Thom S. Rainer
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Thom S. Rainer (born July 16, 1955) is an American writer, researcher, speaker, and former president and CEO of
LifeWay Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of its physical retail presence ...
, an entity of the
Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...
in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. He is the author of several best selling books, including ''I Am a Church Member'', named a CBA #1 Best Seller (2013–2014) and Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015). It was also recognized as a Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015), a Gold Medallion Award winner (2015), and a Platinum Book Award winner (2016) by the
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade association whose member companies are involved in the publishing and distribution of Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres ...
, and recognized by Leadership Journal as Best of the Best in the Leaders Outer Life category (2013); ''Autopsy of a Deceased Church'', Christian Retailing's Best Book of the Year: Church and Culture (2015); and ''Simple Church'', the 2007 ''
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...
'' Book Award winner in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category. After resigning as CEO, Rainer remained as the Chief Advisory Officer On September 29, 2020, it was announced that Lifeway filed a lawsuit against Rainer after he allegedly violated a non-compete agreement by publishing a book with Tyndale Press, but on September 30 it was announced they decided to seek a non-litigation resolution and October 5 it was announced that Rainer agreed to end his relationship with Tyndale and avoid litigation


Biography

Rainer was born in
Union Springs, Alabama Union Springs is a city in and the county seat of Bullock County, Alabama, United States. The population was 3,980 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The area that became Union Springs was first settled by white men after th ...
and is a 1977 graduate of the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...
, majoring in corporate finance with minors in
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
and
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
. He began his career as a cash management officer (1977–80) at Trust Company of Georgia, now
SunTrust SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was h ...
. By age 25, Rainer became a fifth-generation banker and the youngest vice president for corporate lending of
SouthTrust Bank SouthTrust Bank, N. A. is a community bank founded in George West, Texas in 1934. The bank has seven branches and over $500 million in assets (as of December 31, 2023). Originally known as First National Bank of George West, the bank rebranded ...
in
Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...
(1980–83). Rainer entered Christian vocational ministry in 1982 and earned his
Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...
and
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
degrees from the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The s ...
in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
. He served as pastor of churches in Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Indiana prior to joining the faculty of SBTS in 1994 as founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. Also while serving at SBTS, Rainer founded and served as president and CEO of the Rainer Group. In September 2005, Rainer was unanimously elected by the trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources to succeed James T. Draper as the ninth president of LifeWay, one of the world's largest Christian resource providers. Shortly after assuming the presidency, Rainer established B&H Academic, a branch of LifeWay's
B&H Publishing Group Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of its physical retail presence ...
, to provide pastors, seminary professors and students with theologically conservative commentaries, academic monographs and other biblically based resources.


Blog and podcast

Rainer blogs at ThomRainer.com and hosts the highly rated Rainer on Leadership Podcast. Rainer on Leadership, a twice weekly podcast which experienced 265 percent growth between 2014 and 2016, was started as a companion to Rainer's blog. It surpassed 100,000 monthly downloads in September 2016. His blog is listed at #6 on Redeeming God's list of Christian blogs.


LifeWay Research

Not long after becoming president of LifeWay, Rainer announced the formation of LifeWay Research for the purpose of assisting and equipping church leaders with insight and advice that will lead to greater levels of church health and effectiveness. LifeWay Research is frequently cited in religious and mainstream media, including
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
,
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
,
Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...
,
The Christian Post ''The Christian Post'' is an American non-denominational, conservative, evangelical Christian online newspaper. Based in Washington, D.C., it was founded in March 2004. News topics include the Church, ministries, missions, education, Christi ...
, and
Baptist Press Baptist Press (BP) is the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Baptist Press is a ministry assignment of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. Baptist P ...
.


Great Commission resurgence

In the 2005 Spring edition of the ''
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology ''The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology'' is a quarterly academic journal published by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It was established in 1997, after the seminary had lost control of '' Review and Expositor''. The founding editor-in-ch ...
'', Rainer published a tribute and a review of the
Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence Beginning in 1979, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) experienced an intense struggle for control of the organization. Its initiators called it the conservative resurgenceHefley, James C.''The Truth in Crisis: The Conservative Resurgence in the ...
after 25 years. The article entitled "A Resurgence Not Yet Realized," noted that, though a theological turnaround had taken place in the Southern Baptist Convention, there was little indication that a resurgence of evangelism had taken place in the churches. In the article Rainer called for a "Great Commission resurgence", a phrase that would become the nomenclature for a renewed Great Commission emphasis in the SBC years later.


Awards and recognition

In the spring of 2004, Rainer was invited to be a member of the Society of Fellows for the R. G. Lee Center for Christian Ministry at
Union University Union University is a private Baptist university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It was estab ...
. In 2008, Rainer received the M. E. Dodd Denominational Service Award from Union University. The Dodd Award is the highest denominational service award Union gives. It is named for the man who was a Union alumnus, served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and who was the father of today's Cooperative Program, the method by which Southern Baptists pool their resources to fund their mission efforts. The award is given annually to a leader within the SBC who displays excellence and leadership in Southern Baptist life, as well as friendship and commitment to Union University. Past recipients include Jimmy Draper (2004),
Adrian Rogers Adrian Pierce Rogers (September 12, 1931 – November 15, 2005) was an American Baptist pastor and conservative author. He served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (1979–1980 and 1986–1988). Early life and educatio ...
(2005), Morris Chapman (2006) and Frank Page (2007). On November 11, 2010, Rainer received the Donald A. McGavran award for outstanding leadership in church growth from the Great Commission Research Network. According to the GCRN president Bob Whitesel, Rainer's "research and writings have been and continue to be key resources to those who care about church health and growth." In 2010, Rainer was inducted into the Carl F. H. Henry Society of Fellows at Union University and provided Union's graduation keynote address. Rainer was also appointed to serve as a trustee board member for Union by action of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary awarded Rainer its Alumnus of the Year award in 2013 and the E.Y. Mullins Distinguished Denominational Service Award in 2014. In presenting the award, Southern's president,
Albert Mohler Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born October 19, 1959) is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast ''The Briefing'', where he gives a daily ...
, recognized Rainer "for his 'remarkable legacy of leadership' as pastor, scholar, teacher, and founding dean of the Billy Graham School, as well as for his role as author, speaker, and president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention."


Speaking and teaching

Examples of his speaking and teaching engagements include: *"Evangelism and Church Growth in the Southern Baptist Convention," Baptist Identity II Conference *"The Church and Contemporary Culture," University of the Cumberlands. *Christian Executive Officers (CEO) Fellowship *The Commission on Evangelism Rainer holds the title of Distinguished Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth (2006) at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and also lectures at
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) is a Baptist seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was created in 1950 to meet a need in the SBC's East Coast region.William H. Bra ...
.


Works

Rainer has written or co-written 27 books and more than 200 articles. His books and a selection of his articles include:


Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * - updated version of the 1994 title * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Articles and contributions

*
PDF
* * * * * * *


See also

*
List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people This list List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people includes notable individuals who are or were members of a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) or who are otherwise affiliated with the SBC. Presidents, pre ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainer, Thom S. 1955 births Living people People from Union Springs, Alabama American Christian theologians American Christian writers Southern Baptist ministers Christian bloggers University of Alabama alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary faculty Baptists from Alabama