As a reader of The Baptist Paper, you’ve likely followed the regular columns focused on Baptist associations and their effectiveness provided by George Bullard.
Bullard believes associations are poised to be the most effective resource for a local church, and he urges associations to have high expectations for their member churches.
His primary advice for associational leaders? Spend the most time and energy with those who want to participate in missional activities.
Broader scope
Bullard’s expertise expands well beyond associational life, and he hopes to also expand his writing ministry toward a broader scope (while continuing to serve as a regular contributor to The Baptist Paper, of course).
With a ministry theme of “ForthTelling Innovation,” Bullard tries to use his “spiritual and strategic giftedness to empower Christian leaders, congregations and denominations toward faithful and effective innovation.”
“I still have some things in my head, and I’m trying to get them out as fast as I can,” he said, noting his intent to write and publish more books in the coming year and to continue his blog at georgebullard.substack.com.
Bullard’s current books include “Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation” and “Captured by Vision: 101 Insights to Empower Your Congregation” along with three others. They are all available through Amazon.
During the last 45 years Bullard has provided in-depth consultation services to more than 700 congregations and about 50 denominational families. He estimates he has trained over 2,000 denominational workers in strategic planning, church growth and conflict mediation skills.
He has served state Baptist conventions in South Carolina and North Carolina, and he was the general secretary for the North American Baptist Fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance for seven years.
During most of this time he also worked independently as a consultant and mentor through the Columbia Partnership and later the Reynolds Group, both based in South Carolina.
His last full-time ministry position was as executive director of Columbia Metro Baptist Association in Columbia, South Carolina. He retired from that role in 2022.
Baptists initially took notice of Bullard’s organizational and strategic skills when he was a pastor in New Jersey and Kentucky. He was a community-oriented pastor and led his churches to be missional and think outside the traditional box in their 1970s settings.
He later joined the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board) as a home missionary and served in Baltimore and Charlotte.
Various ministries
Along with some stints as a church planter and church consultant, he eventually became a consultant with the HMB’s metropolitan missions department. He also was the primary architect of HMB’s Mega Focus Cities effort of the early 1980s, which focused resources on the 50 largest cities in the U.S.
In the coming years, Bullard intends to teach a Sunday School class with his wife, Betty. They also plan to continue spending time with their four grandchildren. They enjoy visiting them and taking them on vacations. The Bullards live in Simpsonville, South Carolina. He can be reached at bullardjournal@gmail.com.
