Difference between revisions of "LifeWay Christian Stores"
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| − | + | '''LifeWay Christian Stores''' is a former chain of Christian bookstores now operating exclusively via e-commerce. They were one of the two largest Christian bookstore chains along with [[Mardel]]. | |
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| − | + | LifeWay is a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, a ministry of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] which also publishes religious materials (notably the [[Holman Christian Standard Bible]]) and operates the Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. LifeWay was started in 1891 as the "Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention". The Board started opening retail outlets in 1925 under the name "Baptist Book Store". In 1971 they began to use the LifeWay name on some products and on a few of their stores, as by that time their offerings had expanded beyond SBC-published materials. In 1998 the Board officially changed its official name and rebranded all of its stores as LifeWay Christian Stores.<ref>https://www.lifeway.com/en/about/history</ref> | |
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| − | + | Although LifeWay sells books and other materials by authors who are not Southern Baptist, it maintains a policy of only selling materials which are in agreement with traditional Christian beliefs, and has not hesitated to cease doing business with authors who do not; for example, in 2016 it discontinued selling books by liberal Christian author Jen Hatmaker after she publicly endorsed [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/october/lifeway-stops-selling-jen-hatmaker-books-lgbt-beliefs-chris.html</ref> They also do not sell books written by [[Joel Osteen]] or [[T.D. Jakes]] (due to their controversial teachings) and, in 2019, quietly removed books written by James MacDonald after he was removed from the pastorate of Harvest Bible Chapel (the church he founded) due to issues with personal conduct. | |
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| − | + | In March 2019 Lifeway announced the closure of all its "brick and mortar" stores (claiming that the growth of e-commerce made the stores unprofitable), planning to operate primarily as an online retailer but also selling its products through independent retailers such as church bookstores. | |
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| − | + | ==References== | |
| − | + | {{reflist}} | |
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| − | + | ==External links== | |
| − | + | * [http://www.lifeway.com/ LifeWay Christian Stores] | |
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| − | + | [[Category:Southern Baptists]] | |
| − | + | [[Category:Retail]] | |
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Latest revision as of 23:23, August 28, 2020
LifeWay Christian Stores is a former chain of Christian bookstores now operating exclusively via e-commerce. They were one of the two largest Christian bookstore chains along with Mardel.
LifeWay is a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention which also publishes religious materials (notably the Holman Christian Standard Bible) and operates the Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. LifeWay was started in 1891 as the "Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention". The Board started opening retail outlets in 1925 under the name "Baptist Book Store". In 1971 they began to use the LifeWay name on some products and on a few of their stores, as by that time their offerings had expanded beyond SBC-published materials. In 1998 the Board officially changed its official name and rebranded all of its stores as LifeWay Christian Stores.[1]
Although LifeWay sells books and other materials by authors who are not Southern Baptist, it maintains a policy of only selling materials which are in agreement with traditional Christian beliefs, and has not hesitated to cease doing business with authors who do not; for example, in 2016 it discontinued selling books by liberal Christian author Jen Hatmaker after she publicly endorsed same-sex marriage.[2] They also do not sell books written by Joel Osteen or T.D. Jakes (due to their controversial teachings) and, in 2019, quietly removed books written by James MacDonald after he was removed from the pastorate of Harvest Bible Chapel (the church he founded) due to issues with personal conduct.
In March 2019 Lifeway announced the closure of all its "brick and mortar" stores (claiming that the growth of e-commerce made the stores unprofitable), planning to operate primarily as an online retailer but also selling its products through independent retailers such as church bookstores.