LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention has sold the Wordsearch Bible to Logos Bible Software creator Faithlife.
LifeWay CEO Ben Mandrell announced the sale to Wordsearch users in an email Sept. 18.
“We recognize Faithlife as a world-class company and the leader in Bible software solutions. We want our customers to have the best user experience in the world when they engage with our content, and Faithlife’s commitment to providing high-quality Bible study software is second to none,” Mandrell wrote in the email. “Faithlife is in a unique position to protect the investment each customer has made in Wordsearch content and ensure that the resources and tools they rely on remain central to their study and sermon preparation for years to come.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. But the sale comes during a season of cutbacks at LifeWay, which has seen a steep revenue decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reacting to projections that LifeWay would finish the 2019-20 fiscal year with a net loss of $21.7 million, LifeWay’s trustees in August approved a $210 million budget for 2020-21 that included cuts of 17% year over year.
In April, LifeWay instituted spending reductions of approximately 10%, including staff reductions, and trustees approved exploration of the sale of Ridgecrest Conference Centers and Camps. Mandrell told trustees in August that LifeWay’s executive leadership team was continuing to study the future use of the corporate office building, but a final decision had not been made.
A Faithlife press release Sept. 21 said the agreement would expand the two companies’ long-term relationship and would enrich the experiences of Logos and Wordsearch users alike. According to the press release, Faithlife will continue to develop “essential technology tools for leaders” and LifeWay will continue to publish books, Bibles, Bible study tools and reference materials for churches.
“We are excited to be partnering with LifeWay in bringing Wordsearch users onto the Logos platform,” Faithlife CEO Bob Pritchett said. “Between the incredible Bible study technology available through Logos and the resources offered by LifeWay and B&H, users will be able to do even more powerful Bible study.”
With the transition Wordsearch customers will receive Logos-compatible editions of the titles they own in their Wordsearch library, and Logos users will be able to purchase Logos-compatible resources from the B&H catalog.
Faithlife, based in Bellingham, Wash., for more than 25 years has developed technology to assist churches. LifeWay had owned Wordsearch since 2011.
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)
