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LifeWay Christian Resources

Type	Private
Founded	1891 Incorporated on October 5, 1983 as the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Headquarters	Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Key people	Thom S. Rainer, Chairman/CEO Jerry Rhyne, CFO
Products	Church Resources Executive Communications Technology
Services	Research and Ministry Development Finance and Business Services
Net income	$449,303,000
Employees	7,000
Website	www.lifeway.com

Part of a series on Southern Baptists

Background Christianity Protestantism Anabaptists General Baptists, Strict Baptists & Reformed Baptists Landmarkism "Conservative Resurgence" Baptist theology London Confession, 1689 New Hampshire Confession, 1833 Baptist Faith & Message Doctrinal distinctives Biblical inerrancy Autonomy of the local church Priesthood of believers Two ordinances Individual soul liberty Separation of church and state Two offices People

Deceased E. Y. Mullins | James P. Boyce John A. Broadus | A. T. Robertson John Spilsbury Lottie Moon · Annie Armstrong B. H. Carroll W. A. Criswell · Monroe E. Dodd Adrian Rogers · Jerry Falwell, Sr. Living Mark Dever · James T. Draper, Jr. Billy Graham · Franklin Graham Duke K. McCall Jack Graham · Richard Land Mike Huckabee · Johnny Hunt James Merritt · Albert Mohler Paige Patterson · Pat Robertson Charles F. Stanley Rick Warren

Related organizations North American Mission Board International Mission Board LifeWay Christian Resources Woman's Missionary Union Religious Liberty Commission Baptist Press Canadian National Baptist Convention Seminaries Golden Gate Midwestern New Orleans Southeastern Southern Southwestern This box: view • talk • edit

LifeWay Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the largest providers of Christian resources in the world.^[1] "LifeWay" has been recognized as one of the "Best Employers in Tennessee" by BusinessTN magazine.^[2]

Contents 1 Background 2 Ministries 3 Leadership 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Background

In 1891, J.M. Frost, a 43-year-old pastor, started the company that is now known as LifeWay Christian Resources. The business began, after receiving approval from the Southern Baptist Convention, in a small office funded in part by money borrowed from his wife.

Today, the ministries of LifeWay, originally called the Sunday School Board, provides Christian resources throughout the United States and internationally.

LifeWay's ministries include the production of Bibles, church literature, audio and video recordings, church supplies, and Internet services. The company operates nearly 140 LifeWay Christian Stores through the United States, as well as two of the largest Christian conference centers in the country.

LifeWay is a 501(c)(3) religious nonprofit organization that receives no funding from the denomination and reinvests income above operating expenses in mission work and other ministries around the world.

LifeWay employees are committed to the company's vision: "As God works through us ... we will help people and churches know Jesus Christ and seek His Kingdom by providing biblical solutions that spiritually transform people and cultures."

[edit] Ministries

LifeWay directs its ministries through six divisions:

Church Resources consults with churches and delivers Biblical solutions through many ministries, resrouces, enrichment and training events, and age-group products, including Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, leadership development, evangelism, discipleship, music, worship, marriage, and parenting. Biblical solutions include training and enrichment events, and resources in print, on CD, DVD and the Web. New resources include a young-adult ministry called Threads; Worship KidStyle; a new Baptist Hymnal; expanded resources for African-American and Hispanic churches; and an initiative to provide key evangelism and discipleship resources in more than 50 languages via free download.

LifeWay Christian Stores operates over 140 outlets in two dozen states, serving Southern Baptists and the wider evangelical community. The division also serves customers online and through LifeWay Special Services.

Broadman & Holman Publishing Group produces Bibles, books, audio and video productions, and church supplies, selling to bookstores and other retailers. A new emphasis on resources for pastors, seminary professors and students, and scholars has been launched with the B&H Academic line of resources.

Executive Communications and Relations produces LifeWay's news and information services, directs corporate events and supports the office of the president in maintaining good relationships with other Southern Baptist Convention entities, state conventions and other evangelical organizations. This division also coordinates the LifeWay Community Fund, which supports 10 like-minded charities in Middle Tennessee; and directs LifeWay sponsored, employee-led mission trips, which over the last 11 years have included more than 75 trips involving more than 1,100 volunteers.

The Technology division provides five key services for LifeWay: strategic, retail, business, enterprise, and Internet technologies. The division oversees the content and functionality of LifeWay.com and its affiliated pages. In all, LifeWay.com houses more 12,000 articles in addition to countless other resources and products.

Finance and Business Services is responsible for LifeWay's financial policies and general accounting and directs many keyLifeWay business services. The division also operates conference centers at Ridgecrest, NC, and Glorieta, NM, which minister to more than 100,000 guests each year. Lifeway also owns an operates two historical camps: a boyscamp founded in 1929, Camp Ridgecrest for Boys, and a girls camp founded in 1955, Camp Crestridge for Girls. Both are near the Ridgecrest Conference Center in the Black Mountains of North Carolina near Asheville. Plans to open two more single gender camps at the Glorieta Conference centerare currently underway, with the start of Camp Glorieta for Boys and Camp Glorieta for Girls in the Summer of 2008. LifeWay operates the Centrifuge family of Christian summer camps as the official summer camp of the Southern Baptist Convention and the largest summer camps organization in the world.

Research and Ministry Development houses LifeWay Research, which helps churches impact the culture for Christ; coordinates employee-led mission trips; and directs ministry development and strategic projects. LifeWay Research studies have been cited in several national news sources.^[3]

[edit] Leadership

In February 2006, Dr. Thom Rainer became the president and CEO of LifeWay. Rainer left his post as Dean of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to assume the presidency of LifeWay. He succeeded James T. Draper, Jr., of the Fort Worth metro area, who had headed LifeWay from 1991 to 2006.^[4]

[edit] References

• "About LifeWay." LifeWay. 24 September 2007.

• "Better Business Bureau Review of LifeWay Christian Resources"

[edit] External links

• LifeWay.com
• LifeWay Christian Stores
• LifeWay Research
• B&H Publishing Group
• The Southern Baptist Convention
• "Young adults aren't sticking with church."
• Threads
• Fuge
• LifeWay Retiree Fellowship