George Bullard's Journey

FaithSoaring Pastors

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, FaithSoaring Pastors, 2.14.12 Edition

Way too few senior and solo pastors are FaithSoaring. They lead by sight rather than by faith. They lead with the short-term in mind rather than the long-term. They are captivated by the tyranny of the urgent rather than the democracy of the patient. Their vision is myopic rather than farsighted. In their weakness they are afraid to ask for help whereas strong leaders enjoy help when they cannot figure out what is next.

How do we know this? Because senior and solo pastors regularly tell researchers, peer learning communities, consultants, coaches, and at times even their staff and lay leaders that their lack the Vision to take their congregations beyond what is seen to that which only God can see.

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.

Congregational Assessment Playbook

I made a tentative decision on the flight from Raleigh to Atlanta tonight that my next "beta" book will be titled something like Congregational Assessment Playbook. I will save the title I was using for the manuscript on which I have been worked on for a different book in the series of books I am writing. That title is Enduring Congregations.

Congregational Assessment Playbook will contain the best of assessment tools I use, and then will point a congregation to FaithSoaring Churches, Enduring Congregations, or Extreme Congregational Makeover depending on what their assessment shows.

What I will probably do is publish the CAPlaybook for leaders through www.LucasParkBooks.com with www.ChalicePress.com, and then a participants manual through www.ChalicePages.com.

Transforming Congregations: Special Offer of Learning Experiences and Material

Links to  Webinars and PowerPoint Presentations on Transforming Congregations

 

Transforming Congregations Webinar Series [Tuesday Afternoons]

Transforming Congregations Webinar Series [Thursday Evenings]

Transforming Congregations PowerPoint Presentations

Transforming Congregations Webinar/PowerPoint Package for Your Congregation

 

Many pastors, church staff, and key lay leaders would like to know how to lead their congregation to transform. How about you?  

 

Whether  you call it transforming, revitalizing, redeveloping redreaming, healthy, growing, missional, reaching your full kingdom potential, externally focused, or something else, we all want to serve a
congregation that is vital and vibrant. 

 

To  fulfill this desire, leaders have tried various approaches from denominations, parachurch organizations, successful pastors, successful congregations, consultants, writers, and even business gurus.

 

Helping  congregations to continually transition and change so they may hardwire  into their spiritual culture ongoing transformation has been my personal quest for almost 40 years. I believe my years of experience help me to know what actually works in the long-term, and what may be exciting but only provide a fix rather than a solution.

 

I want to help your congregation with solutions that provide ongoing transformation. 

 

This  Spring I am offering a series of seven webinars for pastors, staff, and  key lay leaders to help them learn the process of transforming their congregation, and to have the tools they need to lead their congregation  through a process of transformation.

 

Would  you like to be one of the participants? For less than $100 you can participate in all seven webinars. For less than $150 you can participate in all seven webinars and have a copy of all seven
PowerPoint presentations for your personal use in leading your congregation in a transformation process.   

 

I will offer these on Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. EDT and on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. EDT. I will also offer the PowerPoint presentations for use by leaders in their own congregations. Further, I will offer a customized webinar package to guide the leadership of a congregation through the transformation process while also providing them with telecoaching.

 

Here are the subjects of the seven webinars on Transforming Congregations With a Spiritual Strategic Journey: 

1. Foundational Questions About Transforming Congregations
2. Survivability, Vitality, and Vibrancy
3. Congregational Issues and Life Cycle
4. Transforming Leadership
5. Spiritual Strategic Journey's Spiritual Season
6. Spiritual Strategic Journey's Strategic Season
7. Spiritual Strategic Journey's Journey Season 

If  you want to know more about how you might benefit from these webinars, or if you have questions, call me today or tomorrow [Thursday or Friday,  March 15th or 16th] at 2:00 p.m. EDT at 712.432.0800 then access code 899605#.

 

If you want to see the details, dates, and cost, and perhaps register for these webinars, see the links above.  

