LifeWay Archives - Baptist & Reflector

COMING BACK WITH A BANG

June 29, 2021

After year’s absence, messengers return for ministry, business, fellowship

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Baptist Messengers show their ballots during a vote at the 2021 SBC annual meeting in Nashville.
— Photo by Eric Brown

NASHVILLE — One year after COVID-19 forced the cancelation of the 2020 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists came out in force in Nashville on June 15-16 with the highest messenger count since 1995 — and the largest since the turn of the century in 2000.

The messenger count totaled 15,726, marking the largest gathering since 11,959 messengers attended the SBC annual meeting in 2000 in Orlando. The number also far exceeded the 11,641 messengers who attended the last SBC held in Nashville in 2005. [Read more…]

LIFEWAY LOOKS TO FUTURE WITH MINISTRY ASSIGNMENT CHANGES

June 2, 2021

By Carol Pipes

Director of Corporate Communications, Lifeway

NASHVILLE — Messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville will vote on recommended changes to Lifeway Christian Resources’ mission and ministry assignments.

“Lifeway is in a season of emphasizing who we are, why God allowed this organization to be created, and where we’re going in the future,” said Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway. “Looking back at our creation story, Lifeway’s first president, Dr. James M. Frost, cast a vision for an organization that would fuel the ministry of local churches by creating doctrinally sound, easy-to-use materials.

“He saw enormous potential in designing tools that make church ministry more effective by equipping church leaders. It’s our desire to continue that vision and commitment as we come alongside local churches to support the Great Commission.”

In the proposed revision, the phrase “designing trustworthy experiences that fuel ministry” would be added to Lifeway’s mission statement. [Read more…]

BETH MOORE ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE FROM LIFEWAY, SBC

March 10, 2021

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

Beth Moore

NASHVILLE — Longtime Bible study leader Beth Moore has publicly announced that she is ending her affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention and Lifeway Christian Resources, relationships stretching back more than three decades.

Moore made the announcement through an interview with Religion News Service (RNS) today (March 9).

“I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists,” she told RNS. “I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don’t identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven’t remained in the past.”

Moore told RNS her perception of the SBC began to change in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump as president. Specifically, she cited his behavior toward women as revealed in an Access Hollywood tape and a lack of condemnation from Southern Baptist leaders. [Read more…]

LIFEWAY BUILDING UNDER CONTRACT, TRANSITIONS TO NEW WORK ENVIRONMENT

January 27, 2021

By Carol Pipes
Director of Corporate Communications, Lifeway

The Lifeway building, located in Nashville, is now under contract to be sold.

NASHVILLE — Lifeway Christian Resources has entered into a contract for the sale of their building in downtown Nashville. Contract terms, including the sale price, have not been disclosed.

Lifeway President and CEO Ben Mandrell said he is excited about Lifeway’s future workplace and the prospects of settling into a new work environment.

“Lifeway is moving forward, building fresh vision, and getting prepared for a new season of ministry to churches,” Mandrell said. “This has led us to think strategically about selling our large building downtown, fully embracing remote work as the norm, and moving into a new era of creative and collaborative work.”

Mandrell said he and other Lifeway leaders have been looking at options for their headquarters since the summer of 2019, well before anyone knew COVID-19 was on the horizon.

“One of the first questions I asked when I took this role was ‘What should we do with this building?’ A study completed last year showed we were using the building at only 60 percent occupancy on a daily basis,” Mandrell said. [Read more…]

SHOULDERING THE LOAD

January 25, 2021

Pastors, church leaders dealing with tough decisions, high stress levels during pandemic

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

FRANKLIN — Though a large number of Christians may feel their pastors and ministers have easy jobs (after all they only have to work on Sunday and Wednesdays, right?), research findings indicate the opposite is true.

In 2015 LifeWay Research revealed some of the stress pastors face:

84 percent say they’re on call 24 hours a day.
80 percent expect conflict in their church.
54 percent find the role of pastor frequently overwhelming.
53 percent are often concerned about their family’s financial security.
48 percent often feel the demands of ministry are more than they can handle.
21 percent say their church has unrealistic expectations of them.

