that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . july 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . june 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message lifeway christian resources type religious non profit organization industry publishing retail founded 1891 incorporated on october 5 1983 as the sunday school board of the southern baptist convention . headquarters nashville tennessee u.s. number of locations 186 stores 2010 1 key people thom s. rainer chairman and ceo number of employees 4 000 parent southern baptist convention divisions church resources lifeway christian stores b & h publishing group technology finance and business services lifeway research and insights website lifeway.com lifeway christian resources based in nashville tennessee is one of the largest providers of religious and christian resources in the world . 2 not in citation given lifeway has been recognized as one of the best employers in tennessee by businesstn magazine . 3 contents 1 background 2 ministries 3 leadership 4 references 5 external links background edit in 1891 j. m. frost a 43 year old pastor started the company that is now known as lifeway christian resources . the business began after receiving approval from the southern baptist convention in a small office funded in part by money borrowed from his wife . later that year it became the sunday school board of the southern baptist convention with frost as its first executive secretary now called president . over the next century the board expanded its activities well beyond sunday school material . to reflect its broadening focus the board changed its name to lifeway christian resources in 1998 . the lifeway name had been used in one form or another as a brand name since 1971 . today the ministries of lifeway provide christian resources throughout the united states and internationally . lifeway s ministries include the production of bibles church literature audio and video recordings church supplies and internet services . the company operates over 186 lifeway christian stores through the united states as well as one of the largest christian conference centers in the country . lifeway is a 501 c 3 religious nonprofit organization that receives no funding from the denomination and reinvests income above operating expenses in mission work and other ministries around the world . lifeway employees are committed to the company s vision biblical solutions for life . 4 it acquired berean christian stores in september 2013 which at the time had 17 locations in the united states primarily in california . 5 ministries edit lifeway directs its ministries through six divisions church resources consults with churches and delivers biblical solutions through many ministries resources enrichment and training events and age group products including sunday school vacation bible school leadership development evangelism discipleship music worship marriage and parenting . biblical solutions include training and enrichment events and resources in print on cd dvd and the web . new resources include a young adult ministry called threads ; worship kidstyle ; a new baptist hymnal ; expanded resources for african american and hispanic churches ; and an initiative to provide key evangelism and discipleship resources in more than 50 languages via free download . the division oversees the content and functionality of lifeway.com and its affiliated pages . in all lifeway.com houses more 12 000 articles in addition to countless other resources and products . lifeway headquarters in nashville tennessee . lifeway christian stores operates over 186 outlets in two dozen states serving southern baptists and the wider evangelical community . the division also serves customers online and through lifeway special services . b & h publishing group produces bibles books audio and video productions and church supplies selling to bookstores and other retailers . a new emphasis on resources for pastors seminary professors and students and scholars has been launched with the b & h academic line of resources . crossbooks publishing is the self publishing division started in 2009 and caters primarily to new authors but holds the manuscripts submitted to the same theological standard as books produced by b & h publishing group . the technology division provides five key services for lifeway strategic retail business enterprise and internet technologies . finance and business services is responsible for lifeway s financial policies and general accounting and directs many key lifeway business services . the division also operates a conference center at ridgecrest nc which ministers to more than 100 000 guests each year . lifeway also owns and operates two historical camps a boys camp founded in 1929 camp ridgecrest 6 and a girls camp founded in 1955 crestridge . 7 both are near the ridgecrest conference center in the black mountains of north carolina near asheville . lifeway insights houses lifeway research which helps churches impact the culture for christ ; lifeway s corporate communications department including news media relations and social media coordination employee communication and production of facts and trends corporate magazine ; and directs ministry development and strategic projects . lifeway research studies have been cited in several national news sources . 8 leadership edit in february 2006 dr. thom rainer became the president and ceo of lifeway . rainer left his post as dean of the billy graham school of evangelism of the southern baptist theological seminary to assume the presidency of lifeway . he succeeded james t. draper jr. of the fort worth metro area who had headed lifeway from 1991 to 2006 . 9 references edit who we are . lifeway . 2010 . retrieved on 14 june 2010 . lifeway christian resources . vista international . 2006 . 23 april 2008 . kiilerich jennifer . best employers in tennessee . business tennessee . may 2007 . 23 april 2008 . archived january 17 2008 at the wayback machine . lifeway . lifeway.com . retrieved june 9 2013 . king marty 2013 08 23 . lifeway to acquire 17 berean stores . lifeway company blog . retrieved 2014 05 29 . ridgecrest camps . boys christian summer camp . ridgecrestcamps.com . ridgecrest camps . girls christian summer camp . ridgecrestcamps.com . grossman cathylynn . young adults aren t sticking with church in usa today 6 august 2007 lifeway christian resources . bbb.org . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to lifeway headquarters . official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title lifeway christian resources & oldid 742414485 categories christian media companiessouthern baptist conventioncompanies based in nashville tennesseebaptist organizations established in the 19th centurybaptist christianity in tennessee1891 establishments in tennesseecompanies established in 1891hidden categories articles with wayback machine linksarticles with a promotional tone from july 2016all articles with a promotional tonewikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from june 2014all articles with failed verificationarticles with failed verification from november 2015commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 3 october 2016 at 15 30 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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