 

What  you will discover is that you can sign up for the Tuesday afternoon webinars that begin April 10th, the Thursday evening webinars that begin  April 12th, purchase the full set of PowerPoints to be sent to you when they are available on May 22nd, or sign up for a custom set of webinars  and PowerPoints plus telecoaching for all the leaders of your congregation.

FaithSoaring Churches Book is Here!

FaithSoaring Churches 

A Learning Experience Version 

 

George Bullard's newest book,FaithSoaring Churches

is being delivered this week, and is now available for purchase. If you want to review the overview article on FaithSoaring Churches, click HERE.

 

FaithSoaring Churches are congregations who choose to soar with faith beyond ordinary ministry toward extraordinary ministry in a quest to achieve exceptional ministry. They respond to the pulling of God and journey to places of inspiration, imagination, and innovation. They lead their congregations through processes of missional formation and engagement that continually transforms the capacity of congregations to reach their full kingdom potential. 

 

If you are read to purchase, you may purchase single copies [up to nine] at the retail price, and sets of ten at a discount price:  Here are the purchase links:

• http://faithsoaringchurchesonetoninecopies.eventbrite.com/ 
• http://faithsoaringchurchesinsetsoften.eventbrite.com/

Who are FaithSoaring Churches?

FaithSoaring Churches are congregations who effectively soar with faith to achieve exceptional ministry.

FaithSoaring Churches are congregations who boldly and effectively soar with faith into a future known only by God where they have never gone before, and which they cannot see at the beginning
of their journey. 

In greater detail, FaithSoaring Churches are congregations who effectively soar with faith beyond ordinary ministry toward extraordinary ministry in a quest to achieve exceptional ministry. They respond to the pulling of God. They journey to places of inspiration, imagination, and innovation.
They progress through processes of missional formation and engagement. They continually transform their capacity to reach their full kingdom potential.

They are willing to go to the end of all known light or revelation and leap into the darkness because they know God has gone before them. Leaps of faith and extraordinary commitments are commonplace for FaithSoaring Churches. They boldly journey into the future as God
reveals the pathway of their journey.

As my colleague in ministry, Leonard Sweet, has said, “To step forth in faith is by definition to step over the line.” What is beyond the line is only known by God, and thus involves continual steps of faith by the traveler.

FaithSoaring Churches Overview

FaithSoaring Churches: A Synergy of Vision, Relationships, Programs, and Management

A Travel Free Learning Article

 By George Bullard, Ministry Colleague with The Columbia Partnership

Download Bullard, FaithSoaring Churches, Overview 11.15.11 Edition

Summit Heights is a FaithSoaring Church. Christ the King is not. Nesmith, a smaller membership congregation, is a FaithSoaring Church. Lake Avenue is trying to be. We do not know yet if Midtown will be a FaithSoaring Church. Trinity once was a FaithSoaring Church, but not anymore. First is struggling to understand what FaithSoaring is all about.

FaithSoaring Churches are congregations who choose to soar with faith beyond ordinary ministry toward extraordinary ministry in a quest to achieve exceptional ministry. They respond to the pulling of God and journey to places of inspiration, imagination, and innovation. They lead their congregations through processes of missional formation and engagement that continually transforms the capacity of congregations to reach their full kingdom potential.

They are willing to go to the end of all known light or revelation and leap into the darkness because they know God has gone before them. Leaps of faith and extraordinary commitments are commonplace to FaithSoaring Churches.

Fanatic Discipline by Means of the 20 Mile March

 

I have always appreciated the research and writing of Jim Collins. Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall have all clarified, reaffirmed, and provided a scientific research basis for many concepts I have been using in 35 years of consulting. I have had a lot of "Ah ha's" when reading Jim's books and hearing him speak.

This adventure of learning from Jim that is now about 17 years old is continued wonderfully through his latest book with Morten Hansen entitled Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All.

Too many concepts abound in the book to try to talk about them in one sitting. Today, however, I was struck by the application of the principle of the 20 Mile March which he introduces in his chapter on fanatic discipline.

