BullardJournal

A Big Weekend for a Denominational Region

This was a big weekend for a denominational region and its spiritual strategic journey. The American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire have been engaged in the Spiritual Strategic Journey process I lead for about a year. This past Friday and Saturday was their annual meeting where they were presenting their future story and allowing people to affirm the story through a survey rather than voting. On a five point scale with 1 representing the highest affirmation, around 80% affirmed the story with a 1 or 2.

That is great for this region that struggled with vision, intentionality, and unity three years ago. They have come a long way and I am proud of their efforts. It has not been without some costs and even losses, but they have stayed focused, encouraged open dialogue, and creating a process for handling complex issues that should serve them well for years to come. Currently they are in an interim period between Executive Ministers, and their interim minister has been battling a serious illness and been periodically hospitalized. This speaks to the strength they have at the grassroots that they have been able to make this type of progress.

BTW, here is their final presentation edition that was presented to their annual meeting: Download ABC of VTNH Future Story Final Presentation Edition, May 2009

I pray their forward efforts will continue for many years to come. I commend their pastors, laity, and region leaders for their wisdom and followership of their discernment of the spiritual strategic direction God has for them. I look forward to traveling to New England again in July to work with them on their Future Story Fulfillment Map to give them a clear pathway along their journey.

Materials for Midwest District of CMA [and other interested Canadians]

Here are materials and links relevant to George Bullard's presentation at the Midwest District Conference of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada on June 2, 2009. Anyone is free to download and use these materials with proper attribution to George and The Columbia Partnership.

Life Cycle Chart--Download Life Cycle Model, 2009 Edition

Congregational Issues Assessment--Download Congregational Issues for Generative Dialogue

PowerPoint Presentation--Download Bullard, PFKPYC Seminar, 6.2.09

Purchase book at www.Amazon.ca -- Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation

Purchase book at www.Amazon.ca -- Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict

Purchase book at www.Amazon.ca -- Borderland Churches

A Spiritual Strategic Journey Is . . .

In my book, Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation, I describe a spiritual strategic journey in the following way:

"A spiritual strategic journey is spiritual in that it assumes total reliance on God as individuals and as congregations. It assumes that unless the journey is of God, it is for nothing.

A spiritual strategic journey is strategic in that it focuses on those goals and actions that will make the most significant difference in a congregation’s ability to serve in the midst of God’s kingdom. It focuses on effective touch points.

A spiritual strategic journey is a journey in that it is ongoing. Philippians 3:12-16 talks about the journey of a Christian individual as being something that is never completed. Yet it is a journey into which we live at the level of maturity we have achieved today, knowing that we will achieve a higher or deeper level of maturity tomorrow. We never go back. We always press forward to God’s high calling.” [17]

See and purchase this book at TCP Resources Store.

Materials for SC Synod of ELCA [and anyone else interested]

Here are the materials George Bullard promised to post from his Friday, May 29th presentation at Newberry College:

Life Cycle Chart--Download Life Cycle Model, 2009 Edition

Congregational Issues Assessment--Download Congregational Issues for Generative Dialogue

PowerPoint Presentation--Download Bullard, PFKPYC Seminar, 3.23.09

Purchase book--Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation

Review kit--Spiritual Strategic Journey Congregational Kit

Questions for the Spiritual Strategic Journey of Your Congregation

In my book, Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation, I offer several questions for congregations to consider as they launch a spiritual strategic journey:

• “What are the current signs of health and strength in your congregation on which you can build an excellent, effective future?
• Is your congregation currently traveling along a spiritual strategic journey? If so, what characterizes that journey? Does your congregation have Vision Plus Intentionality as part of its journey?
• What is the full Kingdom potential of your congregation? Is your current journey sufficiently spiritual and strategic to pull you forward to your full Kingdom potential?
• Who has made your personal journey possible? What are their contributions to your life and ministry? Who is your coach for your current journey?
• What factors make your congregation’s journey possible? What are the contributions of the past and present of your congregation that give you both heritage and hope in God’s future for your congregation? Who is your congregation’s coach for your current spiritual strategic journey?” [4]

See and purchase this book at TCP Resources Store.

