Information on Bill Easum
Bill Easum has a thirty year track record of growing congregations in two denominations. His last church, which he pastored for twenty-four years, grew to the largest United Methodist Church in South Texas. His record of “evangelization” and "social justice" ministries was acknowledged by Industrial Areas Foundation in New York as one of the finest examples in North America. Bill is also the recipient of the prestigious Donald McGavran award for outstanding church leadership.
The past twenty years, Bill has served as a consultant to congregations and denominations. In 1986 he founded 21st Century Strategies which in 2000 became Easum, Bandy & Associates (EBA) www.easumbandy.com when he merged with Tom Bandy and his Thriving Church group. In 2000 Bill Easum and Bill Tenny-Brittian reformed 21st Century Strategies Inc. Together they serve the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana, and South Africa.
Bill has personally worked in over 700 congregations, some of which are the largest in the nation, and has taught hundreds of thousands of leaders (client list http://easumbandy.com/services/consultations/our_list_of_clients/).
Bill is a regular contributor to Rev Magazine, Religious Product News, Net Results Magazine, and ezine On Track, and Co-editor of The Convergence eBook Series from Abingdon Press
Bill is the author of numerous best-selling books such as Church Growth Handbook, How to Reach Baby Boomers, Dancing With Dinosaurs, Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers, The Complete Ministry Audit, Growing Spiritual Redwoods, Leadership On The OtherSide, Unfreezing Moves, Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First, Under The Radar, The Nomadic Church, Go Big: Leading Your Church to Explosive Growth, Go Big with Small Groups, A Second Resurrection, and Ministry in Hard Times all by Abingdon, and Beyond the Box, by Group and Ten Most Common Mistakes of Church Starts by Chalice.
Bill is a graduate of Baylor University, B.A., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.D., and Perkins School of Theology, S.T.M.
Bill’s vice is fishing for Sail and Marlin and he releases all of his fish.
Bill is married to Jan and they have one daughter, Caran.
Bill can be reached at www.21centurystrategiesinc.com or easum(at)aol.com
Section One: Consultation References
Liberty Corner Presbyterian
Steve McConnell – smcconnell(at)libertycorner.org (He has since moved to a larger church)
Steve Allen – srallen(at)optonline.net
908-221-1871
Cokesbury UMC
Steve Sallee – ssallee(at)cokesburychurch.org
865-246-0414
Washington Crossing UMC
Scott McDermott – scott(at)crossingumc.org
215-493-5080
First UMC Odessa
Terry Tamplen – terry(at)fumcodessa.org
432-337-1527
Section Two: Consultation and Coaching References
Bill Warren
Allen Memorial Baptist
Salisbury, MD
wwarren(at)allenmemorial.org
Jon Harris
New Life Church (Nazarene)
Fairfield, CA
pastorjonharris(at)gmail.com
Section Three: What Christian Leaders Are Saying About Bill Easum
"When people ask, 'Who's taking your place?' I tell them, "Bill Easum already has, so you don't need me."
Lyle Schaller
Naperville, IL
"Bill Easum's ministry is a classic, well proven example of a trumpet with a certain and distinct sound. He equips and prepares us for the God ordained assignments given to each leader, each church, each ministry. Whatever he says, apply it! it will transform your ministry into all God meant it to become."
Wayne Corderio
Pastor, New Hope Christian Fellowship, O'ahu
"I always look forward to the latest findings of Easum and Bandy. It's hard to think of anyone who does a better job of offering relevant help to established churches."
Warren Bird
Leadership Network
I’m proud to say that Bill Easum is a friend of mine! Bill has taught me much about the kingdom of God and how to plug into its power and future direction. He is a one of the foremost thinkers in Church today in the area of seeing the future of the Church. He helps to prepare me and our people to walk in step with the Spirit’s direction. That’s not only important – it’s vital to our health!
Bill Easum is an incredible gift from God to the Church today. I don’t know where I’d be today if it weren’t for Bill. He came along when I was in desperate need of answers in my leadership. The best thing about Bill is that he has answers and suggestions that have accessible handles on them. He is, above all else, a super practical guy. I will consult closely with Bill for the rest of my life.
Steve Sjogren
Founder, Vineyard Church, Cincinnati
"Bill Easum has been a prophet to churches who desire to be faithful followers of Jesus. His clarity and vision give pastors and churches the opportunity to be 'sold out for Jesus' in this new century."
Dick Wills
Bishop of the United Methodist
"Bill Easum is in touch with the pulse of the culture and an interpreter of the culture to the local church. He is an expert guide in healthy ministry models and organizational development and a great sounding board for exploring new ideas."
Mike Slaughter
Ginghamsburg United Methodist
Tipp City, OH
"What I love about Bill Easum is his quest to know more about God and God's church. In his search he applies truths from scripture, history, and current practice to help churches craft appropriate solutions to extend the kingdom. While his truths are sometimes shocking, he gives encouragement to forward thinking leaders to move ahead in reaching their communities for Christ."
