Wesley Pilgrimage 2024

Rev. Steven W. Manskar, D. Min., is an ordained elder of the Minnesota Conference of The United Methodist Church. He served congregations in Maryland, Minnesota, and Michigan. From 1999 until 2018, he worked in Nashville, Tennessee, at Discipleship Ministries as Director of Wesleyan Leadership. In 2003, Steve partnered with friends at Sarum College in Salisbury, England, to begin the annual Wesley Pilgrimage in England. Manskar is the author of several books, including Disciples Making Disciples: A Guide for Covenant Discipleship Groups and Class Leaders, Accountable Discipleship: Living in God's Household, and Lent & Easter with John & Charles Wesley: A Devotional Guide. Steve retired from full-time ministry in 2021. He continues to enjoy directing the annual Wesley Pilgrimage in England sponsored by Discipleship Ministries and the General Commission on Archives and History. Steve lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife, Gina.

Rev. Paul W. Chilcote, now in retirement, served most recently as Director of the Centre for Global Wesleyan Theology at Wesley House, Cambridge, where he remains a Fellow. A Methodist historian and theologian, he was involved in theological education on three continents, having taught at Wesley College, Bristol, and Wesley House Cambridge (England), St. Paul’s United Theological College (Kenya), the Methodist Theological School (Ohio), Duke Divinity School (North Carolina), Ashland Theological Seminary (Ohio), and having helped launch two new institutions – Africa University (Zimbabwe) and Asbury Theological Seminary (Florida). He is an award-winning author and editor of more than thirty books, including Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit, Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision, A Faith That Sings, The Methodist Defense of Women in Ministry, Making Disciples in a World Parish, Early Methodist Spirituality, Active Faith, Living Hope, Singing the Faith, and Multiplying Love. He is a frequent speaker and workshop leader in applied Wesleyan studies, particularly in the areas of theology, spirituality, and Christian discipleship. He has been a Benedictine oblate of Mt. Angel Abbey for more than twenty-five years. He and his wife, Janet, a retired United Methodist pastor, have five daughters, Sandy, Rebekah, Anna, Mary, and Ruth, and seven grandchildren, Alyssa, Levi, and Theo Brooks, Collin, Oliver, and Elsie Glass, and Isabella Gitonga.

Melanie C. Gordon serves as Director of Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, following serving as a chaplain at Furman. Formerly, she served as a Director of Ministry with Children at Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church, training and resourcing pastors across the United States. She co-authored one of our pilgrimage reading books, Growing Everyday Disciples: Covenant Discipleship with Children. Melanie continues to work with communities in the areas of Ubuntu theology/philosophy and children’s faith formation through the Do.Love.Walk Collective. Her research interests include Ubuntu philosophy, belonging, and the intersection of brain and faith development. Melanie is a fourth-generation educator who has served in various capacities in both public and independent schools, including theatre, religion and ethics, recruitment and admissions, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and family literacy. Melanie loves spending a ridiculous amount of time with family and friends, traveling to unusual places, and life conversations on the screened porch.

Ken Sloane is the UMC's Director of Stewardship & Generosity housed at Discipleship Ministries (GBOD) in Nashville, Tennessee. He is an elder in the Greater New Jersey Conference, where he served more than twenty years in local church ministry (including a successful new church start) and five years as the Director of Connectional Ministries. In 2006, he was appointed to serve as Director of Communications Ministry at United Methodist Communications. He moved into his stewardship role on October 1, 2011. Ken has earned a Certificate in Fund Raising Management (CFRM) from the Lilly School of Philanthropy and an Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising (ECRF) from The Lake Institute. He is the author of the 2017-20 Local Church Guidelines for Stewardship (Cokesbury), and a collaborator on the 2017-20 Guidelines for Finance and a Lay Servant Advanced Course, Connectional Living, Connectional Giving. Ken has written the content for three online courses that he hosts on Discipleship Ministries’ eLearning site: “Disciples Living Generously,” “Generous Church Leadership,” “Creating a Narrative Budget,” and now a fourth course, “Financial Ethics for Church Leaders.” Ken lives in Nashville with his wife, Bridget; they have four grown children.