The Formation Letter

The more I observed, the less interested I became in quick answers.

I became interested in paying attention. That’s why I started The Formation Letter.

Each Sunday I share a story drawn from ordinary life. I don’t write because I’ve figured life out. I write because I’ve discovered that the world often reveals its deepest truths in places we almost overlook.

My hope is simple: That these letters leave you noticing something you might have otherwise walked past.

Thank you for being here.

Until next Sunday,

George Burgin

The Pastorate

Serving as a pastor, walking with people through life's depths.

Family

Becoming a husband and father, finding depth in shared life.

The Field

Coaching Little League baseball, watching seeds of character grow.

Finance

Building a financial planning practice, navigating stewardship.

"Only later did I realize I wasn’t merely collecting experiences. I was watching formation."

Looking back, I began to notice a pattern. The moments that shaped me most were rarely the ones I recognized while they were happening. They often seemed ordinary at the time—a conversation, a failure, a quiet act of kindness, a season of waiting, a difficult decision. Years later, I could see they had changed me in ways I never anticipated.

That realization transformed how I began paying attention to my own life and to the lives of others. Over the years, I have worn many hats. For more than three decades, I served in pastoral ministry. Today I help families navigate financial decisions and prepare for the future.

Along the way, I have also spent countless hours coaching, teaching, writing music, making wine, and sitting across tables from people whose stories have quietly reshaped my own. Those roles have something in common. Each has given me a front-row seat to human formation.

I have watched success change people. I have watched suffering refine them. I have seen encouragement awaken gifts that had been buried for years, and I have seen small habits quietly determine the direction of entire lives.

Spending a season on a fishing boat, testing limits in the wild.

Alaska

Growing up in a small town, learning the rhythm of community.

Washington

For as long as I can remember, I have been looking at the world through a specific lens—not of what things are, but of how they came to be. This is the story of that pursuit.