LifeWay Archives - Baptist & Reflector

SURVEY: MOST CHURCHES PREPARED FOR ACTIVE SHOOTER

February 4, 2020

Church security remains at the forefront; many congregations divided over armed attendees

Trainees Chris Graves, left, and Bryan Hetherington, right, participate in a security training session at Fellowship of the Parks campus in Haslet, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

NASHVILLE — In the aftermath of several high-profile church shootings, most Protestant pastors say their congregations have taken some precautions to protect those in attendance.

Since 2000, 19 fatal shootings have taken place at Christian churches, while gunmen have also taken lives at other religious sites like Jewish synagogues, a Sikh temple and an Amish school.

Around 4 in 5 Protestant pastors (80 percent) say their church has some type of security measure in place when they gather for worship, according to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. [Read more…]

NEW POLICIES, LEADERS DRAW MOST ATTENTION

January 7, 2020

‘Year of transition’ in SBC tops headlines

By Tobin Perry
Baptist Press

Paul Chitwood, seen here during a recent press conference, was elected president of the IMB last November. Chitwood is a Tennessee native and was reared in First Baptist Church, Jellico.

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptists marked a year of transitions at several national entities in 2019, and they launched an initiative to help churches care for individuals affected by sexual abuse and harassment.

These five news stories, selected by the editors of Baptist Press and a poll of Southern Baptist state publication editors, represent their picks as the most important stories of 2019:

Southern Baptists take action to curb sexual abuse

In February, Southern Baptist leaders expressed brokenness over the findings of a series of Houston Chronicle articles focused on sex abuse in Southern Baptist Convention churches.

After 10 months of work, the Sexual Abuse Advisory Study initiated by SBC President J.D. Greear issued a 52-page report in hopes it would “spark a movement of healing and reform.”

The report called for the education of SBC churches to understand abuse and its impact, the equipping of SBC churches to care for abuse survivors, and the preparing of SBC churches to prevent abuse. Southern Baptists overwhelmingly approved bylaw and constitutional changes at the 2019 SBC annual meeting to specifically deal with systemic issues the report addressed. [Read more…]

MOST-READ STORIES OF 2019 COVER WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS

January 7, 2020

Stories about Lifeway’s change to pension plan and the “I Stand for Life” initiative had the most views on the B&R website

Baptist & Reflector Staff

FRANKLIN — The Baptist and Reflector website serves multiple purposes for the newspaper.

The website not only runs stories that are published in the print edition of the B&R, but also is the go-to place for breaking news pertaining to Tennessee Baptists.

This past year, the B&R website experienced several significant increases in readership (see chart). In looking at the year-ending numbers, it is interesting to note that the most-read stories of 2019 involved a wide range of topics, from economics to abortion to elections.

Listed below is a look at the most-read stories (based on website views) from the past year:

1. Lifeway to freeze pension plan for pension-eligible employees

• Date posted: July 31, 2019 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey • Position: B&R editor

This story focused on LifeWay Christian Resources announcing changes to its retiree life insurance and pre-65 retiree medical benefits, including freezing its LifeWay Pension Plan (effective Jan. 1, 2020) for current pension-eligible employees. LifeWay shared the changes in letters to current and future retirees on June 29. The changes were approved by LifeWay trustees at their February meeting. [Read more…]

PASTORS LESS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY’S IMPACT

December 11, 2019

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

NASHVILLE — As retail stores hope the holiday shopping season gives their bottom line a lift, American Protestant pastors are less sure the economy is helping their congregations this year.

Around two in five pastors of Protestant churches in the United States (41 percent) say the economy is having no impact on their church, according to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

The rest are nearly split on whether the effect is positive (30 percent) or negative (26 percent).

“Fundamentally, the U.S. economy is in a similar place that it was a year ago,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Yet pastors are less optimistic about this outside influence on their church than they were in 2018.” [Read more…]

RETIRED PASTORS SATISFIED, SEE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

October 31, 2019

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

NASHVILLE — Most retirement age pastors and missionaries say their current life is close to ideal, but some who have entered retirement say they could’ve been better prepared.

