Rainer (born July 16, 1955) is an American writer, researcher, speaker, and former president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
He is the author of several best selling books, including I Am a Church Member, named a CBA #1 Best Seller (2013–2014) and Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015).
It was also recognized as a Monthly Best Seller (2013–2015), a Gold Medallion Award winner (2015), and a Platinum Book Award winner (2016) by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and recognized by Leadership Journal as Best of the Best in the Leaders Outer Life category (2013); Autopsy of a Deceased Church, Christian Retailing's Best Book of the Year: Church and Culture (2015); and Simple Church, the 2007 Christianity Today Book Award winner in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category.