Recommended Coaches

Phil Maynard

Phil Maynard has over 20 years serving local congregations and now serves as the Director of Congregational Excellence in the Florida Conference, in addition to being the Coaching Network Coordinator for Path 1. A major focus of his work with the Florida Conference is the training of coaches for all applications including New Church Starts, Congregational Transformation, Discipleship Coaching, and Leadership. Phil is a frequent speaker at training workshops; an author; and a ministry coach to Church Planters, Pastors, Congregational Developers, and District Superintendents. His calling is to walk with leaders in the church to help them develop strong leadership practices and healthy and missional congregations for the Kingdom. [email protected].

Iosmar Alvarez

Dr. Alvarez serves as Senior Pastor for Fuente De Avivamiento/Spring of Revival with 400+ members and 70 home churches. Dr Alvarez trains leaders nationwide on how to plant churches and develop church cultures and processes to make disciples. Dr. Alvarez pastors these wonderful churches along with his wife Zulayne Alvarez, who supports and helps him in carrying the vision to the future generations.

Dr. Iosmar Alvarez is a native of Cuba who came to the United States in 2001. God began to work in his life as he began to serve as a local pastor in the Kentucky Conference in 2002. A veterinarian by profession, who is an Ordained Elder of the Kentucky Annual Conference, he has been passionately serving God by planting worshiping congregations and making disciples. In the last 10 years, he has planted three Hispanic Churches, and is launching 3 more in 2014.

Pastor Iosmar Alvarez graduated from Garret Theological Seminary, finished his Master in Divinity from United Theological Seminary, Dayton Ohio. In addition, he earned another master's degree in Christian Leadership in 2012 from Lindsey Wilson College. He won the Harry Denman Evangelism Award in 2013. Today, Dr Alvarez is working on his second Doctorate degree at Asbury Theological Seminary. [email protected].

Marc Brown

Marc Brown is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church.He has served 24 years in pastoral appointments, 7 years as the Richmond District Superintendent. He is in his sixth year as the Director of Connectional Ministries of the Virginia Conference.

Marc’s pastoral appointments resulted in 50-100% increases in worship and giving. He has provided supervisory leadership with new church starts and is overseeing the implementation of the Virginia Conference’s “All Things New” leadership initiative to start new faith communities and renew existing congregations. Marc is the co-author of the Leader’s Guide and Participant’s Workbook entitled “Does Your Church Have a Prayer? In Mission Toward the Promised Land,” a strategic ministry planning process for congregations. [email protected].

Dirk Elliott

Dirk Elliott is a trained associate certified coach with the International Coaching Federation. He has been working with new church planters for 11 years and has been a part of two successful church plants. In doing so, Dirk has created a two-year planning process to help guide potential church planters.

Dirk is Director of Congregational Development in the Detroit Conference. Prior to accepting the position in Detroit, Dirk was the Director of Congregational Development in the East Ohio Conference for 10 years. Dirk comes to the conference staff after serving 18 years of pastoral ministry in three appointments. A graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary, Dirk is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He is also a trained consultant in Natural Church Development. Dirk is on the Board of Directors for the Bishop Rueben Job Center for Leadership Development Center and serves on the Path 1 Team. Dirk is also an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coach Federation. Dirk has been a part of two new church starts, and a major part of Dirk’s responsibilities include training church planters and coaching new church start projects. [email protected].

Beth Estock

Beth Estock has served rural, city, and suburban churches in her 24 years of ministry in Georgia and Oregon. She also led the development of the New Start Initiative in the Oregon Idaho Conference as the Director of New Faith Communities. She now coaches planters all over the country who are experimenting with new ways of being “the church” with folks who don’t want anything to do with church.

