Search Committee, New VPs Named By LifeWay Trustees

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, February 9, 2005 - (BP)--On the heels of James T. Draper Jr.'s announced 2006 retirement, trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources immediately formed a presidential search committee and completed other key business matters during their Feb. 7-8 semiannual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.

Trustees named Alabama pastor Rick Evans as chairman of their 11-person presidential search committee, which already is seeking resumes and recommendations for Draper's successor.

Trustees also confirmed John Kramp as vice president of LifeWay's church resources division, effective March 1, and Jerry Rhyne as chief financial officer and vice president of the company's finance and business services division, effective July 1.

In continuing support of the revitalization efforts at LifeWay's conference centers, trustees approved the formation of for-profit corporations to develop and manage townhouses and condominiums at Ridgecrest, N.C., and Glorieta, N.M.

Ted Warren, LifeWay's executive vice president and chief operating officer, reported the company is seeing a strong start to fiscal '05, with $105 million of first-quarter revenues, slightly below budget but well ahead of last year's pace.

"We have a solid company with strong assets," said Warren, who cited exceptional first-quarter performance by the church resources and Broadman & Holman divisions. Warren said the company controls expenses well, but emphasized the need to grow revenues more aggressively in the coming years.

DIVISIONAL REPORTS

Church Resources

Vice President John Kramp unveiled a new Sunday School theme: "Sunday School -- The Original Small Group Experience." The FAITH/Evangelism & Discipleship team reported that more than 5,000 people already are registered for Crossover Nashville, the door-to-door evangelism initiative planned in conjunction with the 2005 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville. Fuel, a new undated youth Sunday School resource, has become so popular it has met the entire year's sales goal in the first quarter. The younger leaders initiative led by Draper is in full swing, with listening sessions in key areas around the country, including one planned for June 19 at LifeWay in conjunction with the week of the SBC annual meeting.

In June, LifeWay will release Beth Moore's "The Patriarchs." Moore has signed on to lead her Living Proof Live events with LifeWay through 2006. Vacation Bible School will have two lines of resources for 2005: "Ramblin' Road Trip" and "Club VBS Beach Blast."

"What's going to make church resources different in the days ahead is not business," Kramp said. "Don't get me wrong; we will do our business very well. But we are looking for the spiritual side because that's what drives the ministry. We need God's gracious hand on us."

Finance and Business Services

Jim Carter, who retires June 30 as chief financial officer and vice president, reported strong first-quarter expense control.

The trustees passed a resolution honoring Carter for 10 years of service at LifeWay. The resolution cited Carter for financial expertise and business acumen; the modernization of LifeWay's facilities and systems; the establishment of the Southern Baptist Purchasing Alliance; and being the driving force behind LifeWay-sponsored, employee-led mission trips, which have resulted in more than 56,000 professions of faith since 1997.

Broadman & Holman

Vice President Ken Stephens of LifeWay's trade publishing division reported that B&H is significantly ahead of budget for fiscal year 2005, citing favorable sales in both books and Bible categories. New titles from B&H include Bobby Welch's "You, The Warrior Leader," which released in October, and "So Help Me God," by former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, which released this month. Future titles include Beth Moore's "Feathers from My Nest," John Trent's "Parenting from Your Strengths" and Oliver North's "Assassins."

The Holman Christian Standard Bible ranked fifth in CBA Marketplace share numbers for 2004, coming in ahead of many other popular translations. Stephens also reported the success of the "Every Day with Jesus Bible," which has sold nearly 50,000 copies in the first quarter. B&H and e-business successfully launched the www.EveryDaywithJesus.com website.

Top book sales for the first quarter included Chuck Norris' "Against All Odds," Michael Reagan's "Twice Adopted" and Ken Hemphill's "EKG, The Heartbeat of God."

Corporate Affairs

Trustees approved resolutions to form four for-profit corporations to develop and manage townhouses or condominiums at LifeWay's conference centers at Ridgecrest, N.C., and Glorieta, N.M. A second resolution empowered LifeWay to sell Glorieta conference center property to the development corporation. Next, LifeWay will seek the approval of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee prior to moving forward with the projects.

The properties will be developed over the next five years, with 70 condos at Glorieta and 100 townhouses at Ridgecrest. The profits from the projects will help pay for ongoing revitalization efforts at the two conference centers. Vice President Mike Arrington provided trustees with an update on the conference centers' master plan, which features a new hotel and recreation center, and chapel renovation at Glorieta by 2008, and a new hotel, convention center and recreation center and renovations at Ridgecrest by 2008.

Arrington reported that LifeWay is moving forward to sell nearly 140 acres across the interstate from Glorieta conference center. The property is not in the company's long-term ministry plans. Trustees must approve a final sale.

Arrington also announced that James T. Draper Jr. will lead a major capital fund-raising campaign to raise $30 million over two years. Draper told trustees he desires to leave a legacy fund for ministry expansion.

LifeWay Christian Stores

Vice President Mark Scott reported that the retail division's ministry continues to grow despite a challenging Christian retail environment. LifeWay Christian Stores saw significant increases in the number of new church and individual customers in the first quarter. "We're being salt and light through products we carry -- and don't carry," Scott said.

A storm three days before Christmas slowed the growth of holiday sales, but the division already had good expense control in place, Scott said. In addition, he said the division did a good job of making up for declining sales of the "Purpose-Driven Life" trade book.

Scott said product trends at the stores are strong for church program materials, Spanish products, gifts, music and Bibles. Direct marketing and e-commerce sales in the first quarter also were strong. Gift card sales continued to grow as a popular replacement of LifeWay gift certificates. The LifeWay Rewards customer loyalty program already has passed expectations for the year.

New stores are planned this spring in Abilene, Texas, and Myrtle Beach, S.C., and relocations will take place later this year in Jacksonville, Fla., and El Paso, Texas.

Technology

Vice President Tim Vineyard said more than 6.4 million users visited LifeWay.com during the first quarter, an increase of nearly 1 million people over the same period last year. Additionally, the e-business department has generated nearly 553,000 subscriptions to LifeWay e-newsletters, a service that saves LifeWay money normally spent on targeted mailings. "These are very exciting times for our division and how we support LifeWay," he said.

Vineyard added that Bible Navigator software soon will be available at retailers such as CompUSA and Office Depot.

LifeWay International

Director Luis Aranguren reported that the department's consultants finished 2004 having conducted 579 workshops, training 42,595 pastors and leaders from 4,337 churches in 31 countries. In the first quarter of 2005, the department invested 260 hours in training 7,818 pastors and leaders through 121 workshops in 17 countries.

Aranguren said that through licensing agreements with worldwide partners, there are requests to produce 661 different titles in 102 different languages and dialects. There are currently 1,633 active licenses of LifeWay products.

The department has seen a 19.5 percent increase in sales through LifeWay Brazil because of a rebounding Latin American economy. Additionally, a concentrated effort has been made to expand the sales of Spanish products in the United States.

In other business, trustees approved a maximum 3.5 percent price increase for spring 2006 Sunday School resources.

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