Ben Mandrell has said publicly and repeatedly that as pastor of an SBC church in metro Denver, he did not use Lifeway resources for his discipleship ministry. The teaching materials of the time were born out of deep South culture and presumed biblical literacy on the part of the student. That wasn’t the case in Colorado, or most other states outside the Bible Belt.
The Tampico, Illinois native used most of his time on the platform at the convention to urge ministry that reaches the next generation and people from more secular cultures, which is growing in all states. Now Lifeway President and CEO, Mandrell pointed out the value of investing in Vacation Bible School, Lifeway’s camps for students, and a new curriculum for kids.
Mandrell was saved through VBS. “When you reach a kid, you reach a family,” Mandrell said. “That’s my story. That’s so many people’s stories.”
The new kids’ curriculum is especially designed to reach unchurched people.
“Hyfi is designed for churches who find themselves in hard soil and want to try something different in reaching people,” Mandrell said when the curriculum was rolled out in January. “I could not be more thankful for Lifeway’s kids and students’ teams who have labored tirelessly to make this fresh and innovative resource for local churches.”
Hyfi was beta-tested in 37 churches in 21 states, including Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, California, Colorado, and Arizona.
In New Orleans, Mandrell described it as a “reaching” resource.
“We have primarily served teaching and reaching churches,” Mandrell said. He said that most churches have a pastor with a passion for one or the other, though there is overlap. “In the past, Lifeway has best served the churches with a teaching orientation,” he said, but Hyfi will be oriented toward reaching churches.
The curriculum is built around 12 simple truths that teach kids who they are because of who God is, Mandrell said. “Based on solid Lifeway research, we know this is needed in churches.”
It’s a first-of-its-kind curriculum for Lifeway, he said.
“Kids are being told by the world who they are, what they should be. They need Scripture to inform that, and the message must make sense in their context,” Mandrell said. “We are excited about this new curriculum, and the feedback from the churches has been amazing.”
Mandrell has led the SBC’s publishing house since 2019. The entity, which does not receive Cooperative Program funds and operates only on its sales income, was in financial distress. All Lifeway Book Stores were closed just before he took the post because of multimillion dollar losses.
The sale of Lifeway’s massive publishing, warehousing, and shipping facilities in downtown Nashville and consolidation into a much smaller building under his predecessor, Thom Rainer, had not proven sufficient to right-size the entity.
When Covid forced writers, editors, and administrators to work from home, Mandrell decided to sell the new $95 million office building and create a space where staff could gather on occasion. The even smaller, much cheaper facility in the Nashville suburbs was dedicated this spring.
“The grand opening of our new space marks a new era of work,” Mandrell said at the April dedication. “The open workspaces, collaborative team rooms and state-of-the-art technology come together to support our work-from-anywhere culture and encourage collaboration.”
For more information on the new curriculum, visit myhyfi.com.
– IB staff, with additional reporting by TAB media