The congregation of Bellevue Baptist Church officially voted to extend the call for Ben Mandrell, CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, to be the church’s eighth senior pastor.
Mandrell, 48, will fill the role left by Steve Gaines.
“I cannot tell you how thankful we are for this moment,” Mandrell said. “This big hurricane of Bellevue love has just swallowed us up.”
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With a full sanctuary and overflow seating in the church’s fellowship hall, the entire congregation stood to vote in favor of Mandrell. Instead of its usual two worship services, Bellevue held one combined service so all church members could come together to hear Mandrell preach. The vote took place in a business session immediately following the service.
Bellevue’s pastor search committee began its work in November 2024, two months after Gaines announced his retirement and his plans to begin an itinerant preaching ministry. The committee unanimously recommended Mandrell as the next senior pastor earlier this week on July 8.
“In our first meeting, we spent most of our time in prayer,” Chad Hall, chairman of the pastor search committee, said. “From that very first night, we began praying for our pastor. We prayed for his wife, his kids — his whole family. We didn’t know who he was, and we didn’t know where he was, but we knew God did.”
Background
Mandrell has been president of Lifeway since August 2019. He led the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and helped Lifeway navigate a time of significant transition following the closure of its retail stores.
Before serving at Lifeway, Mandrell and his family planted Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colorado. He served as lead pastor there for four years, shepherding the church as it grew from 250 people in February 2015 to 1,600 in weekly attendance by the time he left.
Mandrell got his start in ministry during his mid-20s at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee, where he served as college pastor before becoming senior pastor in 2006. He led Englewood until 2013, and under his leadership, the church’s weekly attendance grew from 1,800 to 2,600.
Mandrell is originally from Tampico, Illinois, and he graduated from Anderson (Indiana) University in 1998. He holds a master of divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctor of ministry from Union University.
Mandrell and his wife, Lynley, have been married since 2001, and they have four children.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was published by the Baptist and Reflector.
