Blog Archives

My marriage fell apart the day the dog died

Posted on May 22, 2013 by George Bullard — 1 Comment ↓

I am sure you’ve heard the old adage that married life begins again when the last child leaves home and the dog dies. Frequently I also hear people say they moved to a new house without a forwarding address so…

Tagged with: camper, Children, Church, churches, Club Sandwich Generation, congregation, congregations, dog, empty nest, empty nesters, family, George Bullard, grandchildren, household, households, husband, Marriage, parents, Sunday, timeshare, wife
Posted in Blog Posts, Generational Differences, Marriage, Ministry, Parenting

Fifty years from now

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Mike Smith — 1 Comment ↓

What might it mean to be a Baptist Christian at the mid-point of the 21st century? I’m hesitant to try and answer such a question. In my experience, actual developments over time usually take unanticipated forms. If someone 50 years…

Tagged with: Baptists, worship
Posted in Baptist History, Church growth, Faithful Living, Generational Differences, Ministry, Missions, Social Issues, Spiritual Formation, Welcome, Worship, Young Baptists

Grandma’s never coming back

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Carra Hughes Greer — No Comments ↓

Each time I returned to my grandparents’ home, I felt like I needed an arsenal of anxiety medications to get me through the feelings of emptiness, sadness and yearning for what used to be. My grandmother’s home was exactly as…

Tagged with: Church, church growth, Grief, institutional, new generation, tradition
Posted in Church growth, Church Starts, Generational Differences, Ministry, Worship

Attracting a new generation of leaders in ministry

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Lydia Hoyle — No Comments ↓

When I was growing up, Christian ministers were widely held in high esteem. Although a few Elmer Gantrys may have been in the mix, churches and communities generally received their ministers with respect and honor. As a result, many Christian…

Tagged with: Campbell University Divinity School, CBF, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Fund for Theological Education, George Mason, Georgetown College, leaders, Lilly Endowment, ministry, new generation, Smyth & Helwys, Wilshire Baptist Church
Posted in Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry, Seminary Voices, Young Baptists

Since it is not 1965, we have to do church different

Posted on April 10, 2013 by George Bullard — 2 Comments ↓

[This is the second blog post in a series. The first was "Since it is not 1955, we have to do church different" found at http://www.abpnews.com/blog/generational-differences/since-it-is-not-1955-we-have-to-do-church-different-2013-03-28/#.UWVSpsph7s4.] On Sunday night February 9, 1964 the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show…

Tagged with: african-american, anglo-american, asian-american, Baby Bommers, Baby Busters, Beatles, Church, churches, congregation, congregations, denominational, denominations, hispanic-american, John F. Kennedy, multi-generational, multi-racial, North America, Protestantism, sexual revolution, suburbanization, The Ed Sullivan Show
Posted in Blog Posts, Church growth, Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry

Since it is not 1955, we have to do church different

Posted on March 28, 2013 by George Bullard — 1 Comment ↓

One of my favorite expressions by a key mentor in my life, Lyle Schaller, relates to what time it is. During the 1990s Lyle often said, as an example, “Next year is 1995. The trouble is that too many congregations…

Tagged with: 1950s, attendance, Church, churches, congregation, congregations, empty nest, empty nesters, George Bullard, Kennon Callahan, Lyle Schaller, mentor, singles, singles again, target groups, worship, Worship Attendance
Posted in Blog Posts, Generational Differences, Ministry

CBF, a candle in search of darkness

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Alan Bean — No Comments ↓

Every good story needs an antagonist, a villain, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship story doesn’t have one. I was a graduate student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville when the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was founded in 1991. I…

Tagged with: Bill Leonard, CBF, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Daniel Vestal, SBC, Southern Baptist Convention, Wake Forest School of Divinity
Posted in Baptist History, Generational Differences, Organizational Voices

A new theme song for CBF?

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Ircel Harrison — No Comments ↓

On a recent Sunday, our church choir sang “Find Us Faithful” as the anthem in the traditional worship service. I have always liked this song that was written by Jon Mohr and popularized by Steve Green. In fact, we used…

Tagged with: Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, dialogue, worship
Posted in Blog Posts, Generational Differences, Music

One-eared Mickey Mouse model of youth ministry

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Felicia Fox — No Comments ↓

Churches must be intentional about forming a community that includes everyone. I have been in youth ministry for over 12 years. In college I was introduced to the One-Eared Mickey Mouse Model of youth ministry. I ran into it again…

Tagged with: Christian education, community, inclusion, one-eared Mickey Mouse, worship, Youth, youth ministry
Posted in Education, Generational Differences, Ministry, Worship, Young Baptists

Let’s drop the kids at church and go get some coffee

Posted on February 14, 2013 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

In a recent conversation with leaders in a congregation they wondered about people who drop children off at church–particularly on Sunday mornings–and then go to a coffee shop to have some “alone time”. They indicated this was an increasing challenge in…

Tagged with: Bible study, book stores, chaplain, child care, Church, churches, coffee, coffee shop, congregation, congregations, George Bullard, grocery stores, Life skills, median adults, Saturday, shopping malls, Soccer, Starbucks, Sunday, third place, young adults
Posted in Blog Posts, Generational Differences, Ministry, Parenting, Spiritual Formation, Young Baptists

Perspectives on immigration: safety and security concerns

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Kevin Glenn — No Comments ↓

The issue of immigration is a subject of discussion and debate within the Christian community. Followers of Jesus have diverse perspectives on how to address economic, security, and cultural concerns. Having shared in previous posts the primary points of diversity…

Tagged with: borders, dialogue, Homeland Security, immigrant, Immigration, immigration reform, internationals, Neighbors, Politics
Posted in Blog Posts, Education, Faithful Living, Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry, Missiology, Missions, Public Policy, Racial Reconciliation, Religion, Religious News Voices, Social Issues, Theology, Young Baptists

Breaking new ground

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Ircel Harrison — No Comments ↓

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has a nominee as third executive coordinator of the organization. Once again, the nominee is from Texas, but . . . this nominee is female and a layperson—Suzii Paynter. Prior coordinators Cecil Sherman and Daniel Vestal…

Tagged with: Baptists, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Posted in Generational Differences, Leadership, Young Baptists

Perspectives on immigration 2: Economic concerns and Christian response

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Kevin Glenn — No Comments ↓

Economic Concerns Christian perspective on the economic impact of immigration can be summarized through two different questions. One, can our nation afford the number of immigrants crossing our borders? Two, can our nation afford not to have the number of…

Tagged with: economics, George Borjas, Harvard, Immigration, immigration reform, James R. Edwards
Posted in Faithful Living, Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry, Missions, Public Policy, Uncategorized, Young Baptists

At what speed should congregations move?

Posted on January 8, 2013 by George Bullard — No Comments ↓

As we enter 2013, at what speed is your congregation moving? I believe congregations should move at the speed of the leading edge 20 percent of the people in the congregation who are the proactive, positive, and passionate leaders; that…

Tagged with: change, Church, churches, conflict, congregation, congregations, discern, discernment, future, George Bullard, leaders, leadership, leading edge, management, passionate, past, present, speed, transition
Posted in Generational Differences, Leadership, Ministry