The Faithful and Flourishing Book Is Available for Order!

Strategies for Leading Your Christian School with Excellence

I arrived home from work last Thursday, and a box was outside my front door. I carried it in the house, opened it, and to my delight, it was 10 complimentary copies of my 10th and newest book!

Faithful and Flourishing: Strategies for Leading Your Christian School with Excellence is the product of decades of formal and informal study of Christian schools throughout the United States and worldwide. This is ultimately not Bernard Bull’s wisdom but my synthesis of the wisdom from hundreds, even thousands, of Christian schools and their leaders. I’m simply sharing what I saw, over and over, among the Christian schools that seem to be thriving in a way that is thoroughly aligned with their mission. These schools do not just throw things at the wall to see what sticks. They know who they are, why they exist, their “superpowers,” their limitations, whom they are best-positioned to serve, and how to do it with Christ-centered excellence. They are joyful but also dogged in how they go about their work. They are not bulls in a China shop. They are mission-minded pit bulls with a bone. They know what they want and go after it.

While I contend that there are many different faithful and flourishing models of Christian schools, they all seem to ask and answer the same questions. As such, this book is a simple guide through those questions. The result of asking and answering these questions will not be a cookie-cutter Christian school. It will be a truly distinctive Christian school that significantly benefits the students, families, and community.

I wrote this book as a resource for school leaders, board members, and all faculty and staff of Christian schools who want to be part of helping their schools deepen their commitment to their mission while flourishing in bringing that mission to the students and families they are blessed to serve. The text is designed so that an individual can read it and walk away with helpful insights. However, I pray that it will guide entire school boards, leadership teams, and school faculty and staff groups. I imagine groups of people reading it together, discussing each question, creating a shared vision and plan, writing out their answers, and concluding with a clear, compelling, concrete, and mission-aligned roadmap for pursuing Christ-centered excellence for years to come.

The book will be officially released on June 24 but is already available for order on the Concordia Publishing House website, Amazon, and other major book platforms.

I’ve also been thinking about how I can use the release of this book to further support Christian schools. Here are the three ideas I’ve decided to launch.

Zoom or In-Person Session with a Group at Your School

If a group from your school chooses to go through the book together, please consider contacting me. I am happy to explore the possibility of hosting a Zoom meeting with your group. Or, as time allows, I would also be open to an in-person meeting.

Online Book Clubs

If there is enough interest, I also hope to lead a series of six—to eight-week online book clubs for people from different parts of the country (or world) who would like to read the book together. Once the book is released, I can share more about how people can sign up.

The Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund

In conjunction with the book's release, I also created a new donor-advised fund called The Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund through The Signatry (a donor-advised fund sponsor seeking to build the kingdom of God by inspiring world-changing generosity). My vision is to use the Philippians 4:8 Legacy Fund to provide grants to projects and institutions (predominantly Christian schools) that reflect the virtues found in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." God willing, I will place a portion of the profits I receive from book sales in this fund. In addition, if you or someone you know would like to be part of growing the fund and promoting a Philippians 4:8 approach to faith, life, and learning, please get in touch with me, and I will provide details on how you can make a direct contribution to the fund.

That’s all for now, but I look forward to exploring how to use the ideas in this book to amplify the impact of Christian schools worldwide!