Ben Mandrell, Lifeway president and CEO, said when he first became a pastor, he supported children’s ministry, but from a distance.
But then his wife, Lynley, pulled him out of his office and encouraged him to get involved in Vacation Bible School in a variety of ways, from serving as a greeter to acting in skits. It reminded him of his own VBS experience and how it impacted his life.
“When you reach a kid, you reach a family,” Mandrell said. “That’s my story. That’s so many people’s stories.”
That’s why he said he wanted Lifeway’s report to messengers at the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting June 14 to focus on what Lifeway is doing to reach kids for Christ.
Mandrell said in 2022, more than 2.2 million children enrolled in VBS with nearly 60,000 reported professions of faith.
The 2023 VBS curriculum, Twists and Turns, has also been “wildly successful,” he said, with sales “way up” even over last year.
“We can’t wait to see how many kids are impacted,” Mandrell said. “We love VBS; thank you for doing it. Statistics continue to show that the churches who do VBS and take it seriously have more baptisms than the others, so if you want to raise baptisms, do VBS.”
He said as he’s traveled around the country, he’s noticed more and more student pastors and children’s ministers say, “If only our senior leaders would invest in kids’ ministry, if they would understand that if we could reach kids, we could reach families.”
“So we’ve got to get senior pastors out of their offices and into skit clothes as soon as possible so we can really show the community that we care about kids,” Mandrell said. “So building resources that reach kids has become one of the top priorities at Lifeway, and I get to work alongside the most wildly creative people who are building products to help churches reach kids.”
He introduced four of those people through a video shown during his report.
Mandrell also requested prayer from messengers on two topics — a camp staffing issue and a new “reaching” resource.
“We are wildly short on staff for summer camps, primarily in males,” he said. “We cannot find strong, young, male spiritual leaders like we used to.”
At one CentriKid location, 15 of the 17 staffers are female, Mandrell said. “Without strong young women leading, we would be in big trouble at Lifeway, so let me just say that. Help us to pray and find good, strong men, because girls and boys need role models in both categories.”
He also announced a new “reaching” resource called Hyfi.
“We have primarily served teaching and reaching churches,” Mandrell said, explaining that most churches have a pastor with a passion for one or the other, though there is overlap.
“In the past, Lifeway has best served the churches with a teaching orientation,” he said, but Hyfi will be oriented toward reaching churches.
The curriculum is built around 12 simple truths that teach kids who they are because of who God is, Mandrell said. “Based on solid Lifeway research, we know this is needed in churches.”
It’s a first-of-its-kind curriculum for Lifeway, he said.
“Kids are being told by the world who they are, what they should be. They need Scripture to inform that, and the message must make sense in their context,” Mandrell said. “We are excited about this new curriculum, and the feedback from the churches has been amazing.”
For more information, visit myhyfi.com.
