George Bullard's Journey

And You Think Your Church Has Problems?

Try Out Some of These

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, You Think Your Church Has Problems, 3.13.12

Recently I was thinking about unusual crises congregations face. I pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down the first ten crises that came to mind. Ok, the truth. I skipped over a couple that I was not ready to put on the list. Stating them would clearly indicate who they are and not everybody knows about them yet. Here is my almost the first ten congregational crises that came to mind.

Longing for Jerusalem: The Boston Globe, March 13, 2011

A masterful look at the paradoxical city on a hill coveted by so many through the ages, often with violent results

  (Thomas Fuchs)

By David M. Shribman Globe Correspondent / March 13, 2011

O Jerusalem! Home to the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the hill of Calvary, the tomb of Adam, the Ethiopian Monastery, the Latin Patriarchate, King David’s Tomb — and that’s only a partial list. Some 30 denominations call it home, 15 languages are spoken there, employing seven alphabets. What a rich stew. What a profound place. What a repository of hope, conviction, and devotion to God. What an ungodly mess.

JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World
By James Carroll
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 418 pp., $28

Bullying the Pastor: Incivility is on the Rise--in Congregations Too, The Lutheran, January 2011

Editor's note: Real names of some people interviewed for this story were not used to respect their privacy.

If hindsight is 20-20, Pastor Mary's husband, Paul, has pretty good vision. When the chair of the call committee phoned his wife to tell her the congregation was calling her — but the vote "wasn't unanimous" — he got the first clue of what was to come. He recalls with candor the tumultuous years that followed.

And he remembers back some 17 years ago when his wife first told him she wanted to be a pastor. He supported her call to the ministry, and they narrowed her seminary search to where he could get a job.

But even before the first year in her first call ended, there were rocks on the road. When Pastor Mary gave the nod to another new face to try her hand at education ministry, longtime members became resentful and angry. Mary wanted vacation Bible school to be less about parties, more about faith formation. And she wanted to take a fresh look at the urban neighborhood in which the church had been situated for years.

"She wanted to build connections. It is in those connections that we meet and do ministry. But that requires the congregation," Paul said. "There were people who were supportive, but they were all in the outer ring of influence. The inner ring just wanted a chaplain, not a leader."

Susan Nienaber is a senior consultant and mediator with the Alban Institute in Washington, D.C., a center of learning and leadership development with a focus on congregations, so she's heard plenty of stories similar to this one. Pastor bullying — along with other sorts of bullying­ — is a phenomenon undergoing a resurgence.

Transforming Reactionary Church Boards

Download Bullard, Transforming Reactionary Church Boards, 11.30.10 Edition Updated 12.1.10

Inspired by the New TSA Airport Security Procedures

A Travel Free Learning Article, November 30, 2010 Edition

By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

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

The Situation

As the new Transportation Security Administration screening procedures went into effect during November 2010, I was on six airplanes in six days. That took me through several airports in four different states. I not only had the opportunity to observe the new procedures at work, but also to think about how they reflect on life—including congregational life.

When congregations are getting over a conflict, a less than excellent relationship with a senior or solo pastor who has now moved on, or an empowering vision that has diminished, policies and procedures to create more control are often put into place. Typically these changes are focused on correcting what was perceived as wrong or missing in the past. They place requirements on the next pastor based on what they did not like about the last pastor. They move towards deeper accountability with less freedom and permission-giving.

TSA Airport Security Procedures Similar to Reactionary Church Boards

When congregations are getting over a conflict, or a less than excellent relationship with a senior or solo pastor who has now moved on, they take a look at policies and procedures that need to be changed. Often these changes are focused on correcting what they perceived went wrong that brought on the conflict situation, or placing requirements on the next pastor based on what they did not like about the last pastor.

In other words, move forward into the future by protecting yourself from what went wrong in the past and just might happen again. As many next senior and solo pastors who come into these situations will testify, they spend years trying to overcome what happened before they arrived, and for which they are held accountable going forward.

