In his report to the Southern Baptist Convention on June 11, Ben Mandrell said Lifeway’s role is to “build things for the body of Christ,” not to be one-size-fits-all.
As an example, the Lifeway president pointed to the CSB Grace Bible for Kids, which was created for readers with dyslexia. He read a note from the father of a dyslexic child who said the Bible had changed his 7-year-old son’s life.
“Reading for him was extremely challenging if not impossible, and that included reading the Bible,” Mandrell read. “He never wanted to read the Bible or bring one to church.”
But after the boy’s pastor gave him a copy of the CSB Grace Bible for Kids, “his relationship with his Bible began to change … it makes him feel seen and known.”
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“You can see the pride on his face and in his voice,” Mandrell read. “He loves his Bible and takes care of it. It was a game changer for his little life, and we are so grateful and humbled by God’s good grace to our son.”
Mandrell told SBC messengers that something else is coming soon that he hopes will be a game changer for churches — a new project called DisciplesPath.
“We believe that the best sign of future health for our convention is to see a rising number of churches that commit to designing and implementing a clear discipleship process within their churches,” he said. “A brand-new study on the state of discipleship reveals that half of churches do not have any kind of strategy for how they’re going to form disciples within their midst.”
He said it’s not that churches don’t offer anything for discipleship, it’s just that many have more of a “menu but not any kind of map.”
“And why not? It’s not because pastors aren’t interested in discipleship. I was a pastor for 17 years, and I know it’s just a very busy life,” Mandrell said.
That’s where he said Lifeway hopes to step in and offer a valuable and personalized resource.
“At the start of DisciplesPath, the church will take a thorough assessment that will help them crystallize their philosophy and framework for discipleship,” Mandrell said. “And then once they embrace their model, Lifeway can come alongside with a suite of tools and resources, thought leadership and coaching to help communicate that path to their people.”
Supplying the need
Lifeway will also help supply that pipeline with proper, fresh resources, he said.
“This will not be anything prepackaged or one-size-fits-all,” Mandrell said. “It will not be costly to churches; it will mostly be free.”
He said he hopes to have more information to share at the 2026 SBC annual meeting.
During his report, Mandrell also updated messengers on Lifeway’s ministries like Vacation Bible School and camps, sharing that their camps are hosting more than 120,000 campers this summer.
“Thank you for sending your college students to us who serve on our staff,” he said, but he added a plea — “We are still in dire need of more young men.”
At the end of his report, Mandell fielded questions from two messengers. The first inquired if it might be possible to bring back a small number of Lifeway’s brick and mortar stores in light of the recent resurgence of Barnes & Noble, but Mandrell said that was not financially possible at the present time.
The second asked if Lifeway was still in the process of hiring a director for Lifeway Worship, and Mandrell assured him that Lifeway was planning to keep moving forward with plans for that to be a robust arm of its ministry.
To sign up to get updates about DisciplesPath, visit lifeway.com/en/shop/disciples-path.
