LifeWay Research Team

The LifeWay Research team includes researchers inside and outside of LifeWay's Nashville offices, who are studying church, culture, and ministry to assist churches and Christian leaders in understanding and reaching their contexts.

To contact LifeWay Research for research related needs, contact Sandra. For speaking engagements from our team, please contact Shirley here.

The Nashville office team includes Ed Stetzer, Thom Rainer, Scott McConnell, Lizette Beard, and support staff.

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN.

Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at fifteen other colleges and seminaries. He also serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board.

Ed is currently interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN.

Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence.

He has written the following books:
• Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (2003),
• Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (w/ Elmer Towns, 2004),
• Breaking the Missional Code (w/ David Putman, 2006),
• Planting Missional Churches (2006),
• Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson, 2007),
• 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, 2007), and
• Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation)

Thom Rainer

Thom S. Rainer is a prominent Christian author, speaker and researcher. He currently serves as president and chief executive officer of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the world's largest Christian resource providers. He became president Feb. 1, 2006, and within a few months launched LifeWay Research to equip church leaders with insights leading to better church health and greater ministry effectiveness. He also established B&H Academic, a branch of LifeWay's B&H Publishing Group, to provide pastors, seminary professors and students with theologically conservative commentaries and other Bible resources.

Rainer is author, co-author or editor of numerous books, including The Unchurched Next Door, Breakout Churches, Simple Church, and Raising Dad.

Rainer was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He also served as professor of evangelism and church growth at Southern and has taught at Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, and Tampa Bay Theological Seminary, a branch of Dallas Theological Seminary.

Rainer served as interim pastor at eight different churches between 1995-2004 and as senior pastor at four churches from 1984-1994. He also has extensive business experience, having served as vice president of Pinnacle Publishers, Inc. (2001-05); president of Church Central Associates, Inc. (2001-05); chairman of Rainer Research, a division of The Rainer Group (1999-2005); founder, president and CEO of The Rainer Group (1988-05); vice president of corporate lending at SouthTrust Bank, Alabama (1980-83); and cash management officer at Trust Company of Georgia, now SunTrust (1977-80).

Rainer is the former president of the American Association of Church Consultants. He also served as a board member of Romanian-American Missions; Ephesians 4 Ministries; and the Southern Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board, which later became the North American Mission Board. In addition, he was a member of the Society for Advancement of Consulting, a secular organization in which he served as the only member providing church and denominational consultations; and the American Consultants League, another secular organization in which he served as the only member providing church and denominational consultations.

He has served as a church growth conference speaker for several years and is in frequent demand as a speaker today. He is a featured columnist for Outreach magazine. He is a Gold Medallion finalist for two books; former publisher of Church Health Today, a bi-weekly church-health newsletter; recipient of more than a dozen awards related to work in church health and church growth; and he has provided consultation to numerous periodicals including USA TODAY, Time, Associated Press, Religion News Service, and others.

Scott McConnell

Scott McConnell has researched the beliefs, behaviors, needs and preferences of church leaders, laity, and the unchurched for over 12 years. Scott concentrated in Marketing and Strategic Management as he received a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Scott was mentored in sound survey methodology and actionable decision-focused research as an associate project manager at National Analysts, a Philadelphia based research and consulting firm. Projects included segmentation, satisfaction and product development research for Fortune 100 telecommunications and utilities companies.

Scott's research has addressed a variety of issues by interviewing parents, church attendees, young adult church dropouts, the formerly churched, standout churches who are effective in evangelism, and multi-site churches. Scott McConnell is Associate Director of LifeWay Research.

Scott has written the forthcoming books:
Multi-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement's Next Generation (Spring 2009)
The Parent Adventure: Preparing Your Children for a Lifetime with God (with Rodney and Selma Wilson, January 2009).

Lizette Beard

information coming soon

Shirley Cross

Shirley Cross has a BA degree in Physical Education and Music. She and her husband, with their 2 daughters, served as missionaries with the International Mission Board of the SBC for 11 years in Southeast Asia. Shirley has worked at LifeWay Christian Resources since 2003 and completed the Certified Ministry Assistant program through the LifeWay Church Ministry Leadership in 2004. Shirley began working in the LifeWay Research Department in 2007 as the Administrative Assistant for Ed Stetzer.

Sandra Edman Wilson

Sandra Wilson is an Administrative Assistant in LifeWay Research. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee and graduated magna cum laude from Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Business Management. Sandra has worked at LifeWay 15 years in several areas including Sunday School, FAITH and Discipleship, working with state conventions and directors of missions, and the executive offices. She originally joined the Research area under Dr. Waggoner in February of 2006.