The pastor search committee at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, has unanimously recommended that Ben Mandrell, CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources become the church’s next senior pastor.
Among married pastors, 9 in 10 (89%) say their spouse is enthusiastic about their life in ministry together.
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.
The National Survey of Religious Leaders report revealed 35% of all clergy in the U.S. serve bivocationally, holding an additional job outside of their congregational ministry.
Jennifer Lyell, a former vice president of Lifeway who accused a seminary professor of sexual abuse in 2018, died yesterday (June 7) at age 47 after a series of massive strokes.
Despite the unique pressures pastors routinely face, only 1.2% of evangelical and Black Protestant pastors leave the ministry each year, according to a 2025 Lifeway Research study.
U.S. Protestant churches are almost evenly split between those that have grown within the past two years and those that are plateaued or declining, according to an Exponential study by Lifeway Research.
The average Southern Baptist church calls the South home, but the only region of the country where those congregations are growing is the Northeast.
Beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending during Holy Week, Lent serves as a time of preparation for the Easter celebration in many Christian traditions. The practice often involves the spiritual discipline of fasting.
A Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant pastors finds few hold or teach beliefs connected to the prosperity gospel.
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