The basic concept--although there is deeper stuff when you get into it--is that it is better for an organization to journey a measured amount of distance forward each year than it is to rush forward and burn out. The measured journey will make much more significant progress in the long-term. [Jim is always about the long-term.]

The applications for this are virtually limitless. The one that smacked me in the face today relates to collective missional strategies by networks of congregations or denominational Great Commissions efforts. When a bunch of folks, congregations, and others put on a big push in a give metropolitan area, country, etc. to try to do something big and impactful in the short-term, they often totally miss the need to develop capacity and sustainability in the people on the field, in the grassroots, who will seek to harvest the impact in the days, weeks, months, and years following the emphasis.

Steady strategy implementation is always better than the big bang theory. Yet there is so much excitement and self-satisfaction for the providers of the Great Commission effort, that they can only see the short-term thrill and not the long-term capacity and sustainability needs.

Sad.

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

If They Want to Know Where the Nursery is They Can Ask!

Some lay leaders in some congregations actually say this about visitors/guests when it is suggested that better signage or greeters outside the facilities and not just inside one part of the facilities might help visitors/guests find their way in the church facilities the first time.

Perhaps this is not a tremendously bad statement. Perhaps it is. Here are some problems with this statement:

1. It suggests an attitude of low openness to new people connecting with the congregation. I wonder if such congregations either do not need more people to connect with them, or feel that is not a necessary part of congregational ministry?

2. It suggests as caste system that the current members' viewpoint is better than the viewpoint of visitors/guests. New people must learn how to see things from the perspective of existing and especially long-term members. If they can figure out the culture of the longer tenured people in the congregation and follow it, then they are welcome.

3. It suggests not only a lack of sufficient sensitivity to new people, but also suggests that if such attitudes persist that even once people visit multiple time they may find it difficult to be assimilated into the congregation. They may be made to feel like outsiders for a long time.

Actually very few congregation proactively and openly act like this. Many, however, unintentionally act like this. They are myopic and do not realize what they are doing.

Where is your congregation in its openness and sensitivity to the viewpoint of visitors/guests?

 

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

Pledge Your Tithes, Talents, and Time

I have always been a proponent of  pledging to your congregation more than just your tithes and offerings. So, it is always a pleasure to encounter a congregation that takes this seriously. This weekend I am working with a congregation whose fall stewardship campaign offered the opportunity to state interest in 15 areas of service in the congregation where people could give their time and talents in addition to making a tithes and offerings commitment to the congregation for the coming year.

What would it be like to commit 10% of your income and 10% of your time to the life and ministry of the kingdom of God in and through your congregation? Are you already doing this? How far are you from these benchmarks? What progress will you make during the coming year?

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

Managerial Mystique: Magical Thinking in Judgments of Managers' Vision, Charisma, and Magnetism

This article has keen insights on Visionary Leadership and the mystic surrounding it.

Abstract

Successful businesspeople are often attributed somewhat mystical talents, such as the ability to mesmerize an audience or envision the future. We suggest that this mystique—the way some managers are perceived by observers—arises from the intuitive logic that psychologists and anthropologists call magical thinking. Consistent with this account, Study 1 found that perceptions of a manager’s mystique are associated with judgments of his or her charismatic vision and ability to forecast future business trends. The authors hypothesized that mystique arises especially when success is observed in the absence of mechanical causes, such as long hours or hard-won skills. In Study 2, managers who succeeded mysteriously rather than mechanically evoked participants’ attributions of foresight and their expectations of success at visionary tasks yet not at administrative tasks. The authors further hypothesized that as mystique is assumed to spread through contagion, observers desire physical contact with managers who are attributed mystique and with these managers’ possessions. Study 3 found that managers described as visionary as opposed to diligent are judged to be charismatic and ultimately magnetic. The authors discuss the implications of these judgment patterns for the literatures on perception biases and impression management in organizations.

via jom.sagepub.com

Authors: Maia J Young maia.young@anderson.ucla.edu, University of California, Los Angeles, Michael W. Morris, Columbia University. Vicki M. Scherwin, California State University, Long Beach. Published in Journal of Management,m May 2, 2011.

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous