The Word & World book series, now in its fourth year of development, is a partnership between Fortress Press and the board of the Word & World Journal at Luther Seminary. The goal of this series is to invigorate and inspire Christian leaders and communities in their mission to proclaim God’s Word to the World God created and loves. A primary task of those who lead Christian communities is to articulate the fullness of both God-given realities. Word & Word Books seek to provide resources that are deeply thoughtful, creative in approach, accessibly written, and applicable to those on the frontlines of parish ministry.
Word & World Books emerges from the decades-long mission of the periodical Word & World, articulated here by the initial journal editor James Burtness:
We are Word and World: Things flow both ways across an “and.” Word is in conversation with world. We seek to inform and to be informed. We speak and we listen. We welcome the open connection because we believe both word and world belong to God. We are Theology for Christian Ministry: there is a direction in “for.” Theology is for the work of God in the world; it is for the ministry of the church; it is for the gospel. We recognize that if theology is for ministry, neither theology nor ministry will remain unchanged.
A publication board made up of three Word & World Journal representatives and three Fortress Press staff review proposals and make recommendations for publication. As the series title suggests, books submitted for review will have both a biblical component and theological and cultural theme.
To date, the following titles have been published: