Leadership

Rev. Jeff Campbell
Chief Executive Officer / General Secretary

Rev. Jeff Campbell is the Chief Executive Officer and General Secretary of Discipleship Ministries.

Campbell comes to this role having led Discipleship Ministries as the Associate General Secretary for Strategic Programming, where he coordinated the work of the agency around three strategic priorities: an Intentional Discipleship System in every church with focus on our identity in Christ and explicitly anti-racist discipleship; equipping local churches to engage their communities, particularly those for whom the church has become irrelevant, recognizing a diverse mission field; and lifting up and creating local, contextual resources globally. Campbell has been instrumental in the creation of resources supporting the See All the People initiative which invites leaders to stop trying to fix their church and start seeing the people that God calls us to reach.

Rev. Campbell joined Discipleship Ministries in 2013 as Executive Director of Conference Relationships, helping the agency build relationships with conference leaders, while coordinating the strategy for agency presence during annual conference season. Campbell created the One Matters Award to be in partnership with conferences encouraging churches to focus on making disciples.

Rev. Campbell is a servant leader, speaker, teacher, and ordained elder of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. Campbell teaches Intentional Discipleship Systems and Community Engagement in seminaries, annual conferences, districts, and local churches, challenging United Methodist leaders to make the mission of making disciples and transforming communities the center of all that we do.

Campbell earned his Bachelor of Arts in English, Linguistics, and Speech from the University of Mary Washington, and his Master of Divinity from Drew Theological School where he was awarded the Alton Raynor Prize for Town & Country Ministry. Prior to serving at Discipleship Ministries, Rev. Campbell served as pastor of The United Methodist Church in Wayne, and Wharton United Community Church at St. John’s.

Rev. Campbell and his family participate in the life and ministries of Glendale United Methodist Church in Nashville, TN.

Rev. Dr. M. Scott Hughes
Associate General Secretary, World Service

Scott is the Associate General Secretary (World Service) of Discipleship Ministries. Previously Scott served as Executive Director, Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship, and came to Discipleship Ministries after service as associate pastor at Douglasville First United Methodist Church for nine years and pastor at the Barnesville Circuit (Milner, Marvin, Prospect) for four years. Scott has an MDiv from Asbury Theological Seminary and a DMin in the spiritual formation track from Southern Methodist University. Scott is from the Atlanta area, is a graduate of West Georgia University, and has been an elder in the North Georgia Conference since 2007. Scott has helped create the “Small Groups in the Wesleyan Way” podcast and several online courses, including “Basics of Faith Formation,” “Courageous Conversations,” and “Courageous Conversations: Racism.” Scott has also led training in small groups and intentional discipleship systems.

While on staff at Douglasville First United Methodist Church, Scott started the contemporary worship service and was the associate pastor for spiritual formation. Scott lives in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and attends Providence United Methodist Church with his family. He has been married for twenty-three years and has two boys, ages nineteen and seventeen.

Janet Jamieson
Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer

Janet Jamieson has a passion for working with congregations and clergy to develop faithful and transparent ways of dealing with money in the church. She is a Certified Public Accountant with experience in both public accounting firms and in higher education. She was Associate Professor of Accounting and the Director of Summer School at the University of Dubuque for fourteen years. She currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer for The United Methodist Church General Board of Discipleship and The Upper Room. Janet is married to Philip Jamieson and together they have authored two books on money in the church:

• Ministry and Money: A Practical Guide for Pastors (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2009), and
• The United Methodist Guidelines for Finance Committees (Abingdon Press, 2016 and 2012).

Janet holds a B.A. from Asbury University and a M.S. in Accounting from Bentley College. In addition to writing, the Jamiesons speak extensively on matters related to stewardship, giving, financial reporting, transparency, and clergy tax for numerous denominations.

Bill Overby
Chief Information Officer

Bill Overby oversees the agency’s Information Technology needs. Prior to joining Discipleship Ministries in 2016, Bill served in multiple capacities in the healthcare IT space, including serving as CIO of a healthcare system in Minnesota and CTO of a medical manufacturer in southern California.

Bill and his wife, Luann, live just south of McMinnville, Tennessee. They have two daughters who attend school in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Knoxville, Tennessee. They enjoy hiking, camping, and traveling. Bill has degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Superior, in finance and business administration.

Brenda Lockhart
Executive Office Manager for the General Secretary/CEO

Brenda Lockhart began her career at Discipleship Ministries as a temporary staff member of the former United Methodist Youth Organization (UMYO) and was among the first staff hired for the newly formed Young People’s Ministries division. During her time with the Division on Ministries with Young People (DMYP), she administered the David W. Self and Richard S. Smith (undergraduate) Scholarships, the (international) Youth Service Fund, and Grants for Ministries with Young People. She transitioned to the General Secretary’s Office in 2008.

An active United Methodist, Brenda serves as an at-large member to the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Annual Conference. She has served on the boards of directors for the Nashville Emmaus and the Nashville Chrysalis Communities. She is an advanced certified member of PAUMCS (Professional Administrators in the United Methodist Connectional Structure) and serves on the national executive committee as vice president. Brenda holds a bachelor of science in professional studies with a concentration in organizational leadership from Middle Tennessee State University and an associate of science in business and commerce from Volunteer State Community College. She and her husband, Cy, live in Hermitage, Tennessee.

Rev. Dr. M. Scott Hughes
Associate General Secretary, World Service

Scott is the Associate General Secretary (World Service) of Discipleship Ministries. Previously Scott served as Executive Director, Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship, and came to Discipleship Ministries after service as associate pastor at Douglasville First United Methodist Church for nine years and pastor at the Barnesville Circuit (Milner, Marvin, Prospect) for four years. Scott has an MDiv from Asbury Theological Seminary and a DMin in the spiritual formation track from Southern Methodist University. Scott is from the Atlanta area, is a graduate of West Georgia University, and has been an elder in the North Georgia Conference since 2007. Scott has helped create the “Small Groups in the Wesleyan Way” podcast and several online courses, including “Basics of Faith Formation,” “Courageous Conversations,” and “Courageous Conversations: Racism.” Scott has also led training in small groups and intentional discipleship systems.

While on staff at Douglasville First United Methodist Church, Scott started the contemporary worship service and was the associate pastor for spiritual formation. Scott lives in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and attends Providence United Methodist Church with his family. He has been married for twenty-three years and has two boys, ages nineteen and seventeen.

Rev. Dr. Bener Baysa Agtarap
Executive Director, Community Engagement & Church Planting/Path 1; Director, Connectional Mobilization

Rev. Dr. Bener Baysa Agtarap is an ordained elder of the California-Nevada Annual Conference. He is serving as Executive Director of Community Engagement & Church Planting/ Path1 and as Director of ConnectionalMobilization. His work experience of more than thirty years with all levels of the United Methodist Church structure has established him as a seasoned church planter, church administrator, project manager, and executive officer. He has a passion for discovering new and creative ideas with cohorts of leaders working together to fulfill the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. He was born in Manila, Philippines, on February 17, 1962. He has been married to his wife, Clarita, for thirty-five years, and they have three children: Sola, Kairos, and Kiyah, and two grandchildren, Eliana Rein and Aleiah Claire.

Naomi Annandale
Executive Director of Research and Strategic Evaluation

Naomi’s three-person team seeks to help make Discipleship Ministries a stronger, smarter organization offering valuable service to the church. Naomi is an ordained elder in the Upper New York Annual Conference, where she led two churches; she serves on the conference’s council on finance and administration.

Naomi has a PhD in religion, psychology and culture from Vanderbilt University, where she developed a theology of disability that focused on the concept and practice of care as a ministry of the church. She has expertise in qualitative and quantitative research and teaches program evaluation in one of Vanderbilt’s doctoral programs. A former journalist, she has years of experience as an award-winning writer and editor at numerous newspapers across the United States. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Edwin, a seventeen-year-old son, Ian, ten chickens, three dogs, and one cat. Her older son, Gabriel, is a student at The College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio – and she misses him terribly.

Rev. Dr. Mike Bowie
National Executive Director, Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century

Rev. Dr. Mike Bowie has effectively led urban, cross-racial, small, and large congregations throughout the connection. He is an innovative, visionary, and passionate servant leader. Dr. Bowie received his Master of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology and his Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary. Dr. Bowie is married to Jeannette; he is a proud father to Lauren and Trey and a grandfather to Karter and Cade. An author, Dr. Bowie has co-written with Dr. Stephen Handy, Dare to Shift: Challenging Leaders to a New Way of Thinking. He echoes the sentiments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "The local church is still the hope of the world."

C. Blake Davis
Executive Director of Marketing & Delivery

A Tennessee native, Blake grew up in a family business helping develop and run the world's largest homeschooling mail-order supply company, answering customer support calls as early as age six.

In his teens, he began specializing in digital communications, leading to more than two decades of running a successful media and communications business in California and Tennessee and receiving accolades such as a Telly award.

Blake began working with Discipleship Ministries in 2006 as an independent contractor through his business; and in January 2022, he joined the staff, managing the marketing and delivery (communications) team. A father of two, Blake is an elder at his local church. A master gardener, he also enjoys writing, woodworking, and landscape architecture.

Rev. Claudine Leary
Director of Fund Development at Discipleship Ministries

Rev. Claudine Leary serves as the Director of Fund Development at Discipleship Ministries. An ordained elder in the West Ohio Annual Conference, she holds both an MBA from Fairmont State University and a Master of Divinity from Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO).

Rev. Leary's career includes roles such as Director of Development at MTSO, where she headed major fundraising campaigns and founded Watoto Read, an initiative program that supports education in African refugee camps. Her extensive global experience and entrepreneurial expertise significantly enhance the fund development strategies at Discipleship Ministries.

Rev. Leary is committed to advancing Discipleship Ministries' mission of equipping world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ.

Diana Sanchez-Bushong
Executive Director, Worship Ministries; Director, Music Ministries

Diana Sanchez-Bushong is the Executive Director of Worship Ministries and Director of Music Ministries at Discipleship Ministries. She grew up in San Antonio, Texas, singing from the age of five. She earned a bachelor of music education degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in music in choral conducting from Southern Methodist University, a master of sacred music degree from Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Texas, Austin. She has served in several churches and at the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, where she worked with the Hymnal Revision Committee to develop The United Methodist Hymnal, 1989. In addition, Diana helped develop the 1992 United Methodist Book of Worship, and Mil Voces para Celebrar, 1996, an official United Methodist hymnal for Spanish-speaking churches. She served as the volume editor for The Hymns of the United Methodist Hymnal (Abingdon, 1989) and authored Your Ministry of Planning and Leading Hymn Festivals (Discipleship Resources, 1990). Most recently, she has served on the editorial team for a new Spanish-language worship resource, Fiesta Jubilosa (Abingdon, 2022), and she was also a contributor Forming Disciples Through Worship (Discipleship Ministries, 2020). She has written extensively on hymnody and music in worship, including the article ,“Latin American Hymnody, USA” in the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Diana enjoys teaching and has taught “Culto de Adoracion y los Sacramentos” for the Course of Study Program. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at Belmont University in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry.

Chris Wilterdink
Executive Director, Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship; Director, Young People’s Ministries

Chris is the Executive Director of Congregational Vitality and Intentional Discipleship and the Director of Young People’s Ministries. Chris’s roles in ministry were based at the local church for more than twelve years, where his bachelor’s degree in English education and master’s degree in non- profit management shaped his approach to ministry. Father of two awesome kids, husband to an amazing wife, and an outdoor enthusiast, he was written several books, including Building Spiritual Muscle, Everyday Discipleship: Covenant Discipleship with Youth, and most recently the eBook series, “Crash Courses in Youth Ministry.”

Suzanne M. Winton
Assistant to the World Service Associate General Secretary

Prior to arriving at Discipleship Ministries, Suzanne launched, built, owned, and managed a multi-million-dollar franchise from 1989 to 2008, Allegiance Staffing. She was featured in Successful Franchising, Business Nashville, and Business Opportunities Journal. She was selected to appear in all Allegiance national ads in Entrepreneur Magazine and was awarded the company’s highest honor - The Founder’s Award. Suzanne sold the company in 2008 and sought to serve Christ and the church.

Suzanne is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University in New York, with a language double major and minor in business. Suzanne is married to David, a retired United Methodist pastor, and together they have three children, two grandchildren, and a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Beauregard.