My pastor announced his retirement recently following 33 years of leading our congregation. That is a long time in pastoral ministry at one church. Depending on which variables you use to calculate the tenure of pastors, around five years is typical. …

On the evening of April 4, 1968 my college dorm room door swung open. A student stuck his head in with a smile on his face and said, “They got the King!” What a tragedy, I thought. I had no words for him that day. My heart cried out for…

During the COVID-19 pandemic I read a bunch of books. (Can we talk about it in the past tense yet? Not likely. We can at least say we see in our future the transition from pandemic to epidemic.) Many were about popular or historic leaders. Some were written by noteworthy…

An earlier article — Does Your Congregation Genuinely Want to Reach Young Adult Families with Children? (https://georgebullard.medium.com/does-your-congregation-genuinely-want-to-reach-young-adult-families-with-children-ff416b7ce977) — shared 12 not so genuine reasons congregations seek to reach young adult families. What if we changed the former list into 12 reasons that are genuine, helpful, and potentially fruitful?

Have you heard the adage that married life begins again when the last child leaves home and the dog dies? Or have you heard people say they moved to a new house without a forwarding address so their adult children could not find them and move back home? …

(See a follow-up article on “Your Congregation Genuinely Wants to Reach Young Adult Families When . . .” at https://georgebullard.medium.com/your-congregation-genuinely-wants-to-reach-young-adult-families-when-5cbeb7fe92af) A tough issue for congregations to address is the loss of young adult families with children. This often happens when numerical decline is the long-term trend. The average age of…

Rachel and Cody were new in town. They were visiting various congregations to find one that fit them. One Sunday they attended The Journey Church. As they left worship a First Impressions Team member handed them a four-by-six card. …

University and other young adults who attended school, lived, or hung out in the downtown area of a city came together through the efforts of a leadership team of young adult ministers and families to form Downtown congregation. …

In a recent book I helped my ministry colleague Tom Harris write — Soaring Between Pastors: 8 Actions to Thrive During a Pastoral Transition — we defined an S3 Intentional Interim Pastor as one who is seasoned, skilled, and strategic. We did this in the belief congregations deserve the best…