Beth is passionate about transformational experiences, both individual and organizational. She believes we all have the power to be the change that we wish to see in the world and enjoys how this vision plays out organically in the house church network that she is planting. She has used this integral approach to help bring strategic change to the Treasury Department of Nike as well as to the Oregon Idaho Conference. She loves to help people discover their gifts and live from their passion. She believes that the deeper we are rooted in our own sense of self/purpose, the more effective we can be as transformational leaders. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her soulmate and two spirited teenage daughters. She has recently discovered that she loves to run and has competed in her first sprint triathlon. She also enjoys dancing, yoga, gardening, crocheting, and sitting on the front porch with her husband in the late afternoon on warm summer days. [email protected].

Lee Hayward

Lee Hayward is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, andhe serves as a minister of leadership development and executive coaching. Lee is one of eight coaches endorsed by the UMC Endorsing Agency and is ICF certified. He pastored UMCs for 25 years in rural, suburban, urban, and multi-cultural settings , including being part of a new church start staff. His work outside the church provides a fresh and robust view of the churched and unchurched we are called to serve.

Lee graduated from Pacific School of Religion with an M.Div. and an M.A. in interpersonal conflict management in the local church. He also worked beyond the local church in manufacturing, government, and financial services, becoming bilingual in faith/business language, being able to readily identify connections with the unchurched in the secular arena. He lives in California with his wife of 38 years. When he's not coaching planters and churches, he coaches mission controllers, astronauts, and engineers at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. [email protected].

Cheri Holdridge

Cheri Holdridge loves to coach church planters and community entrepreneurs. After being a leader in the launch or turn-around of four worship services or new church starts, Cheri now uses her experience to coach others in a variety of settings. She is the planter of The Village Church, Toledo, Ohio, which meets in a movie theater. The Village is most known for creating a welcoming environment for people historically marginalized by organized Christianity. With more than twenty years ministry experience, Cheri specializes in coaching heartland pastors with a focus on building progressive community, urban church planting, and helping established churches launch new worship services. Some of the aspects of planting that Cheri can help with include: networking, fund-raising and budgeting, vision casting, community service, and outreach. Cheri is the convener of the Network of Progressive Church Planters with Epicenter Group. She is a graduate of Candler School of Theology, McMurry University, and she studied at the University of Durham, England. [email protected].

Matthew Johnson

Matt Johnson is a UM elder in the Kentucky Annual Conference who is planting The Community, a network of missional communities located throughout Northern Kentucky. Matt loves to coach planters and help them think about new ways to reach new people. Matt brings experience from a wide variety of settings and is constantly on the lookout for the places and ways that God is moving. Matt is married to Beth and loves to attend baseball games in his spare time. [email protected].

Brad Kalajainen

Brad Kalajainen is the founding pastor at Cornerstone Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Cornerstone began in 1990 and is now the largest UMC church in the Michigan area. The Cornerstone Church has been a teaching church for the last 10 years. Brad has served for the last few years as a consultant to the new church development team and has coached many planters. [email protected].

John Kenney

John is a church planter and ordained elder in The North Georgia Conference. He currently pastors a multisite church. He has a passion for starting new worship services, churches, and ministries. His strengths include entrepreneurial leadership, preaching/communicating, and helping individuals and churches “connect the dots” for maximized effectiveness in ministry to their communities. John is married with four kids. [email protected].

Marg Kutz

Marg Kutz is a United Methodist pastor in the Virginia Conference where she has served as a local church pastor for nearly 40 years. Every church she served grew during her pastorate. In her spare time, she enjoys art, gardening, and the out of doors. Marg is married and has two children and two grandchildren. She received her M.Div. from Wesley Theological Seminary (1976) and her D. Min. from Virginia Union University Proctor School of Theology (2007). [email protected].

