The online resource lifewayworship.com, which provides church choirs and worship teams access to more than 3,000 songs as well as instrumental arrangements, sheet music, and chord charts, had announced it would shut down at the end of September.

Lifeway, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), made the initial decision citing a desire to “focus its resources on areas where we can faithfully serve more churches in greater breadth and depth.”

However, Lifeway has now reversed course and announced it will pause plans to shutter LifewayWorship.com.

In an interview on the SBC This Week podcast, Lifeway president Ben Mandrell said the provider would instead enter into a time of discussion with worship leaders around the country on the best path forward for churches.

“Our job at Lifeway is to be coupled to the church and to be in tune with the church. And we clearly missed it on this one,” Mandrell said.

He acknowledged Lifeway did not properly communicate the original decision or give worship leaders a chance to provide input. Now the site will remain operational while Lifeway has listening sessions to understand its value and find potential solutions.

“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,” Mandrell said.

The previous director, Mike Harland, said the development of lifewayworship.com began with a conversation about the future of the Baptist Hymnal. Harland and his staff wanted to imagine a new, online future for Baptist church music.

Many ministers and music directors expressed dismay when the closure was first announced, as they relied on lifewayworship.com for its high-quality, affordable arrangements.

Now worship leaders will have a chance to provide input on how the site can best serve their needs going forward. Lifeway Worship has no plans to stop producing new music or musical arrangements after August 2023 as originally stated.

While the future of the site remains uncertain, Mandrell’s reversal provides hope that this valuable worship resource may continue serving churches for years to come. Lifeway now aims to have collaborative discussions to determine the best path forward.

A startling rise in loneliness plagues America’s pastors, with new research showing 65% reported feeling isolated in the past year – up 23% since 2015. Despite pouring themselves into supporting their congregations, many pastors are left depleted, craving community they struggle to find. With only 35% receiving regular spiritual support, it’s no wonder pastors are burning out under the weight of ministry demands. But there is hope. Steps like pursuing deep connections, being vulnerable, and asking for help can begin restoring pastors today. It’s time for churches to recognize this crisis behind the pulpit and ensure their shepherds feel loved, known and supported. The future of the church depends on it.

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Many American Protestant churchgoers say they would never skip a Sunday worship service for common reasons like sports, sleep and social plans, according to a new survey conducted by a research organization on behalf of Lifeway Research. The poll of 1,002 churchgoers aimed to gauge how often they would miss services for various situations.

Overall, the results showed a high level of commitment to attending worship each week. 58% said they would never skip for their favorite sports team. 46% would never miss services to get extra sleep. And 50% said they would not skip to meet up with friends.

The survey also asked about weather-related reasons for missing church. 57% said they would never skip due to rain. But only 23% said they would never miss because of severe weather like snow, ice or tornadoes. Still, the most common response was skipping only a few times a year for severe weather (39% selected this option).

There were some notable divides in the results based on demographics. Women were more likely than men to say they would never skip worship for multiple reasons like sports and rain. Older adults over 65 also stood out as the age group most committed to weekly attendance regardless of circumstance.

Ethnicity and region appeared to play a role as well. African-Americans were more likely to say they would skip annually or a few times per year compared to white respondents. People in the Midwest were generally less likely to skip services for any reason when compared to other U.S. regions.

The level of religious commitment also impacted responses. Those who attend worship 4+ times per month were more likely to say they would “never” skip compared to those who only attend 1-3 times monthly. People with evangelical beliefs were also more committed to weekly attendance.

In terms of specifics, sports was one area with lots of variation. Overall 58% said they would never skip church for sports. But just 54% of men said this compared to 61% of women. Younger adults under 35 were also far more likely to admit skipping for sports compared to seniors.

The Midwest stood out as the region most committed to attending church versus spectating sports with just 8% of Midwesterners saying they would skip worship multiple times per year for sports. Meanwhile, those with evangelical beliefs (69%) were also far more likely than non-evangelicals (50%) to choose attending church over watching sports.

Skipping for more sleep showed similar demographic patterns. Younger adults were the most willing to sacrifice church for extra rest on Sundays. Seniors again stood out as the least likely to miss worship for sleep. There were also differences along ethnic lines – with white and other minority groups attending more consistently than African-American and Hispanics according to the data.

When it comes to good weather, younger adults were again more prone to miss services in order to enjoy outdoor activities compared to their elders. Enjoying outdoor recreation on nice days was another area where those with evangelical beliefs were less likely to skip than the non-evangelicals polled.

Avoiding travel due to rain showed less variation overall. Though once again women, seniors, Midwesterners and evangelicals came out as less likely to miss church for rain. There was more willingness to skip for severe weather overall, though evangelicals and frequent attenders still came out as less likely to miss worship in those cases.

Finally when it comes to social plans, younger adults and infrequent attenders were the groups most open to skipping worship to meet up with friends instead. Women and evangelicals said they would be less likely to sacrifice church for socializing.

The common thread across nearly all the reasons was that very devout churchgoers – like seniors, evangelicals and frequent attenders – were less likely to voluntarily miss weekly services. While situational factors like sports, weather and friends had an influence, level of religious commitment appeared to be the biggest predictor of attendance habits.

These findings can help church leaders understand what factors may keep people from attending on a given Sunday. While circumstances do come up, many devoted churchgoers still prioritize weekly worship no matter what. Church communities can always work to strengthen their commitment to gathering in faith. But this survey shows most active churchgoers already possess a steadfast desire to come together in worship each Sunday.

Read the entire report.