George Bullard's Journey

Harold's Breakthrough Discovery

My first Amazon Shorts e-book was recently published. It first began to appear on www.Amazon.com about ten days ago. Amazon Shorts are manuscripts of 2,000 to 10,000 words published for a minimum Of six months exclusively on www.Amazon.com. They only cost 49 cents and can be quickly downloaded on to your computer.

This is a story of one of my heroes in a church where I was pastor.

Here is the link to the e-book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Harolds-Breakthrough-Discovery/dp/B000MM1HYY/ref=dp_shrt_new_0/103-2567781-4083846.

Every congregation needs a little conflict. And, every congregation who needs a little conflict has or needs
a Harold.

I have written this piece to describe a real life situation for me in which I found engaging in
dialogue with people who have different perspectives or styles in your congregation, your family, your
neighborhood, or work place can often uncover great breakthroughs and insights coming from unlikely
places. I also wrote it to honor Harold; one my life heroes.

What is this story about?

January's Window of Opportunity

Two annual seasons are perceived as times people are receptive to spiritual searching. One is the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. The other is the weeks leading up to Easter. But there is another one.

January is a time when many people are thinking about new beginnings, making a new start, or inquiring about new relationships. Many service-oriented ministries experience an increase in service requests during January.

What is it about January? What is your congregation, denomination, or parachurch ministry doing this month to invite people into a new ministry relationship? What should it do?

For some suggested answers to these questions, click on the link below to continue reading.

What Are the Pastors of Larger Congregations Saying?

Insights from a Fellowship Gathering

Recently I had the opportunity to sit in on a private gathering of pastors and spouses of larger congregations within a specific denomination. [Because the meeting was private, I am not going to identify the denomination, place, or date of the gathering.]

The stated purpose of the gathering was to build fellowship among pastors who serve in larger churches. This is a legitimate purpose and a legitimate gathering for those pastors.

It is difficult for the pastors of larger churches to find peers with whom they can dialogue who understand the dynamics of their situation, and can offer empathetic support and insightful counsel. They do not find this in many other pastors, and seldom find it in their denominational leaders.

Here are some insights I gained from these pastors in no particular order of priority:

Receiving and Giving at Christmas

During recent special Christmas programs, many congregations registered the participants present. Often these people are added to a database for follow-up. Participants who register have given you a gift.

As they leave the special program, also give them a gift. Give them something to take home in their hand--a card with a special message from the pastor, a copy of the words to a special song performed, a picture of a special scene, or suggestions as to how they can carry forward the message.

Make it a real gift. No strings attached.

Here are some questions to consider about Receiving and Giving at Christmas.

• Why should congregations register people at special events such as Christmas programs?
• Why would people give you their contact information at special events?
• What should congregations do with this information?
• What is the purpose of the gift given to people as they leaved special events?
• What are some other special events or times during the year when the receiving and giving of gifts would be appropriate?

For some suggested answers to these questions click on the link below to continue reading.