Four years ago Joel Gregory, Professor of Preaching at George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, was commissioned by the Baptist World Alliance to study representative Baptist preaching throughout the world. Talk about taking a bite out of an…
Who left on those lights?
By George Bullard During a recent research visit with a congregation, I was waiting in the hall for the pastor to finish a conversation with a staff person before we began our dialogue. A well-dressed older gentleman —probably in his…
Who left on those lights? That electricity costs the church money!
During a recent research visit with a congregation, I was waiting in the hall for the pastor to finish a conversation with a staff person before we began our dialogue. A well-dressed older gentleman–probably in his late 70s– came up…
Smart churches call 911 sooner rather than later
On a pleasant morning a few years ago at a church preschool, a 3-year-old boy fell backwards off a piece of playground equipment and hit his head. It was no one’s fault. It just happened. His symptoms indicated the need…
Is your denomination slowly committing suicide?
For decades we have known that persons who smoke multiple packs of cigarettes per day are slowly committing suicide. Many of these people did not want to commit suicide. Some claim they did not know they were committing suicide. At…
Why should you care about Southern Baptists’ drop in baptisms?
By George Bullard The first response of many people may be “I don’t care.” That’s fine. You have that right. But you ought to care. First, take note of the report that came out recently and was distributed by Baptist…
All denominations should care baptisms are down among Southern Baptists
The first response of many people may be “I don’t care”. That’s fine. You have that right. But you ought to care. More about that later. Keep reading. Why Are Baptisms Down Among Southern Baptist Churches? First, take note of…
SCOTUS got this one wrong
With all due respect to my blogging colleague, Jonathan Waits and his blog post, the US Supreme Court got the decision wrong about the town of Greece, NY and their ceremonial prayers. How prayers are handled in government sponsored settings…
The glass ceiling for women in ministry only slightly cracked
I recently returned from the Exponential church planting conference in Orlando where I spent time thinking about women in ministry; especially women in church planting. I sat in on all three workshop sessions led or co-led by a woman in…