In a survey sponsored by Shepherd’s Fold Ministries, Nashville-based LifeWay Research asked 2,451 pastors, ministers and missionaries who were retired or at least 67 years old about their life, health, relationships, reflections on ministry, and how they’ve adjusted to their current life stage.

“Our number one goal is to provide relevant resources to help retired ministers,” said Brent Van Hook, director of Shepherd’s Fold Ministries. “The results of this study show specific ways retired ministers can experience genuine higher well-being related to social, spiritual, physical and financial health.” [Read more…]

ARE WEDNESDAY CHURCH SERVICES STILL RELEVANT?

September 24, 2019

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

Baptist Press recently ran an article from LifeWay Research on whether or not Protestant churches still hold Wednesday night services.

And, they do. In fact, the number is a lot higher than I imagined — nine out of 10 Protestant pastors say their church has some type of service on Wednesday nights, according to the survey. Only 10 percent have no regular events on Wednesday.

Given the fact that some churches no longer have Sunday night services, I am a bit surprised (pleasantly) by the large number of churches that open their doors on Wednesday night. [Read more…]

MANDRELL INSTALLED AS LIFEWAY’S 10TH PRESIDENT, ANTICIPATES ‘BRIGHT FUTURE’

August 27, 2019

By Aaron Wilson
LifeWay Christian Resources

Ben Mandrell is the new president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

NASHVILLE — LifeWay trustees, employees and special guests gathered at the organization’s headquarters on Monday to celebrate the inauguration of Ben Mandrell as the 10th president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

On a day marked with heavy rain and overcast skies, Mandrell forecasted a bright future for the organization—not just in fiscal growth, but in the spiritual impact LifeWay will continue to make throughout the world. [Read more…]

BIBLE ‘TAX’ AVOIDED

August 20, 2019

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist leaders welcomed indications from the U.S. Trade Ambassador on Aug. 13 that a so-called “Bible tax” will be avoided.

Bibles and religious literature currently are no longer subject to the upcoming 10 percent tariff hike set to be imposed on goods imported from China beginning Sept. 1. Previously, Bibles were among the items that would see a price increase as part of the growing trade war between the U.S. and China. [Read more…]

LIFEWAY TO FREEZE PENSION PLAN FOR PENSION-ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES

July 31, 2019

By Lonnie Wilkey and Chris Turner
Baptist and Reflector

NASHVILLE — Despite concerns and rumors, current retirees of LifeWay Christian Resources over the age of 65 are not losing their pensions or medical benefits. However, the Nashville-based, publishing division of the Southern Baptist Convention will freeze its LifeWay Pension Plan effective Jan. 1, 2020 for current pension-eligible employees.

LifeWay Christian Resources announced changes to its retiree life insurance and pre-65 retiree medical benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Most of the changes affect current employees and those who retired before age 65. LifeWay shared the changes in letters to current and future retirees on June 29. The changes were approved by LifeWay trustees at their February meeting. [Read more…]

MANDRELL UNANIMOUSLY ELECTED AS LIFEWAY’S 10TH PRESIDENT

July 1, 2019

By Carol Pipes
LifeWay news office

Ben and Lynley Mandrell were presented Bibles from LifeWay Christian Resources trustees after Ben Mandrell’s election as president and CEO on June 28, 2019. — Photo by Greta Reynolds

ATLANTA — LifeWay Christian Resources trustees unanimously elected Ben Mandrell as the organization’s 10th president during a special-called meeting June 28 in Atlanta.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead in such an important season for LifeWay,” Mandrell told trustees during the plenary session. “My first priority is to get our family to Nashville and begin loving the people at LifeWay. There is already an amazing team in place, and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and work alongside them.” [Read more…]

Church security remains at the forefront; many congregations divided over armed attendees

‘Year of transition’ in SBC tops headlines

Stories about Lifeway’s change to pension plan and the “I Stand for Life” initiative had the most views on the B&R website

Recent Posts

Tags

Categories