LifeWay president Ben Mandrell addressed a number of recent decisions by the publisher in a video released May 19.

Mandrell used the opportunity to speak “from the heart” about changes that are significant to Southern Baptists, such as the decision to sell Ridgecrest Conference Center near Asheville, N.C.

“As LifeWay looks out into the future, and our core customer now becomes the local church and local church leader, we feel the need to focus, to stop doing so many things and to focus on a few things that we do extremely well,” Mandrell said.

“… As much as we have loved being the effective steward of Ridgecrest Conference Center and Camps, we think it’s time. We believe that God is going to raise up a new steward of those camps and that conference center that will carry it into a future that’s even better than we can provide.”

Mandrell also discussed staff reductions, budgetary freezes and questions about downsizing LifeWay’s headquarters.