Team Huddle Spotlights feature members of the CMBA ministry team and introduce their area of work and the ways they can support the ministry of our Family of Churches.
George Bullard
Executive director
georgebullard@columbiametro.org
As CMBA Executive Director, George Bullard serves our Family of Churches across the Midlands with a variety of direct assistance including leadership development, church merger discussions, strategic planning, and church planting guidance. In addition to administrative duties, he works closely with Team Huddle members, CMBA officers, and the Visionary Leadership Community. He began his work with CMBA on July 1, 2017 and has announced his plans to retire effective June 30, 2022.
“I have served in or with Baptist associations for 45 years. I have been on the staff of three associations, three state conventions, and one SBC national agency during these years. Prior to that, I directed music and youth ministry in two churches in North Carolina, planted a church in New Jersey, and revitalized a church in Louisville, KY,” Bullard says of his time in ministry. George’s doctor’s degree in Denominational Staff Ministry from an SBC seminary prepared him for his decades of denominational service.
Bullard’s spiritual gifts and talents includes strategic thinking, future planning, and action for Christian leadership, congregations, and denominations. Always “thinking about innovation and the future,” he says serving in a Baptist association is the center of his calling. He cites the assembly of the CMBA Team Huddle, which provides direct support services to almost 100 churches, as an important product of his time here.
With a background in starting and strengthening churches and helping congregations soar between pastors, Bullard believes he can help churches of all sizes assess their specific situations, identify needs, form an action plan, and connect with resources to move forward in their next steps in ministry.
Bullard enjoys his work because “it is in the center of God’s call upon my life. I love seeing congregations become more vital and vibrant as they fulfill God’s empowering vision for them. I also love innovation and helping congregations in Baptist associations try and do things they have never done before.”
Bullard says The Denominee Journey process (led by The Future Church organization) holds great promise to help the association better move into the next season of community ministry and church partnership as it prepares to welcome its next Executive Director. Leading up to retirement, Bullard remains committed to maintaining his engagement in the ongoing missions projects and new endeavors the Team Huddle continues to serve in alongside of the CMBA Family of Churches.
Bullard and his wife Betty will soon celebrate their 50th anniversary. The have two adult children and four grandchildren. Jonathan and his wife Laura live in Charleston with three of George’s grandchildren, Nolan (18), James (15) and Brendan (12). Allison and her husband Cole live in Columbia with their one-year-old son Sam.
Stay up-to-date on CMBA news, Our Family Stories, podcasts, and other communications resources through the CMBA website at www.columbiametro.org and follow “Columbia Metro Baptist Association” on Facebook. Contact Bullard by email at GeorgeBullard@ColumbiaMetro.org or by phone at 803.622.0923.