Such circumstances are

Interruptive Crises in Congregations

Congregations can experience various types of crises. One type is interruptive crises. This is a brief survey to gain your perspective on the interruptive crises experienced by congregations in North America. Thank you, in advance, for the time you will spend responding to this survey. [ NOTE: This survey is intended only for persons currently serving as a pastor or on the staff of a Christian congregation.]

Interruptive Crises in Congregations Survey

During February 2010 The Columbia Partnership conducted a survey seeking information on interruptive crises in congregations. The detailed results have been turned over to a person who is writing a book on this subject. He will begin contacting people who completed the survey and volunteered to be contacted for more information and dialogue.

A summary of this survey as completed during February 2010 is now available at www.TheColumbiaPartnership.org. The survey has also been reopened to allow additional people to participate. If you are a pastor or staff person with a Christian congregation, you may take the survey by clicking on the link above. We ask that laypersons or people who serve in ministry outside a local congregation not to participate in this survey.

Oh, by the way, the top four interruptive crises the February 2010 survey participants see happening in North American congregations are,

• Severe budget shortfall
• Personnel separation [forced downsizing, abrupt resignation]
• Sexual misconduct
• Community crisis [health scare, loss of major employer]

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

Take Survey on Interruptive Crises in Congregations

A ministry colleague of mine is conducting research on interruptive crises in congregations. If you are currently a pastor or staff minister in a local Christian congregation, I invite you to complete this survey:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2pvx8elg5eekh5n/start

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

Your Congregation May Never Experience Unhealthy Conflict If It Proactively Addresses Finances

Just as in marriages, one of the top three sources of conflict is money; so, if a congregation is struggling financially, this provides an open door for unhealthy conflict. Congregations with careless processes for handling finances are subject to unhealthy conflict. Congregations with finances that are too tight are subject to unhealthy conflict. Congregations who have over committed their finances to fixed costs are subject to unhealthy conflict. Congregations where a few people control the finances around their personal priorities are subject to unhealthy conflict. Congregations where information about the finances is hidden are subject to unhealthy conflict.

When congregational participants start withholding their contributions it is a sign of intensity four conflict where the conflict situation is transitioning from healthy to unhealthy. When congregational participants lose confidence in how the finances of the congregation are being handled it is a sign of moving from healthy to unhealthy conflict. When congregational participants see that their personal top priorities for congregational finances cut out of the budget and spending patterns it is a sign of approaching unhealthy conflict; at least with their persons.

Your Congregation May Never Experience Unhealthy Conflict If It Focuses on Having Fun Together

Congregations who regularly have fun with one another are healthier congregations emotionally. Laughing together has great benefits for worshiping and ministering together. Just as laughter is good for the health of individuals, laughter is great for the health of congregations. It can even be said that congregations who laugh together stay together. While it is actually not that simple, it is at least a huge step in the right direction.

An early sign that congregations are about to get in trouble is when they can no longer laugh with, and even at, one another. Or, if humor has an edge to it, rather than being innocent fun and is used to cover up true feelings, this may be an early sign of escalating conflict. People may use humor with an edge as a test to see if they can make sharper comments and get away with it.

Your Congregation May Never Experience Unhealthy Conflict If It Focuses on Adult Discipleship Development

Congregations who focus deeply on adult discipleship development and make it the highest possible value are unlikely to experience unhealthy conflict. Such adult discipleship development includes discernment and development of the spiritual gifts, life skills, and personality preferences of its congregational participants.  It then mobilizes people in mission and ministry within and beyond their immediate context.

If this adult discipleship development process is impactful the congregation will be too much on mission to be disrupted by unhealthy conflict. It will realize it has more important things to do than determine who is right. It is too busy doing what is good and loving. It is also likely to be captivated by an empowering vision for the congregation which is one of the greatest inoculations against experiencing unhealthy conflict.