And, that was five years before a pandemic that has turned the world upside down.

“Pastors and their families have been under increased stress since the beginning of the pandemic — as have all families,” observed Steve Holt, church services director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]

COVID-19 LEADS TO CHRISTMAS CHANGES ACROSS THE NATION

December 15, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — Almost all Americans celebrate Christmas, but most say COVID-19 will cause some changes to their usual holiday habits.

A new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research found 93 percent of American adults say they celebrate Christmas. That number is essentially unchanged from a decade ago when 91 percent said the same in a 2010 LifeWay Research survey. [Read more…]

MANY PASTORS SEEING NEGATIVE ECONOMIC TRENDS IN 2020

November 18, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

-LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — After a few years of economic optimism, pastors say the 2020 economy is hurting their congregation.

According to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, almost half of U.S. Protestant pastors (48 percent) say the current economy is negatively impacting their church, including 5 percent who say the impact is very negative.

Around 1 in 6 (15 percent) believe the economy has had a positive effect, including 4 percent saying it is having a very positive impact. More than a third of pastors (35 percent) say there’s been no impact. [Read more…]

LIFEWAY, RAINER SETTLE CONTRACT DISPUTE

October 5, 2020

Editor’s note: This story has been updated several times since it was originally posted. The story below was written after the B&R’s most recent print edition had gone to press.

By David Roach
Baptist Press

The LifeWay building in Nashville.

NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources and Thom Rainer have agreed to settlement terms in a breach of contract lawsuit between the SBC entity and its former CEO.

The statement indicates the agreement was reached Monday (Oct. 5), a day after Rainer had tweeted his intent to accept LifeWay’s terms to end the lawsuit. According to a statement jointly released Tuesday (Oct. 6), Rainer agreed to honor the terms of his separation agreement, including a noncompete clause. He also agreed “not to move forward with his business partnership with Tyndale House Publishers, which was a violation of his noncompete agreement.”

“Our prayer has always been that this could be resolved between LifeWay and Dr. Rainer amicably,” Todd Fannin, chair of LifeWay’s board of trustees, said in the statement. “We’re thankful Dr. Rainer agreed to honor his word and commitment to LifeWay, which has been our goal from the beginning. The trustees and Dr. Rainer are looking forward to putting this behind us.”

In a statement provided Tuesday to Baptist Press, Rainer said: “I am grateful to have this resolution between LifeWay and me. I look forward to once again focusing on serving local churches and those who serve them.” [Read more…]

LIFEWAY LOOKING FORWARD AMID COVID-19 CHALLENGES

August 26, 2020

By Carol Pipes
Director of corporate communications for LifeWay

LifeWay president and CEO Ben Mandrell addressed the trustees during a recent virtual meeting.

NASHVILLE — During a virtual meeting on August 25, LifeWay Christian Resources trustees received an update on the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the organization and unanimously approved a $210 million budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year — 17 percent lower than the 2019-20 budget.

Trustees also elected Jamie Adams as senior vice president and chief information technology officer. The regularly scheduled meeting was conducted via video conference in light of COVID-19 restrictions and safety precautions.

During his report to trustees, President and CEO Ben Mandrell addressed the challenges facing the organization due to declining sales and loss of revenue related to the cancellation of student camps and women’s events. LifeWay leaders are predicting to miss the FY20 budgeted revenue by $61 million and end the year with a net loss of $21.7 million. [Read more…]

MOST CHURCHES CAUTIOUSLY HOLDING SERVICES AGAIN

August 7, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

click to enlarge

NASHVILLE — Churches are gathering again, but services and programs remain drastically different from the beginning of the year.

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to previous surveys from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, Protestant churches across the U.S. stopped gathering in-person in a matter of weeks.

The latest LifeWay Research survey of Protestant pastors found congregations have slowly and cautiously started to meet again.

“While more and more churches have resumed in-person worship services, it has not always been a straight path back,” said Scott McConnell, executive director LifeWay Research. “Some have had difficulty resuming or had to stop meeting again as things got worse in their area.” [Read more…]

After year’s absence, messengers return for ministry, business, fellowship

Pastors, church leaders dealing with tough decisions, high stress levels during pandemic

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