LifeWay Archives - Baptist & Reflector

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…]

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS SEE HISTORIC DROP IN MEMBERSHIP

June 24, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources

click image for full chart

NASHVILLE — A growing number of Southern Baptist churches are home to a shrinking number of Southern Baptists.

Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2 percent to 14,525,579 from 2018 to 2019, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. The decline of 287,655 members is the largest single year drop in more than 100 years.

The number of churches grew slightly to 47,530, an increase of 74 from 2018. However, the number of church-type missions fell by 477 to bring the overall number of SBC congregations down to 51,138 in 2019. Multisite congregations reported an additional 505 campuses where local church ministry takes place. [Read more…]

TENNESSEANS REFLECT ON END OF WORLD CHANGERS

June 3, 2020

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

-LifeWay photo

FRANKLIN — Though World Changers began as a program of the former Southern Baptist Convention Brotherhood Commission, it made a lasting impact on Tennesseans who both participated in the hands-on missions ministry and those who benefited from the work of countless teenagers and sponsors. [Read more…]

LIFEWAY CREATES CHURCH ASSISTANCE PACKAGE

May 5, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources writer

As churches adjust to ministry in a post-COVID-19 world, LifeWay has developed a collection of resources to help congregations.

The new Church Assistance Package from LifeWay is available for any congregation around the world and can be accessed at lifeway.com/churchassistance.

“LifeWay wants to do everything we can to help churches sustain their vital ministries during this time,” said Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. “Because of this, we have been working on solutions for supporting local churches as they seek to grow together as disciples during this season and walk with them as they begin rebounding.” [Read more…]

LIFEWAY TO DISCONTINUE WORLD CHANGERS PROJECTS AMID COVID-19

May 1, 2020

By Carol Pipes
Director of corporate communications, LifeWay

World Changers participants perform a project in Chattanooga. — Photo provided by LifeWay

NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources announced this week they are canceling World Changers mission projects for summer 2020 and closing all future operations due to declining numbers and the inability to host projects this summer because of COVID-19.

“We are sad about the closing of World Changers, but we know now is the time to make this decision based on more than 10 years of decline in participants and the current financial impact related to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Ben Trueblood, director of Student Ministry at LifeWay.

Since 1990, World Changers has provided students and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others by making repairs for low-income homeowners at no charge. Volunteers donated a week of their time in the summer, often sleeping on classroom and gymnasium floors at local schools, while tackling projects like building wheelchair ramps, applying fresh coats of paint, and replacing windows and siding. [Read more…]

MORE CHANGE — BUT THE MISSION REMAINS

April 14, 2020

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

There are two things about which we can be certain in these uncertain days: God is on His throne sovereignly ruling over the universe, and change seems to be a regular occurrence and comes quickly.

About a year ago I wrote about a change that few Southern Baptists would have ever anticipated. LifeWay Christian Resources sent ripples through denominational life when it announced the closing of its 170 LifeWay Christian Stores and shifting exclusively to online sales. [Read more…]

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…]

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

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