George Bullard's Journey

Daily Update for Transforming 2012: Pathways to Vital Ministry—An Online Virtual Learning Experience

Go to www.Transforming2012.info for more information and to register

Monday, May 28th

Mark Wingfield SmallMark Wingfield believes the traditional Protestant church has gotten a bad rap in the last two decades, but the news of its demise turns out to be premature. During a sabbatical in 2011 he visited 15 traditional Protestant congregations from five denominations to figure out what makes them thrive. This webinar will focusStaying Alive JPEG Cover on some of the best practices of traditional Protestant churches across America--churches that are healthy and thriving despite the notion that only contemporary churches can be successful today.

The webinar will be 45 minutes in length. Following a 15 minute break Mark will then be available on a telephone conference call to dialogue with interested persons. The PowerPoint Mark will be using will be available for sale for $9.99 during and after Transforming 2012.

To get ready for this webinar you may want ot order a copy of Mark's new book, Staying Alive: Why the Convention Wisdom about Traditional Churches is Wrong by clicking HERE.

Will Your Congregation Still Exist Ten Years from Now?

Will Your Congregation Still Exist Ten Years from Now?
Factors That May Impact Your Survivability, Vitality, and Vibrancy
A Travel Free Learning Article

Download Files on Will Your Congregation Still Exist Ten Years from Now?

Download Will Your Congregation Still Exist Overview, 1.11.12 Edition

Download Will Your Congregation Short Form, 4.17.12 Edition

Download Life Cycle Model 2009 Edition

Check out the www.FaithSoaringChurches.info Project

Who's Killing Our Congegation?

Not So Hidden People Undermining the Health of Your Church
A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership
Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Bullard, Who's Killing Our Congregation, 5.17.12 Edition

Read/Download previous article: Download Bullard, What's Killing Our Congregation, 4.3.12 Edition

Maybe you are killing your congregation. It is possible you do not mean to; but it happens. Your motives could be commendable. Yet perhaps you have fallen victim to EGO which is Edging God Out according to management guru and Christian leader Ken Blanchard. It could be that you are trying to reimage your congregation in your image of what it should look like rather than allowing it to be reimaged in God’s image.

In many cases, the classic Pogo cartoon is right when it suggests we have met the enemy and it is us. Often we discover that the person who is a fault—even killing our congregation—is the one we see in the mirror each morning as we put on makeup, shave, or brush teeth.

If you are undermining the health of your congregation, you may be the last to acknowledge it. Others around you may realize it long before you do. Maybe they are afraid to tell you, they have told you several times and you do not hear and understand it, or they have told you and you have protested.

What's Killing Our Congregation?

Hidden Factors Undermining the Health of Your Church 

A Travel Free Learning Article

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Bullard, What's Killing Our Church, 4.3.12 Edition

Read/Download new article in this series: Download Bullard, Who's Killing Our Congregation, 5.17.12 Edition

Life is fragile. But you know that. All of us who are more than a generation old realize the physical and mental sharpness of our childhood and youth has diminished. It may not be obvious when we are twenty-something or thirty-something, but it is there. It becomes more obvious when we are forty-something and fifty-something and still trying to trying to push ourselves like we were much younger.

By the time we are sixty-something and seventy-something the aging process is in full swing. Many of the symptoms of our aging have been present for decades, but they are just now having an obvious impact on us that we cannot overcome by just working harder. We must work smarter and choose carefully those things to which we commit ourselves. Health conditions that were not obvious in earlier decades are now part of our daily concern and actions.

If we make it to eighty-something or ninety-something, for the vast majority of us health and life expectancy issues are not only a primary concern for us, but often for our family who love us and have a responsibility to help care for us.

Is The Same Pattern True for Congregations?

Absolutely! The patterns are clear. Congregations often thrive for the first generation of their life. At some point when they are twenty-something their founding dream or vision wanes. If they do not intervene in their own journey in response to the spiritual nudge of the Triune God, the vitality and vibrancy of their congregation will diminish incrementally for the succeeding decades, and they will approach death at some future date.