Dave Travis
Leadership Network
"Bill Easum in an 'at the edge' resource for churches that are serious about being the church in the 21st century. His ability to see the future first is balanced with his experience as a pastor. The result is a valuable combination for Kingdom minded congregations."
Carol Childress
Knowledge Broker
"Bill Easum and Tom Bandy are in touch with God's new Reformation in the Church. They give an urgent witness to what's working in the Church. I know of no better resource for fresh and pragmatic insight into building tomorrow's Church today."
Bishop Ed Leidel, Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan
"This is a definite ‘must-attend’ event for those who are interested in leadership on the cutting edge; leadership that goes beyond the status quo; leadership that thinks outside the box - especially for those who are in middle judicatory positions. My experience in this seminar helped define my years as a District Superintendent. For those who want to lead the church into new levels of vitality, I recommend participating in these few days of new insights and stimulating conversation."
Larry Goodpaster
Bishop of the United Methodist Church
Bill Easum and Tom Bandy are diagnosing what’s wrong with mainline churches and explaining what must happen to get them turned around better than anyone else today!"
Mark J. Key Director of Congregational Development for the Western North Carolina Conference, The United Methodist Church
"Bill and Tom are offering what is in my opinion the finest teaming of diagnosis of the problems of ‘traditional church’ with practical, sound tools for transforming congregations into missional communities. From our experience in the upper Midwest, we’ve got a number of leaders who are getting the picture of what the church needs to look like in order to be effective in the early 21st century. For that I thank you!
Craig Boehlke Region 3 Coordinator, ELCA
"Bill Easum and Tom Bandy understand churches like few others in this rapidly changing world. Many pastors in my District have become more effective leaders as a result of insights received through Bill and Tom."
Bill Hoyt, General Baptist Convention
"The seminar held on my district was cutting edge and empowering for more effective ministry. Church leaders who participated are still talking about it and the implications for their ministry."
Dr. R. Franklin Gillis, Jr. Richmond District Superintendent Virginia Conference of the UMC
"If Bill Easum is the pilot who takes people through the wormhole into the future, then Tom Bandy is the astrogator who takes them to the stars and guides them to wormhole junctions. We need them both in our light-speed flight to the future God intends for us."
Jim Fogle-Miller, Co-Pastor, St. John’s UMC
"Pastors and ministry leaders who have a passion for reaching today’s culture with the Gospel message will benefit greatly from spending these two days with Bill Easum and Tom Bandy. You will learn, from one of America’s leading teams on church transformation, the necessary techniques and understandings the church will need to embrace in order to claim these times for God and once again become relevant for a culture hungering for a connection to God."
Charlene Bailey
"An experience with Easum, Bandy & Associates will transform Judicatories who coach and resource congregations and plant churches."
Robert "Bob" Hoyt, Executive for New Congregational Development, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Bill, we look forward to your return to West Ohio. When you were here this year you and Tom helped leaders from across our conference understand how vital it is today to claim the place of leadership and call others into a vision of ministry. We look forward to moving out beyond the edge with you.
Stan Ling, West Ohio
I wanted to write and express my appreciation to you for Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First. ....For some time I have harbored the feeling that there must be more to ministry than maintaining the status quo. I have grown tired of predictable and programmed worship, struggles and frustrations to find volunteers, petty bickering, and a choking out of the Holy Spirit. I have wrestled with times of depression over the past several months, wondering if I have truly been called. I went to our Annual Conference worn out, dead in my spirit, hungry for more but feeling squelched and boxed in by the structures and systems of my current appointment. It soured my soul to think that I might have to do the next 25-30 years of my ministry under this kind of cloud.
I read--correction: devoured!--your book in less than 24 hours! It was a breath of fresh air to my soul! I appreciate your honest, straight-forward style and your willingness to step up and say what needs to be said. God has used your book and your insights to help refine my call.
Rev. J. Todd Kingrea
Cleveland, TN
I want to thank you on behalf of the Florida Conference for your superb presentations over the last two days. Our goal for the two days was to get as many of our pastors as possible to dream the dream about mission and not about preserving the status quo. You succeeded beyond by expectations in accomplishing this. I cannot say thank you enough. We had the pastors and lay people present to fill out and evaluation of the conference. Everyone except two were extremely positive. We expected a lot more than that! Every lay person that filled out the form was extremely pleased. I had several pastors and lay people come to me throughout the conference as well as afterwards to express profound appreciation for bringing you here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Ken Burrill
Vice President for Administration/Ministerial
Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The Church Growth Handbook
How to Reach Baby Boomers
Dancing with Dinosaurs
Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers
Growing Spiritual Redwoods
Unfreezing Moves
Beyond the Box
Under the Radar
The Nomadic Church
The Complete Ministry Audit
The Second Resurrection
Ministry in Hard Times
Preaching for Transformation