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.
- Our need for civic friendship (7/2/2025) - Disturbed by the problems of violence and the erosion of our democracy, Bishop David Bard urges us to consider how we might cultivate civic friendship, a virtue and practice that is beneficial for our churches and our world... In my July blogs, which come as they do near July 4, I often reflect theologically on our nation’s history and present reality. Preparing for this essay, I reread my July blogs from the last four years. In those essays, I celebrated much that I love about being an American — baseball and baseball cards (Willie Mays died just one year ago),… ...Read More
- On this journey toward a better world (6/11/2025) - Bishop David Bard reflects on the violence and hatred experienced in our world and reminds us that our task, as the church, is to embody the peacefulness of Christ and work for a better world... I write this as I am thinking back on our just-completed annual conference. To all who were present, I am grateful for your thoughtfulness, kindness, prayers, and energy. As I shared in my State of the Conference report: “I am grateful for your ministry, for our shared ministry together, and for your participation in that shared ministry. Our work is unfinished. God still has work to… ...Read More
- ‘Ready to order our conversation right’ (5/5/2025) - As we enter annual conference season, Bishop David Bard reminds us of the value of conferencing and why the quality of our dialogue at such meetings is to be seasoned with grace... For us Michigan United Methodists, May brings with it the gathering of our annual conference. In my four-stop listening tour this past fall and winter, I discussed how confusing the term “annual conference” can be. In United Methodism, an annual conference may refer to an organization — structure and staff, including the assigned bishop and the bishop’s cabinet. An annual conference may also refer to a geographic region… ...Read More