Kay Kotan

Kay Kotan currently serves as the Director of Congregational Development for the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church. Her responsibilities include congregational revitalization, new church starts, and leadership development. She is a CoachU and Advanced Coach U Graduate, an accredited coach (Professional Certified Coach – PCC) with the International Coaching Federation, certified Path 1 coach, and once served on the faculty at Coaching4Clergy. As a passionate lay person, she has worked in corporate America and was a business owner for more than 20 years. Kotan has been serving churches, pastors, conferences, and judicatory leaders for the past decade. She is most proud to be the wife of Bob for 25 years and the mother of their 22 year-old son, Cameron. Kay is the author of multiple books/workbooks including Gear Up: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church, Mission Possible: Structuring Your Church for Missional Effectiveness, Full Schedules, Barren Souls as well as the co-author of the book entitled, Insights on Productivity, Strategic Ministry Planning, Renovate or Die – Ten Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, Ministry 3.0 and Get Their Name , Ten Prescriptions for a Healthy Church and Necessary Nine – Nine Things Effective Pastors Do Differently. Mrs. Kotan spends her time investing in pastors, laity leaders, churches, and judicatory leaders in teaching, coaching, creating resources, and moving them into greater effectiveness and fruitfulness in their ministries to reach more people for Jesus Christ. She is an enthusiastic and passionate presenter who challenges her workshop participates in both their thinking and their doing. Feel free to visit her website at www.KayKotan.com. Email: [email protected].

Christie Latona

Christie Latona has been involved with the Path 1 movement since before its inception as a facilitator and coach. She brings 18 years of organizational development, leadership and organizational coaching experience in both profit and nonprofit settings. She collaborates with individuals and teams who are committed to transform their faith-based organizations in innovative ways. [email protected].

Rev. Dr. Eliseo A. Mejia

Eliseo A. Meija serves as a certified Path 1 Coach, and as the National Director of Expresiones Divinas multiplying new churches as Fresh Expressions born in the context where people live, work, and enjoy recreation.

He guides a wide variety of architects in different cultural settings and countries through all phases of the innovative progression of endeavors from inception to completion. He brings a comprehensive range of skills and interests. He has a deep passion for Christ and a deep-rooted love for God, a thirst for knowledge and growth, and a loving heart to serve others. He planted four churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and over seventeen churches in Kentucky.

Dr. Mejia has coached over 800 new and seasoned leaders in the past twenty-six years in the USA and internationally. He has been able to implement new designs in Texas, where he planted four congregations. He has used the Incubator model during the last nineteen years to train and launch new church planters who are reproducing a second, and third generations of church planters.

He is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. He is an ordained elder in the Kentucky Annual Conference, where he serves as the Senior pastor at Paris First UMC.

In addition to his coaching skills, he served as the President of The National Association of Hispanic UMC Leaders. He was the founder and director of H.I.L.T. (Hispanic international Leadership Training). In Guatemala, under his guidance, Jeriel church became the first transcultural missionary sending church.

He holds two master’s degrees: one from Central American Theological Seminary (1980), and from Dallas Theological Seminary (1986). He holds a Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary, with a focus on Leadership Formation, Preaching, and Global missions.

Emails: [email protected], [email protected].

Paul Nixon

Paul Nixon is author of four books on church leadership, the latest of which is titled: Finding Jesus on the Metro: And Other Surprises Doing Church in a New Day. Paul serves part time on the Path 1 team and part time as a mission developer working with young urban adults in the Washington DC area. Previously, he served as Director of Congregational Development for the Alabama-West Florida Conference and as the founding pastor of the Soundside Campus of Gulf Breeze UMC in northwest Florida. [email protected].

Jeff Olive

Jeff Olive started and pastored a new church for six years. He has coached church planters in several annual conferences over the past four years and is a Path 1 recommended coach. Currently he is the Director of New Church Starts for the Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Through his coaching with church planters, he hopes to be part of guiding church planters and new congregations to fulfill their God given vision. [email protected].

Steve Petty

Steve began his part-time consulting career in 1986 after training with Kennon Callahan. Dealing with 83 churches in a variety of setting for the past seven years as the District Planning and Strategy Chair inspired Steve to go back into coaching and consulting when he retired from the Methodist ministry after 43 years. During his pastoral ministry Steve served churches in a variety of settings and sizes. He also founded a new church without aid from the denomination: the church was chartered within a year. A successful author, columnist, coach and speaker, Steve’s greatest passion is helping pastors and churches to thrive and excel. Steve lives in San Clemente, CA and enjoys riding bikes, umpiring baseball, gardening and being “Papa” to his nine grandchildren. [email protected].

