B
B
Type | Religious non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing, retail |
| Founded | 1891 Incorporated on October 5, 1983 as the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. |
| Founder | James Marion Frost |
| Headquarters | 1 LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee ,U.S. |
Number of locations | 170 stores (2018)[1] |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 4,000 |
| Parent | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Divisions | Church Resources, LifeWay Christian Stores, B&H Publishing Group, Technology, Finance and Business Services, LifeWay Research and Insights |
| Website | LifeWay.com [17] |
LifeWay Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the publishing division of the Southern Baptist Convention and church business services provider. Until 2019, it was best known for its retail arm, LifeWay Christian Stores, which was one of the two major American retailers of Christian books and products (the other being Mardel, owned by descendants of David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby). Lifeway announced the closure of all its retail stores on March 20, 2019.[2] Lifeway owns christian publisher B&H and has a research and polling division called Lifeway Research.
Type | Religious non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing, retail |
| Founded | 1891 Incorporated on October 5, 1983 as the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. |
| Founder | James Marion Frost |
| Headquarters | 1 LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee ,U.S. |
Number of locations | 170 stores (2018)[1] |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 4,000 |
| Parent | Southern Baptist Convention |
| Divisions | Church Resources, LifeWay Christian Stores, B&H Publishing Group, Technology, Finance and Business Services, LifeWay Research and Insights |
| Website | LifeWay.com [17] |
History
Around 1971 the Board began using the "LifeWay" imprint on some of its materials and as the name for retail stores in certain markets, reflecting an expansion of items sold which included items produced by others (some of whom were not Southern Baptist). Over a two-year period from 1996-1998 the Board re-branded its stores under the LifeWay banner and officially changed its name.[5]
In 2017 LCR staff moved out of the Draper Tower and the Sullivan Tower into new headquarters in the Capitol View area.[6]
In 2019 Lifeway announced that it will be closing all of its 170 stores and will shift its focus to its e-commerce business.[7]
Sales policy
Although LifeWay sells products created by non-SBC persons and entities, generally speaking its products feature Christian teachings from a conservative perspective (consistent with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message). It will not sell, and will if needed discontinue selling, works by authors who disagree with its policies. As an example, in October 2016 it pulled all works by author Jen Hatmaker after she endorsed same-sex marriage.[8]
LifeWay's ministry on the subject of sexuality and gender expression categorizes non-normative identities as sinful lifestyles,[9] the threat of which requires church members be "ready when homosexuality devastates."[10] This is generally consistent with Article XVIII of the Baptist Faith & Message (the doctrinal statement of the Southern Baptist Convention, LifeWay's parent[11]), though the Article does not specifically address such gender expression issues as transgender or gender reassignment.[12]
Leadership
In February 2006, Thom Rainer became the president and CEO of LifeWay after having served as dean of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He succeeded James T. Draper, Jr., of the Fort Worth metro area, who had headed LifeWay from 1991 to 2006.[13]
As of July 2019 the CEO is the recently hired Ben Mandrell.[16]