“The Gates of Hell Will Not Prevail”…Neither Will the Shutting Down of LifewayWorship.com

Sometimes events take place in our bubble of Baptist life that catch us by surprise. This is true in various domains of life such as economics, politics, and business. Thus, we should not be surprised by the surprises, I guess. Nevertheless, we are. 

Last week an announcement was released from Lifeway Christian Resources (our Southern Baptist business entity that produces curriculum, provides camps, and more) that created more friction among Baptist church worship leaders in ways that I have not seen since someone decided to put a set of drums on the stage and strategically donate all the choir robes to another ministry. Lifeway announced they were shutting down LifewayWorship.com.

For the average church attender this announcement would be met with little concern as so few church members would even know what this website was, what it provided, or how their respective churches may or may not be using it.

Yet, for a large number of churches, of various sizes, this announcement caused great concern. “Concern” is a word I use rather than “outright anger” and “fear” though it would not take long to find those responses present in online message boards, comments, and emails.

You would have thought someone had broken in these local churches and burned all their Baptist Hymnals! Wait, that’s not a good comparison.

After a few days of “concern,” Lifeway President Ben Mandrell announced that the plans were paused and LifewayWorship.com would remain for the time being. This heel turn was quicker than when Netflix reneged on its name change and brand-split into Quickster which cost the company 800,000 subscribers back in 2011. This is now mostly forgotten, but it almost tanked Netflix. I was reading CEO Ned Hastings’ statement about the issue and it sounded much like Lifeway President Ben Mandrell’s from last week.

Here's Hastings’ statement:

I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology.[1]

Last week, Mandrell said this:

“I’m really not proud of the way we communicated here. I don’t think we let worship leaders speak in. We’re going to pause this decision for right now, and we’re going to leave all those materials up where they’ve been getting them so that there’s no fear of them suddenly being taken away. And we’re just going to slow down, have some listening sessions and make sure we totally understand the value and the pain of the transition . . . So I’m really sorry to all those in the trenches who are trying to pull Sunday off and now are kind of freaking out because they don’t know how they’re going to have their music ready.”[2]

Both statements show quality leadership as responsibility is owned and apologies offered.

What remained for Netflix was the financial reality of a changing world as it related to DVDs and streaming. It’s interesting now that no one at all is concerned about DVDs. It seems Netflix was right, but ahead of the crowd and while able to know what had to change was unable to communicate well to an audience who did not see clearly the details of a changing world.

Regarding Lifeway’s plans to shut down the worship site, I do not envy Mandrell or any of the leaders at Lifeway. The challenge is that many customers view Lifeway simply as a ministry resource provider, which they are, but simply do not understand or consider the very real issues of business models and the cost of expansion into various lanes. Thus, when the “Band-Aid was to be ripped off” regarding Lifeway Worship, the pain was real. And the response was loud.

I don’t have the answers, though I imagine that while the plans have been paused, eventually something will be done relating to this area of resource provision. Hopefully, it will not be met with such an outcry, but it likely will.

Mandrell spoke with Jonathan Howe and Amy Whitfield on SBC This Week about the decision and his humility and graciousness was evident and appreciated. He shared about how Lifeway has diversified so much over the years that ultimately, in the age of the internet and instant, downloadable resources, Lifeway is now just one of many providers for the local church.[3] Baptist “homer-ism” notwithstanding, there are many providers of similar things that Lifeway offers (curriculum, camps, worship material, research, etc.) that due to specialization may be offering more up-to-date or even better options than Lifeway can. It’s an economy of scale reality.

Mandrell stated it is like owning seven dogs, but only having enough food to feed six. The pain is telling the family’s children that one of the dogs must go. There is no easy way to do this and no way to do so without great pain.

This is the reality for Lifeway.

The shock of a favorite, cost-efficient resource for worship teams potentially disappearing riled up many. I understand that. Yet, it must be noted that the local church does not live or die based on the availability of such resources. If it does, then we are in a much sadder state as the church than even the most recent negative prognosticators declare.

For centuries the church has thrived, not dependent on an extra curriculum or purchasable resource. When Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that upon the rock he would build his church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt 16:17-19), there was no asterisk pointing out “unless an online resource site is shut down.”

We will wait to see what happens with Lifeway and the worship resources. From a business perspective, the decision may be clear. And…sometimes it is best to go ahead and rip the Band-Aid off. But it will hurt initially. Eventually, however, it is best. As worship pastors and music directors have shared, this for them is more than simply a business decision. In fact, many understand the financial crunch and the business realities all too well. They are asking for better and transparent communication, especially in areas of worship resources. Mandrell as much addressed this in the podcast and I know the conversations and relationshihp repair work will go forward.

As James A. Whittaker, author of How Google Tests Software stated:

Scarcity of resources brings clarity to execution and it creates a strong sense of ownership by those on a project…When resources are scarce, you are forced to optimize. You are quick to see process inefficiencies and not repeat them.[4]

Every pastor knows this to be true – resources are limited. This is true for Lifeway and every business, and ministry entity. May we be wise stewards in how such are used. In the meantime, pray for Ben Mandrell and the Lifeway leadership team as they seek to serve the churches best, with the limited resources available.

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[1] Rodriguez, Ashley. “As Netflix Turns 20, Let’s Revisit Its Biggest Blunder.” Quartz, 14 Apr. 2018, qz.com/1245107/as-netflix-turns-20-lets-revisit-its-biggest-blunder.

[2] BP Staff. “Lifeway Reverses Course, Pauses Shutdown of Lifewayworship.Com.” Baptist Press, 21 July 2023, www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/lifeway-reverses-course-pauses-shutdown-of-lifewayworship-com/.

[3] “Lifeway Reverses Course on Shuttering LifewayWorship.Com.” SBC This Week, 21 July 2023, sbcthisweek.com/lifeway-reverses-course-on-shuttering-lifeworship-com/.

[4] Whittaker, James, Jason Arbon & Jeff Carollo. How Google Tests Software, 1st Edition (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2012), 188.