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

The Weekend That Made Ministry Famous!

This past weekend was a great example of why I love what I do. Things were happening with my clients in various places around the country, but I could only be in one place. In many ways that was good as I seek to raise the capacity of my clients to address their own opportunities and challenges.

Spiritual Strategic Journey: I was with a smaller membership congregation going through a Spiritual Strategic Journey process. This was the weekend to help them move from the ideas they generated out of their 100 days of discernment in dialogue and prayer triplets to three identifiable scenarios for their future life and ministry. The process went very well and they seemed enthusiastic to move away from business as usual to grasp a challenging future.

If You Only Talk with Pastors You May Miss the Point!

Too many Christian parachurch organizations, and some consultants and coaches, only talk with pastors when assessing a congregation. In doing so, they may miss the point. They get a subjective and prejudiced view of reality within the congregation. They get a very important view from the pastor[s], but not always an accurate view.

The point is to know if persons in the pew/chairs are being effectively served and assisted to grow as disciples, and are they being motivated and pulled into the congregation’s external context through missional efforts? To genuinely discover this you must talk with the persons in the pew/chairs, and perhaps for the latter characteristic the people in the congregation’s external context.

The Emergence of the 80 Percent Budget

During recent months I have experienced the emergence [or perhaps the re-emergence] of the 80 Percent Budget in congregations. These types of budgets are being impacted by several factors. Two primary factors are the current economic situation, and high fixed costs in the areas of personnel and facilities.

The 80 Percent Budget comes about this way. Congregations, in response to the economic crisis, are lower their budget by an average of 20 percent to 80 percent of either their 2008 budget or their intended 2009 budget. To do this they have not been able to simply adjust soft spending on programs, missions, ministries, and activities. They have had to adjust hard spending on personnel and facilities. The adjustments on all areas have been difficult. The adjustments in personnel have tended to raise the intensity of conflict in the congregation.

Moving Your Congregation From Face to Fellowship to Friendship

For congregations to be characterized by deep, meaningful relationships with one another, they must move their internal relationships from face familiarity to meaning fellowship to true friendships.

Face familiarity is when people recognize one another, particularly at church events, as being someone who is familiar and that I ought to know. Perhaps the people know each others’ names, but only pass in the hallway with a simple “hello”.

Meaningful fellowship is where people have occasional times to interact with one another at various church gatherings but have no ongoing friendship relationship.

True friendships are when people know one another, have periodic to regular relationship encounters with one another, have life concerns for one another about which they pray, and consider one another friends who can be called on for various life needs.

Particularly when congregations have more than one worship service the percentage of relationships based on face familiarity rather than meaning fellowship or true friendships may be higher than when a congregation has one worship service. The key word here is “may”.

When true friendships exist among a large percentage of congregational participants, then complicated and even potentially divisive issues can be handled with relative ease. When face familiarity is the depth of too many relationships then it is difficult to handle complicated and potentially divisive issues in a positive way.

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60

In a certain sense the essence of this book is described in its title and subtitle—Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60: Being Church for All Generations. Congregation who seek to be a church for all generations will certainly have fewer challenges around conflicts and differing visions between various generations.

It is obviously a book targeting primarily existing congregations who are at least twenty years old and have begun to experience a generational divide. It speaks ably to the conflict that arises when congregations feel the need to start a new type of worship service to keep younger generations from leaving and to attract families/households with children.

Authors Eddie Hammett and Randy Pierce themselves represent some of this generational divide. Eddie is a 50-something, long-term churchperson, and Randy is a 30-something long-term seeker who has now embraced a Christ-centered faith journey. They ably speak from churched and non-churched, modern and postmodern perspectives on how congregations can embrace all generations.

The book offers win-win solutions. Hope. Realistic tactics for existing churches. Virtually every church that is more than 20 years old will confront this issue, and will either put in place a process to address it, or will divide over the generational issue and lose a significant portion of this vitality and vibrancy.

Implied in this look is an important message for churches less than 20 years old. These congregations may believe they are immune to a generational divide. If so, they lie to themselves about other things also. Look in the mirror. This could be you in a few years.

George Bullard, The Columbia Partnership, GBullard@TheColumbiaPartnership.org