of Kristi Bauer, CSP’s Director of LCMS Placement, I tracked down the emails of about 30 former students, wrote to them, and the first 15 who responded received Journey to Jesus when they stopped by the CSP booth at the Youth Gathering. Jessica Blocker, DCE at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne, Minnesota, was the first to respond to my email with the words, “Oooo! Yes, please! That’s very exciting. Looking forward to seeing you in NOLA [New Orleans, LA, location of the youth gathering]! And I’d certainly love a signed copy.” Although I did not get to see Jessica or any others who received the book, she did send me this photo, and I personalized a message with my signature for each of the 15 book recipients.
Kent’s (my co-author) and my desire is to get the book into the hands of church professionals and lay leaders in congregations. These “front line” folks are the people who are most likely to find the stories of faith formation told by individuals and the descriptions of the various models of the adult catechumenate useful in their ministry. THANKS TO
Sola Dei Gloria!
The annoucement from Liturgical Press states,
Paul Turner is pastor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri, and director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
Turner is the author of numerous books published by Liturgical Press and a contributor to Give Us This Day. Most recently, he is the recipient of four awards from the 2025 Catholic Media Association Book Awards, including First Place for Author of the Year.
My co-author Kent and I are blessed that this distinguished author and scholar was kind enough to read an early copy of our manuscript and provide one of the “book blurbs” on the back cover of Journey to Jesus. Paul wrote,
With firsthand experience of privileged accompaniment that church leaders offer individuals exploring faith, the authors provide a clear, engaging guide through the spheres of evangelization, catechesis, and worship. Roman Catholics like me who engage in similar ministry will find much to inspect, ponder, and celebrate while reading about newfound faith through a Lutheran lens.
Congratulations, Paul, on the Author of the Year Award from Catholic Media Association, and thank you for your support of our work on adult faith formation.
The July 2025 newsletter from Wipf and Stock, publisher of Journey to Jesus, that arrived in my inbox this morning has this information about a discount!
| 20% OFF ALL PAPERBACKS WITH CODE “JULY25” (Offers good through 7/15) Wipf and Stock Publishers 199 West 8th Avenue, Suite 3 Eugene, Oregon 97401 (541) 344-1528 |
| Click here to order now. |
Friday, June 13th was a fortuitous day at the Schuler home. From electronic proofs to a tangible book is a huge step! On Sunday I asked my 11-year old friend Ellie to give a reading from the introduction to the book. I will be having parties in the backyard all summer to celebrate with friends (and peddle the book at a “family and friends” discount).
Last week we received the news from our publisher, Wipf and Stock, saying that Journey to Jesus “is officially published”!
Thanks be to God!
Yesterday Kent and I finalized the index (the final step before publication) and sent it to Heather, our typesetter (along with news of a misspelled word I discovered while working on the index). We heard back from her with version 08 that included the index added to book proof (photo, right) and misspelled word corrected. I reviewed it, found one minor item that needed editing, and sent it back to Heather.
Today Heather sent us version 09 (photo, left). Notice that the box proclaiming “UNCORRECTED PROOF” is no longer there! We now await word that our book is published. As of this writing, it’s still listed on Wipf & Stock with a publication date of July 2025. Stay tuned!
Last week Kent Burreson (my co-author) and I gave the opening plenary address at the Multiethnic Symposium held May 6 and 7, 2025 at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Our presentation (with the unwieldy title “A House of Catechesis and Prayer for All Nations: Formation through a Contextualized Catechumenate”) was well received by the audience of about 200 clergy, seminarians, and lay church leaders. This paragraph from the presentation summarizes our address:
The Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture was prepared by the Lutheran World Federation in 1996. For today’s presentation, we’ve expanded the language and will speak about worship AND catechesis in relation to culture. For us, worship and catechesis go hand-in-hand and both are essential for strong faith formation.The Nairobi document includes four statements about worship as transcultural, contextual, counter-cultural, and cross-cultural, each of which is grounded in statements about Jesus Christ also as transcultural, contextual, counter-cultural, and cross-cultural. These categories serve as the outline of our presentation, with Christ as transcultural bookending our remarks.
We drew on Kent’s research at Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx (included in our forthcoming book) and also on our recent research at Salem Lutheran Church in Springdale, Arkansas, a bilingual congregation (English and Spanish) that is introducing some innovative practices for lifelong faith formation. Pastors Adam Gless and Brandon Martin of Salem, along with two couples active in church leadership, attended the conference (photo, below).
Interested readers can find out more about the relaxation side of our visit to Salem Lutheran in February here. We really did do some serious research while there, interviewing Hispanic and Anglo members. Over the summer we will be preparing a report for the congregation with recommendations for strengthening the congregation’s faith formation process and practices that will promote a sense of unity across the cultures and languages of the people of Salem.
Today we approved our final proofs! And we are set up for pre-orders through Wipf and Stock!
Click here if you wish to order now.
Huzzah! Kent and I just received this email from our publisher’s type-setter. One small step in a long process; one giant leap closer to publication. As we head toward Holy Week, I’m thrilled that my Lenten discipline will be reviewing copy edits. Thanks be to God!
