Gordon Penfold

Break the Sound Barrier: An Essential for Restoring Relationships

  Multiple issues challenge churches, marriage, and interpersonal relationships that experience conflict.  Two are nearly always a part of unresolved conflict.  Both involve the tongue.  Everyone recognizes the first—gossip. For example, in a suicide, a woman wrote, “They said . . .” and never completed her statement before she took her life. The gossip was

Read More »

A Tale of Two Barns –A Tale of Two Churches

Dr. Gordon E. Penfold Co-founder of Turnaround Pastors, Inc.   The Two Barns   “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times . . ..” So begins Charles Dickens’,  A Tale of Two Cities.  I would like to parallel that truth with two barns and two churches. The analogy will

Read More »

A Tale of Two Barns A Tale of Two Churches

The Two Barns “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times . . ..” So begins Charles Dickens’,  A Tale of Two Cities. In this edition of the Update, I would like to parallel that truth with two barns and two churches. The analogy will be clear. On US Highway

Read More »

Essentials of Church Revitalization

I have observed over the years two essential needs for church revitalization: a capable pastor and a willing congregation. Below you will discover two accounts of this truth. Trial to Triumph – One Pastor’s Revitalization Story Pastor “Buckman” (not his real name) accepted a call to his first church after graduating from Bible college, a

Read More »
Turnaround, Salvation Army Bldg, Fort Collins

Avoiding Dry Rot in Ministry

When working as an engineer in Fort Collins, our firm was hired to do some renovation work on a historic downtown building. At the time, this red brick building housed the Salvation Army ministry (pictured above). The edifice consisted of a basement and three upper levels. The nearly 100-year-old structure possessed character and distinctive architectural

Read More »