WESTLAKE, Texas (Lifeway) – Visioneering Studios announced, Oct. 1, its acquisition of Auxano from Lifeway Christian Resources. “Bringing Auxano into the Visioneering family is a strategic step that strengthens our ability to serve churches with an end-to-end solution,” said John Parker, Visioneering Studios CEO. “Auxano’s proven process of clarifying mission and vision aligns seamlessly with our expertise in design and construction. Together, we can now provide churches with a fully … [Read more...]
Bellevue Baptist Church search committee announces Lifeway’s Mandrell as pastor candidate
by Carol Pipes & Noah Sidhom CORDOVA, Tenn (Lifeway) – The pastor search committee at Bellevue Baptist Church has unanimously recommended that Ben Mandrell, CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources become the church’s next senior pastor. Mandrell will preach in view of a call on July 13. The congregation will vote on the committee’s choice after a 10 a.m. service. Pastor Search Committee Chairman Chad Hall said, “The pastor search committee’s only goal during the past eight months was … [Read more...]
Texting: the tool churches are underutilizing
by Braden Cross BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Historically, email has been the go-to tool for church communication. But if you’re on staff at a church, you’ve likely started to realize communicating through email isn’t working as well as it used to. Church announcements get overlooked, volunteer requests go unseen, and visitor follow-up often slips through the cracks. Open rates have dropped drastically the past few years and now sit at roughly 25%. Twenty. Five. Percent. That means, on average, … [Read more...]
Priscilla Shirer releases first book in five years, ‘I Surrender All’
By Marissa Postell Sullivan BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway Christian Resources) – “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give … I surrender all.” The words of the old hymn are familiar to many, but do Christians today know what it means to live fully surrendered to Jesus? In her new book, Bible teacher, speaker and actor, Priscilla Shirer explores what surrender looks like in the life of regular people who want to follow Jesus with abandon in practical, everyday rhythms of their … [Read more...]
Lifeway study: Southern Baptists supportive of the Cooperative Program
EDITOR'S NOTE: The SBC’s Cooperation Group initiated a survey of all Southern Baptist congregations to collect data that would provide insight on churches’ understanding of and partnership through the Cooperative Program, as well as thoughts, feelings and perceptions about the Cooperative Program and stewardship. The study was administered by Lifeway Research and was sent to up to one email address on file for Southern Baptist congregations. BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway Research) – The … [Read more...]
Three factors that lead to unchurched Christians
by Dean Inserra BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (LifeWay Research) – According to Lifeway Research, among Protestant pastors in the United States, 3 in 5 consider someone in their congregation a regular churchgoer if they attend church at least twice a month. Come to church every other Sunday (26 times a year) and you’re now considered a regular in the American church. To say that infrequent is the new frequent is not an exaggeration. The local church has lost its prominence and priority in the life … [Read more...]
Pew to Pew: Study investigates why people switch churches
By Marissa Postell Sullivan BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway Research) – Even as the front doors of churches swing wide to welcome new faces to the congregation, the back doors creak open as others make their way out to another church. For some, a residential move caused them to leave the church, but others simply moved to a church across town. A recent study by Lifeway Research found slightly more than half of churchgoers switch churches at least once as an adult. Lifeway Research … [Read more...]
Why your church needs to be planning VBS now
by Vicki Hulsey BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway) — For many churches, dates for Vacation Bible School (VBS) are among the first placed on the church calendar each year. Churches give VBS high priority because pastors recognize VBS as one of the most important evangelistic events for the entire church year. In some churches, a volunteer serves as the VBS director. Other churches may have a children’s ministry staff person who’s responsible for coordinating VBS. For some churches, especially … [Read more...]
Americans believe religious liberty is declining
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While most Americans say religious liberty is on the decline in the country, even more believe Christians are increasingly confronted with intolerance in the U.S. But some say American Christians complain too much about how they are treated. Over half of Americans (54%) say religious liberty is on the decline in America, including 24% who strongly agree, according to a Lifeway Research survey of 1,005 Americans in September 2021. Nearly 1 in 3 disagree (32%), and 14% … [Read more...]
Pastors say they need to develop disciple-making, technology skills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LifeWay Research) – Disciple making is the primary call of every pastor, and most recognize this as a skill they should continue to develop as church leaders. According to the latest release in Lifeway Research’s 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, U.S. Protestant pastors say disciple making and technology are the two areas of skill development they most need to invest in to help them be better pastors. "These findings come in a season when pastors feel a spotlight … [Read more...]
LifeWay Donates Nearly 30,000 Spanish Bibles to Struggling Venezuelan Communities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Somewhere in a Venezuelan prison, *Luis, a 26-year-old inmate, recently received new life after placing His trust in Christ. And his newfound faith has been bolstered in large part due to a new Bible he received through a partnership with LifeWay and an organization that has been mobilized to distribute copies of God’s Word throughout the country. In August 2020, LifeWay Christian Resources donated nearly 30,0000 copies of Spanish “Reina Valera” (RVR) Bibles of nine … [Read more...]
LifeWay to offer free breakfast, workshops at SBC meeting
PHOENIX (BP) – Southern Baptists will learn more about the newly revised Christian Standard Bible (CSB) translation at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix June 13-14. LifeWay Christian Resources will host a free breakfast focusing on "Discipleship through the Word." LifeWay President and CEO Thom S. Rainer, Michael Kelley, director of discipleship, and Daniel Im, director of church multiplication, will address the essential role of Bible engagement in the process … [Read more...]