A 1996 song by Paula Cole states: Where is my John Wayne? Where is my prairie song? Where is my happy ending? Where have all the cowboys gone? Now that I’ve got that tune stuck in your head, as I…
Going to bat — the only way humans thrive
I can’t think of many times in my life when I have felt as if no one would go to bat for me. In fact, whenever I tell the story of how I came to faith and later discerned a…
Congregational management must be accountable to visionary leadership
“Who is in charge here?” is a demand question often heard from someone who wants to enter an organization and provide either leadership or management. When spoken loudly and with an anger edge it can mean that if no one…
Freeing people stuck in your church
By George Bullard How do you help people who are stuck in your congregation become unstuck? How do you free them to continue their life journey with joy? In a previous post entitled, “When sticky church becomes stuck church,” I…
You are not a pretend church!
Trinity Baptist Church in Lebanon, New Hampshire, had twelve people in worship yesterday. Ten adults and two children. We sang, we prayed, we greeted one another. They listened to my sermon. We all stayed for lunch, then gathered for another…
When sticky church becomes stuck church
By George Bullard A ministry acquaintance of mine, Larry Osborne of North Coast Church, an Evangelical Free Church in Vista, Calif., wrote a book several years ago called Sticky Church. The book makes the case that closing the back door…
Congregational vision is about expanding and deepening disciplemaking
By George Bullard Vision is not about promoting programs and using an attractional approach to engage in a spiritual and strategic journey. It is not about a focus on operational planning, and a primary focus on the management of the…
When it comes to congregational vision, good enough is never good enough
By George Bullard Surely you have heard the expression throughout your life that something is “good enough for government work.” Or, you have heard its cousin, “close enough for government work.” When the typical person hears these phrases they think…
Five keys to thriving in seminary
By Eileen R. Campbell-Reed What does it take to succeed in the Women’s Leadership Initiative – or most any other MDiv program? Recently I was talking over tea with a prospective seminary student when she asked, “What will it take…