NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–LifeWay Christian Resources announced Aug. 11 that John Kramp has been named interim vice president of its church resources division. Kramp is a 12-year veteran with LifeWay and has served as director of church ministry solutions since 2001.
Kramp will oversee operations of the LifeWay division that produces a broad spectrum of church resources including Sunday School curriculum, discipleship literature, church training events, music, audio and video recordings and two lines of Vacation Bible School curriculum. The division employs more than 600 people.
The company is seeking a permanent replacement for its former vice president, Gene Mims, who announced in June he was leaving LifeWay to return to the pastorate.
“John is fully empowered to lead the church resources division during this time of transition,” said Ted Warren, LifeWay’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “He has a heart for ministry and understands the business, and he will build on the work Gene Mims began of championing the pastor and growing the church.”
LifeWay President James T. Draper Jr. added: “God has prepared John for this time and this task. John has served faithfully on church staffs, maintains a vigorous passion for the local church, and has demonstrated a high level of integrity, dedication and devotion in his years at LifeWay. He will use his skills, gifts and experience to sharpen the focus of the church resources division as we begin the search for a new vice president.”
Kramp holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served as associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Garland, Texas, and as a church planter in the Northwest Baptist Convention, serving as senior pastor of Westside Baptist Church in Lake Oswego, Ore. He came to LifeWay in 1992, becoming director of church ministry solutions in 2001.
He is the author of two books, “Out of Their Faces and into Their Shoes: How to Understand Spiritually Lost People and Give Them Directions to God” and “Getting Ahead by Staying Behind: How to Be a Better Follower of Jesus.”
“I am grateful for this opportunity to serve and excited about the ways our division will meet the needs of churches in the future,” Kramp said. “The church resources division is a wonderful ministry with people who love the Lord and want to help churches. I have come to know and love the people in this division, and it is a great privilege to be asked to lead them.”
Kramp said that in addition to LifeWay’s longtime work with pastors and church leaders, he’s looking forward to developing closer relationships with authors and network partners. “These are great days to strengthen relationships and to work together to accomplish the assignment God has given us,” he said. “Because of the work of Gene Mims and others, we have a strong foundation to build on. We have a focus on the Kingdom of God and our part in it. It will be exciting to see how God works in, through and around us.”
Kramp and his wife, Lynn Marie, have two children and live in Franklin, Tenn.
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