Who is Ben Mandrell? Wife and all about the pastoral candidate at Bellevue Baptist Church

On Tuesday, July 8, 2025, the Bellevue Baptist Church search committee recommended Ben Mandrell as the new senior pastor, Fox 13 Memphis reported. The unanimous proposal will see the new pastoral candidate taking over from Steve Gaines, who stepped down from the role last September. 

Bellevue’s Pastor Search Committee is excited to recommend Dr.
Ben Mandrell as the next Senior Pastor.
Join us this Sunday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m. as Ben preaches in view of a call.
Children’s programming for 3rd grade and younger will be available beginning at 9:30 a.m. pic.twitter.com/anFmlosX5J

— Bellevue Baptist Church (@bellevuememphis) July 8, 2025

For those unaware, Ben Mandrell is CEO of Nashville-based Lifeway Christian Resources. He has also been the 10th president of the Christian media organization since 2019. Before succeeding the former president and CEO of the nonprofit organization, Thom S Rainer, Mandrell was a lead pastor at Storyline Fellowship. 

According to Fox 13 Memphis, Ben founded the Arvada, Colorado-based church in 2015. The outlet reported that the new Bellevue Baptist Church pastoral candidate was previously a senior pastor in Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee. On July 13, he will "preach in view of a call." 

According to his official website, Mandrell is from Tampico, Illinois. He is also an alumnus of Anderson University, from which he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1998. Ben also has a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree. He obtained an MDiv from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, while he earned a DMin from Union University. 

On the personal front, Ben Mandrell has been married to his wife Lynley since 2001, and they share four children. 

More about the Bellevue Baptist Church pastoral candidate, Ben Mandrell 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Lynley Mandrell (@lynleymandrell80)

As mentioned above, the father of four has been married to his wife for more than two decades. Their children are named Ava, Max, Miles, and Jack, per benmandrell.com. During a 2024 conversation with Christian writer and editor, Lizzy Haseltine, the couple revealed that they welcomed all of their children within four years, before they even turned 30. 

Ben Mandrell was 29, while Lynley was 25 when they became parents of four. Ben said (via Lifeway Research), 

“Early in our marriage, we served at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee. After five years of serving as the college pastor, I was called to step into the role of senior pastor. During that season, we were blessed with four babies in 4 years. We went from having no kids to having four small children at a young age.” 

During the conversation, they also talked about the first time they met. Lynley revealed that they came across one another at a Christian sports camp in Branson, Missouri. She added, 

“He was on leadership, and I taught tennis. We dated long-distance for 12 months and got married the exact same date as our first date, a year later.” 

Ben also recounted, 

“It was camp love. We hardly knew each other. Looking back now, it was kind of crazy. If one of our kids was on the pace now that we were then, we’d be like, ‘Slow this thing down.’” 

The couple also shared some insights into their relationship while managing the duties of the church. Lynley and Ben Mandrell also discussed The Glass House, a podcast they have co-hosted since February 2024. Ben revealed why he and his wife launched the podcast, 

“When we moved to Nashville and I started my new role at Lifeway, the identity crisis was so significant for both of us that we attacked each other. That led us to launch this podcast, which is about helping pastors and their wives express emotions in a healthy way.” 

While Ben Mandrell is still CEO/president at Lifeway Christian Resources, he is likely to assume the new duties at the Bellevue Baptist Church, following a congregation vote on Sunday, July 13, Fox 13 Memphis confirmed.