Trustees unanimously elected Ben Mandrell, a native of Tampico, Ill., as LifeWay Christian Resource’s 10th president June 28 during a special-called meeting in Atlanta.
Mandrell, 42, is the lead pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colo. were he preached an emotional message June 23 – two days after his nomination to lead LifeWay Christian Resources was announced.
“All through Scripture, we learn that God is a calling God,” Mandrell said in his sermon. “He dials our number and we have to answer. We have to take his calls.” When considering the decision to leave his church and relocate his family to Nashville, Mandrell said he had “a wrestling match with God like I have never experienced before.”
A native of Tampico, Ill., Mandrell graduated from Anderson (Ind.) University in 1998. He also holds a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and a doctor of ministry degree from Union University.
Before planting Storyline Fellowship, Mandrell served as senior pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn., from 2006-2013. Before becoming senior pastor, he served as the church’s college pastor and as director of discipleship ministries at Union University in Jackson. He previously was on staff with Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., K-Life Ministries of Orlando, Fla., and Sterling Christian School in Sterling, Ill.
Watch for more on Mandrell in the July 8 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper.
– With reporting from Baptist Press