Dr. Riess’s influence as an ambassador of Christ and a teacher of divine truth extended far beyond the parishes he served in Canada, Indiana, and Michigan. Thousands of pastors use his instruction manuals—What Does the Bible Say, That I May Know Him, and To Know HIm for their adult and youth information/membership classes.
Other works authored by Dr. Riess include Everlasting Arms, The Secret of Beautiful Living, For Such A Time As This, Born to Live, and This is My Beloved.
Son of Karl Riess, Christian day school teacher at Bethel Church, Detroit, and Margaret Grueber Riess, Dr. Riess graduated from Concordia College, Fort Wayne in 1916, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1919. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree by Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Illinois, in 1970.
In the Michigan District, LCMS, Dr. Riess was a member of the Mission and Church Extension Boards. For the Synod he served on the Fort Wayne Senior College Board of Control and the Literature Board Committee on Devotional Literature.
He delivered the Wenchel Lectures at the St. Louis Seminary in 1954, and the Miller Lectures at Valparaiso University in 1955. In 1974, he established, and is perpetuating, the annual Riess Lectures on “The Cardinal Principles of Lutheranism” at the St. Louis Seminary.