LifeWay Christian Resources
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| LifeWay Christian Resources | |
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| 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 |
LifeWay Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the largest providers of Christian resources in the world.[1] Lifeway is based in Nashville, Tennessee. "LifeWay" has been recognized as one of the "Best Employers in Tennessee" by BusinessTN magazine.[2]
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[edit] Background
In 1891, J.M. Frost, a 43-year-old pastor, started the company that is now known as LifeWay. 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 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.
[edit] Ministries
LifeWay directs its ministries through seven 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.
LifeWay Christian Stores operates over 140 outlets in two dozen states, serving Southern Baptists and the wider evangelical community.
Broadman & Holman Publishing Group produces Bibles, books, audio and video productions, and church supplies, selling to bookstores and other retailers.
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.
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]
The Technology division provides five key services for LifeWay: strategic, retail, business, enterprise, and Internet technologies.
Finance and Business Services is responsible for LifeWay's financial policies and general accounting and directs many key LifeWay 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 boys camp 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 center are 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.
[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.
[edit] References
- "About LifeWay." LifeWay. 24 September 2007.
- ^ "LifeWay Christian Resources." VISTA International. 2006. 23 April 2008.
- ^ Kiilerich, Jennifer. "Best Employers in Tennessee." Business Tennessee. May 2007. 23 April 2008.
- ^ Grossman, Cathy Lynn. "Young adults aren't sticking with church." USAToday. 6 August 2007. 23 April 2008.