Traditional Churches: Alive, Well, and Thriving!

Check out The Columbia Partnership eNews for this week with the lead article by Mark Wingfield on Traditional Churches: Alive, Well, and Thriving! based on his new book Staying Alive: Why the Conventional Wisdom Wabout Traditional Churches is Wrong. Click HERE for eNews.

See his book on Amazon.com at Staying Alive.

The Future of Masonboro Baptist Church

Here are two announcement videos prepared and posted to YouTube by Masonboro Baptist Church in Wilmington, NC to entice people to come to their Future Story of ministry presentation today [April 29, 2012]. There are really neat!

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

A Lifetime of Mutiplying Congregations--The Third 22 Years

It is because of my third 22 years of multiplying congregations that I have come to Exponential in Orlando. First of all it is on 17 years thus far. I have five more years to complete this third 22 years, but who is counting. Well, 5.5 years and six days.

An amazing number of new things have happened during this third 22 years to change the face of church planting in North America. But, because of the journey I have been on in response to God call on my life and ministry, I feel disconnected from the details of grassroots strategy and tactics, and the various new tribes that have developed.

This is not my father’s multiplying congregations movement. It has morphed. Thus, I have come to reconnect with the movement.

A Lifetime of Multiplying Congregations--The Second 22 Years

My second 22 years of life did not start out with a focus on Multiplying Congregations. The first third of this time was almost completely devoted to developing capacities around Transforming Congregations. The second third is whir e the action began. When I lived Charlotte, NC for a little over two years 1979-1981 one of my responsibilities was planting churches

One church was ready to go, and it became my responsibility to start weekly worship, discipleship, fellowship, and missional engagement for the core group as they were looking for a pastor. This was a suburban location where five to seven acres of land had already been purchased. The strategy was weak. It was too much of a franchise model, but its focus had already been determined before I arrived.

A Lifetime of Multiplying Congregations--The First 22 Years

It is great to be present for the Exponential Conference for 2012. This is my first Exponential. However, it is far from being my first experience with multiplying congregations. One of the primary foci of my life has been multiplying congregations. 

In fact, I was born into a church planting family. The year before I was born—62 years ago—my family left the comfort of an urban downtown congregation—along with their Sunday School class—and went north of Raleigh, NC to start a congregation that became known as Temple Baptist Church.

At the beginning of the year I was born my father left a denominational staff role to respond to the call of the.new congregation to be their pastor. We stayed there for the first seven years of the congregation.

We then moved to Baltimore, MD to a 60+ year old church. During the 8.5 years our family was there we planted two congregations. Also, my father went on the board of the national missions organization of our denomination and played a role in the expansion of multiplying churches into the northeast region of the United States.

Seven Enduring Principles for Transforming Your Congregation

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership
Voice: 803.622.0923, E-mail: GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org, Web Site: www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org

Download Bullard, 7 Enduring Principles for Transforming Your Congregation, 3.31.11

The Situation

Edward Ambrose had a three hour drive home to reflect on the conference he had just attended on congregational transformation. He turned off his cell telephone and his car entertainment system because he wanted a quiet ride to allow him to unwind and think. He was stressed by what he had heard and what he was feeling.

Christ Community Church is his third pastorate. Each one has been a congregation in need of a turnaround, redevelopment, or transformation. He has tried various program and project approaches. He has faithfully signed each church up for the latest, greatest church growth or congregational transformation project suggested by his denomination. Each time he was convinced this might be the answer.

The truth, however, is that neither of his first two congregations experienced lasting transformation during his tenure as pastor. Some short-term gains were experienced. Now after several years at Christ Community he is not sure it is ready to experience significant transition and change. The congregation diagnosed their weaknesses, but improving these is not empowering a new future. They tried several new programs, but are only working harder and not making progress.

He is beginning to wonder if congregational transformation can really happen in churches more than 35 years old without radical intervention or closing the church down and starting over. This conference, while not his last hope, was an occasion to do some deep soul searching about his leadership capacities.