BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Year after year, Lifeway Christian Resources finds new ways to delight messengers and guests at the SBC Annual Meeting and draw them to The Lifeway Village. And this year, as Lifeway celebrates its 135th anniversary and welcomes a new president, is sure to be no exception.
The 14,000-square-foot Lifeway Village will highlight different areas of church ministry and allow messengers to find many categories of resources for their specific needs – whether they are a pastor, next-gen leader, adult group leader, worship leader, or women’s ministry leader. Messengers will also be able to have conversations with the people at Lifeway who are developing those resources.
“We want church leaders to see how Lifeway supports them in their mission of making disciples,” said Joe Walker, Lifeway’s interim president. “We encourage Southern Baptists to stop by and learn more about our resources for discipling everyone, from kids to seniors, in your church. We truly believe churches flourish when disciples are being formed.”
Messengers to the annual meeting will also get to meet Lifeway’s newest team member – Ryan Blackwell, the newly elected president and CEO.
“The SBC Annual Meeting is always a meaningful time of encouragement and connection,” Blackwell said. “I’m excited to meet pastors and church leaders from across our Convention in the Lifeway Village this year.”
At the annual meeting, Lifeway will launch DisciplesPath, a free resource designed to help churches evaluate and strengthen how they form disciples. DisciplesPath was developed in response to the nearly two decades-long study of discipleship by Lifeway Research.
The most recent State of Discipleship study found half (52 percent) of pastors are satisfied with discipleship and spiritual formation in their churches, but only 8 percent strongly agree. Similarly, only 52 percent say they have an intentional plan for discipling individuals in their congregations and encouraging their spiritual growth.
Additionally, 7 out of 10 (71 percent) believe there are ways to measure discipleship in a congregation. However, just 30 percent say their churches have specific methods for measuring discipleship.
“Lifeway’s here to help,” said Chad Higgins, senior manager of Lifeway’s Church Equipping team. “We know healthy churches have an intentional plan for discipleship. So, we’ve developed a free toolkit to help churches evaluate, strengthen and relaunch their disciple-making efforts.”
DisciplesPath walks leaders through a step-by-step process to develop and deploy a customized discipleship strategy to fit their unique ministry context. The process begins with a Lifeway Research–backed survey to gather data from church members, allowing leaders to assess where their church is strong, where gaps exist, and what next steps to take.
“Whether a church is refining an existing strategy or building one from scratch, DisciplesPath provides the tools, insight and support pastors and church leaders need to make disciples who live, love and lead like Jesus,” said Higgins.
For those looking for ways to engage their congregation in Bible study, Lifeway staff will help messengers plan and select the appropriate material for group Bible studies and offer information on Lifeway’s short-term studies and Sunday School curriculum, including Bible Studies for Life, Explore the Bible, The Gospel Project, Hyfi and YOU.
For churches that aren’t sure which resource is right for them, Lifeway has developed Curriculum Compass to help them assess their curriculum needs and find the right Bible study curriculum for their people and their context. Leaders can stop by the Village and talk to Lifeway team members about which curriculum fits their specific church’s needs.
New to The Lifeway Village this year is a space dedicated to Vacation Bible School where leaders can see the new theme for 2027 and discover what kids will learn next summer in VBS. Kids of every age will have fun posing in front of the VBS-themed photo wall.
Messengers should also be on the lookout for Lifeway Worship Director Kirk Kirkland and the Lifeway Worship team in the Worship Village inside the exhibit hall. They will be showcasing the new lifewayworship.com, which launches this fall.
“Messengers will have lots of ways to connect with Lifeway at the annual meeting,” said Walker.
Guests in The Lifeway Village will find books on leadership, prayer, marriage, parenting and other Christian living topics, as well as devotionals, a wide selection of Bibles and reference material for purchase.
“People will still be able to shop and peruse our resources, but the design of The Lifeway Village makes it easier for them to see all the ways Lifeway comes alongside church leaders throughout their ministry journey,” Walker said.
He added there will be a variety of live podcast recordings happening daily in The Lifeway Village, as well as some author meet and greets each day. “I would encourage messengers to stop by every day; you just never know who you might run into,” Walker said.
“We hope every messenger who visits The Lifeway Village will gain new insights for ministry, build stronger connections with our team, and leave encouraged by the tools we’ve developed with them in mind and our commitment to come alongside them in their calling.”
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