NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — Thom Rainer, nominated to lead Southern Baptists' $400-million-a-year
publishing venture, said he anticipates “my learning curve's going to be very steep.”
If elected president of LifeWay Christian Resources, Rainer will bring both business and ministry experience to his
new task. But he acknowledged he will have a lot to learn about LifeWay's operation, which includes book and curriculum
production, 124 retail stores, and total revenue of more than $428 million in fiscal 2004.
As first reported Aug. 4 in Associated Baptist Press, trustees of LifeWay will vote Sept. 12-13 on the nomination of
Rainer, 50, founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
Before pursuing full-time vocational ministry, Rainer studied corporate finance and worked in corporate banking in
Atlanta and Anniston, Ala.
“I am honored and excited to be the nominee of the search committee,” Rainer said in a statement released Aug. 5 at
LifeWay's headquarters in Nashville. “I look forward to the vote of the full board of trustees in September.”
Speaking later to the Western Recorder of Kentucky, Rainer declined to speculate on how he might lead the agency. “I
am not going to be presumptuous until the full board meets,” he said. “Right now I'm just enjoying the great, great
honor of the nomination. Jimmy Draper is some pretty big shoes to fill. He's a legend, not only in the Southern Baptist
Convention and LifeWay but in the evangelical world.”
Rainer is the choice of a LifeWay search committee to succeed Draper, 70, who is retiring after 15 years at the helm
of one of the largest Christian publishing companies in the world. Rainer is expected to assume his new duties Oct. 17
and work alongside Draper until February.
“I am incredibly excited to have a man of Thom Rainer's gifts and vision to work alongside in the months ahead,”
said Draper. “He is a proven leader, a brilliant statesman and a gifted visionary. That's why I believe LifeWay's
best days are still ahead.”
Rainer is the author of 16 books. His recent “Breakout Churches” examines the characteristics of congregations that
overcome stagnation or decline. His research indicated that baptisms in Southern Baptist churches are in decline, even
after conservatives took control of the denomination beginning in 1979. Recently Rainer said, however, the statistics
would be even worse if moderates had remained in leadership.
At least three of Rainer's books, including “Breakout Churches,” were published by Zondervan, not LifeWay's
Broadman & Holman publishing label.
Rainer said that while he might bring an outsider's perspective to the post, “there's so much good going on at
LifeWay right now that I don't even know how my outside perspective is going to compare to what I see on the inside.”
Lawrence Smith, vice president of communications for Southern Seminary, said Rainer will continue to teach and lead
Southern's school of missions, evangelism and church growth through the end of the semester in December.
Rainer was not as specific with his plans. “I have to discuss timetables with the seminary leadership,” he said.
A graduate of the University of Alabama, Rainer earned both the master of divinity and Ph.D. degrees at Southern
Seminary. Prior to joining the Southern faculty, he served as pastor of churches in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and
Indiana. He has served as a church consultant and church-growth conference speaker for several years and is president of
Rainer Group Church Consulting. He also is president of Church Central, a website he formed with Internet publisher
NetWorld Alliance that offers training and other resources for church leaders.
“Dr. Rainer has proven himself to be a successful leader of the local church and at the seminary,” said search
committee chairman Rick Evans. “He is a gifted man of authority in the areas of trends within the Christian church and
in church growth.”
Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, have three sons — Sam, Art and Jess.
—Rob Marus and Lindsay Bergstrom contributed to this story.