Rosario Picardo

Rosario or “Roz” as his friends refer him to is a very regular dude. Roz has a special place in his heart for church planters because he is one. Roz is the founder of Embrace Church in Lexington, Kentucky, that has multiplied into 3 different communities with hopefully more to come. Roz earned an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and is an ordained elder in The Kentucky Annual Conference. Rosario is experienced in both suburban and urban church planting/restarts. Recently, Roz completed his first book, Embrace: A Church Plant That Broke All The Rules. [email protected].

Jim Robey

Jim Robey is a United Methodist Elder and a Life Coach. Included in his coaching are his humor, life experiences, 39 years of ministry, love for God and the church, and profound commitment to helping others grow in their ministry and in their connection to God. Jim has served large, medium and small membership churches for 30 years (including two new church starts). In 2004 he created Attentional Growth Inc, a non-profit organization PROVIDING LIFE-ENRICHING EXPERIENCES through Coaching, Leadership Development and Seminars. As a coach, Jim is certified through the Coaches Training Institute, credentialed by the International Coach Federation, and endorsed by the United Methodist Endorsing Agency of the UMC. His coaching clients have included persons in the United States, Canada and Europe. Additionally, he is a National Trainer for the Reconciling Ministries Network’s Believe Out Loud campaign, Path 1 Mentor Coach, Coach for the Lead Women Pastor’s program, and Coach provider for the Virginia Conference of the UMC.

Furthermore, Jim teaches classes for the Intentional Growth Center at Lake Junaluska, NC. He is a founding member of Sacred Fire Coaching, which offers coaching and leadership resources across the United Methodist Church, as well as for other denominations, non-profits, and businesses. Jim is one of the founders of the Methodist Coaching Connection, a gathering place for Methodist coaches and those interested in knowing more about coaching. He has taught at EmoryUniversity’s Candler School of Theology for their Church Business Administrators program. He also co-led a Supervision Training Program for District Superintendents at United Theological Seminary.

Jim Robey’s education includes:

• Co-Active Leadership Program, The Coaches Training Institute, 2006-2007.
• Co-Active Coaches Training, The Coaches Training Institute, 2005.
• Pastoral, Marriage & Family Therapy Training Program, Pastoral Care and Counseling, Inc., Birmingham, AL, 2002-2004.
• Doctor of Ministry degree, EmoryUniversity, 1984.
• Graduate Studies, University of Geneva (Switzerland): 27th Session, Ecumenical Institute, 1978-1979.
• Master of Theology degree, Southern Methodist University, 1976.
• Bachelor of Arts degree, (Major in Psychology), Birmingham-SouthernCollege, 1973.

Jim and his wife Betty live in Gulf Shores, Alabama. They are blessed with two daughters, a son-in-law, two grandchildren and 2 dogs. [email protected].

Roger Ross

Roger Ross is, at heart, a church planter. After serving established churches for eight years, he became founding pastor of New Horizon UMC in Champaign, IL, and planted its first daughter church, Quest UMC in Urbana, IL. Roger was recently appointed to First UMC of Springfield, IL. His ministry has included a wide range of missions locally and globally with a focus on the homeless and under-resourced populations. [email protected].

Rodney Smothers

Rodney Smothers has served as a pastor for 28 years; a coach for 20; has planted two churches; has served as an annual conference director of congregational development; and as a director for congregational revitalization at the Discipleship Ministries. His pastoral and coaching experience in multi-cultural, urban and suburban ministry settings provides strategic insight for starting new ministries in the diverse society that we live in today. Rodney believes New Church Development is a God-honoring pathway to make new and renewed disciples of Jesus Christ. [email protected].