Thank you!

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

• President Friedrich, who first suggested this plan;
• Mark Koschmann (CSP VP of Faith and Ministry), who facilitated the process;
• CSP Campus Pastor Tom Gundermann, who transported the books to New Orleans; and
• Everyone working at the CSP booth, who helped distribute the books to our CSP graduates.

Sola Dei Gloria!