On today’s Vanderbloemen Leadership Podcast, William Vanderbloemen talks with Dr. Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, TN.
William talks with Dr. Rainer about navigating his own succession and his plan to take on a new challenge after stepping away from LifeWay: revitalizing churches across the country.
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Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Prior to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In addition to speaking in hundreds of venues over the past 20 years, Rainer led Rainer Group, a church and denominational consulting firm, from 1990 to 2005. The firm provided church health insights to over 500 churches and other organizations over that period.
Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, have three grown sons: Sam, Art and Jess, who are married to Erin, Sarah and Rachel respectively. The Rainers have ten grandchildren: Canon, Maggie, Nathaniel, Will (with the Lord), Harper, Bren, Joshua, Collins, Joel, and James.
He is the author of more than two dozen books, including I Am a Church Member, Breakout Churches, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Simple Life, Simple Church, Raising Dad, The Millennials, Essential Church, and Who Moved My Pulpit?
[Website] ThomRainer.com
[Website] Revitalize Network
“We are at a time in North America where anywhere from 2 out of 3, to 9 out of 10 of churches...need some level of revitalization.”
“It is never too early…it is all interim work. The better planning you do for after your retirement from your current post, the easier the succession.”
"If we are prayerfully obedient to the Great Commission, I have faith in him that he will bring about revival."