Bishop David Alan Bard
Bishop David Alan Bard is the presiding bishop of the Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church. Bishop Bard also served the Minnesota Annual Conference as interim bishop 2021-2022.
Before arriving in Michigan in September 2016, Bishop Bard had served at First United Methodist Church in Duluth, Minnesota, since 2005. He was elected to the episcopacy on July 13, 2016, at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in Peoria, IL. He has been in ministry for more than 30 years and served in many roles within the Minnesota Annual Conference and the General Church.
Bishop Bard was a General and Jurisdictional Conference delegate in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. He was an episcopal nominee in both 2004 and 2008.
Within the Minnesota Conference, Bishop Bard was chair of the Episcopacy Committee and the Higher Education Ministry Team, and he served on the Board of Ordained Ministry and the Congregational Response Team. He was also the conference parliamentarian. He was a district superintendent from 1998 to 2005 and spent three years on the Commission on Religion and Race.
Within the General Church, Bishop Bard was recently elected chairperson of the Committee on Faith and Order. He has served on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the Commission on General Conference, the Commission on Theological Education, the Study on Ministry Commission, and the North Central Jurisdiction Committee on the Episcopacy.
Bishop Bard received a BA from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, in 1981; his Master of Divinity was earned at United Theological Seminary, Twin Cities, in 1984; and in 1994, he received a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University focusing on Christian ethics. He has taught college and seminary courses in United Methodist history, doctrine and polity; medical ethics, and religious perspectives on death and dying.
Bishop Bard has a wife, Julie, three adult children, and two grandchildren. He enjoys music, reading, movies, baseball, and walking in his free time.
- Ways to speak prophetically (1/8/2025) - In his first blog of 2025, Bishop David Bard outlines how to speak prophetically as people of Christian faith in a world where moral speech is rapidly labeled partisan... Beginning my first blog of the new year with a quote from the 2020/2024 Book of Discipline may not seem like an auspicious start, but here goes. Among the disciplines by which bishops are encouraged to lead the church is “a prophetic commitment for the transformation of the world” (¶403.1d). The subparagraph continues: “The role of the bishop is to be a prophetic voice for justice in a suffering and conflicted world through… ...Read More
- You matter to God (12/3/2024) - The God of Christmas, says Bishop David Bard, loves widely and wildly without regard to status and draws near to the simple and ordinary... I recently returned from a wonderful educational trip with a lovely group from the Michigan Conference, including some Episcopalian and Lutheran friends. We traveled to Greece and Egypt, both fascinating places I had never visited. I continue to process and reflect upon all that I saw and experienced — walking through the magnificent Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, standing at Mars Hill where Paul addressed gathered Athenians, strolling through the ruins of ancient Corinth as… ...Read More
- Working for the common good (11/5/2024) - Bishop David Bard says that when the election is over, and the ballots have been counted, the work for the common good begins for everyone, including the church... Many of you may be familiar with the work of Howard Thurman (1899-1981). While I knew of his work before, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself bumping into it again and again. It was a serendipity of God’s grace. Thurman’s writings combined powerful insights into the inner spiritual journey with a prophetic call to engage the wider world in the quest for justice. Perhaps his best-known work is Jesus and the… ...Read More