Thom S. Rainer
Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, an online community and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, Rainer served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Before coming to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In addition to speaking in hundreds of venues over the past 20 years, Rainer led Rainer Group, a church and denominational consulting firm, from 1990 to 2005. The firm provided church health insights to over 500 churches and other organizations over that period.
Rainer and his wife, Nellie Jo, have three grown sons: Sam, Art and Jess, who are married to Erin, Sarah and Rachel respectively. The Rainers have ten grandchildren: Canon, Maggie, Nathaniel, Will (with the Lord), Harper, Bren, Joshua, Collins, Joel, and James.
He is the author of more than two dozen books, including I Am a Church Member, Breakout Churches, Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Simple Life, Simple Church, Raising Dad, The Millennials, Essential Church, and Who Moved My Pulpit?
ThomRainer.com Support Team:
- Amy Jordan
- Jana Beisecker
Top Posts at ThomRainer.com
If you are new to ThomRainer.com, the posts here typically relate to leadership and the local church. This list of top posts is a good starting point to discover the issues addressed on the site.
- Top Ten Ways Churches Drive Away First-time Guests
- One Sentence That Pastors and Church Staff Hate to Hear
- Seven Things Pastors Would Like Church Members to Know about Their Children
- Fourteen Things You Shouldn’t Say to Your Pastor
- Seven Things Church Members Should Say to Guests in a Worship Service
- Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 11 Things I Learned
- Seven Ways to Hurt Your Pastor
- What Worship Style Attracts the Millennials?
- The Most Common Factor in Declining Churches
- Six Observations about Speaking to Pastors Right Before They Preach
- Should Your Church Stop Having a Stand and Greet Time?
- The Main Reason People Leave a Church
- Five Things You Should Know about Pastors’ Salaries
- Nine Rapid Changes in Church Worship Services
- Nine Traits of Mean Churches
- Eleven of the Most Common Mistakes Churches Make
- Nine Traits of Church Bullies
- Ten Things You Should Never Say to a Guest in a Worship Service
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