Barnabas File

In a blog several years ago, church consultant George Bullard asked the question, “ Why is the Congregational Life Cycle Still So Popular and Requested?”  This model related to the life of a church was developed by Bullard, Bob Dale, and others in the 1970s and 1980s to describe the develop of a congregation and possibilities of redevelopment.  The idea was first introduced in secular models of organizational development.  You can see the model here. Bullard points out that he still has requests to present  on the model in seminars and conferences as well as permission to reproduce it. I remember seeing the model in Bob Dale’s book To Dream Again and hearing Bullard talk about it in the 1980s. The primary reason that I think the model resonates with so many church leaders is that it assumes that the church, any church, is a living organism.  It is born, it matures, it contributes, and it ages.  The big difference between th...

In a recent blog , church consultant George Bullard asked the question, “ Why is the Congregational Life Cycle Still So Popular and Requested?”  This model related to the life of a church was developed by Bullard, Bob Dale, and others in the 1970s and 1980s to describe the develop of a congregation and possibilities of redevelopment.  The idea was first introduced in secular models of organizational development.  You can see the model here. Bullard points out that he still has requests to present on the model in seminars and conferences as well as permission to reproduce it. I remember seeing the model in Bob Dale’s book To Dream Again and hearing Bullard talk about it in the 1980s. The primary reason that I think the model resonates with so many church leaders is that it assumes that the church, any church, is a living organism.  It is born, it matures, it contributes, and it ages.  The big difference between the church and a livin...