Bruce Bugbee

bugbee7@gmail.com | 949.929.1354

Founder & President, Bruce Bugbee & Associates

My Journey
Born in Pittsburgh with a short stay in Montreal, I was then raised in Southern California. After 30 years, I found myself in a small town in northwest Iowa for four years and in Chicago the next eight. I’m back in California.

I am the product of a white suburban worldview and moved to Orange County in 1962. My love for people and diversity has given me unique experiences where differences are opportunities for learning and understanding. For 35 years, my apostolic gifting and cross-cultural orientation has enabled me to publish, teach, consult, equip leaders and build teams with a wide variety of people, churches and denominations. I have served and led in a variety of large/small, city/rural and multicultural congregations here, as well as in Kenya, Brazil, Wales, South Africa, etc.

I have been leading and developing people, teams and organizations since high school. My entrepreneurial eyes lead me to be a starter, developer and problem solver that desires to “crack the code” to take a person, ministry or organization to the next step. I see the value of systems… and the interdependent relationships that must be healthy and harmonious for meaningful, effective and productive lives.

I am the founder/president of Bruce Bugbee & Associates, Network Ministries International and well as Network MISSIONS International. My 40 years of ministry experience, leadership and writings find their expression in and through these organizations with teaching, coaching, training and mentoring.

The books I published have expanded my coaching and consulting experiences. This journey has drawn me into a wide variety of opportunities, problems and challenges. Much of what I do is being a cultural architect... assuring there are healthy relationships, appropriate protocols and purposeful structures to serve the people in the organization so they can be fruitful and fulfilled.

Why do I do what I do? A friend says years ago, “My fruit grows on other people’s tree.” That’s me. I want to see others do their best and to maximize their God-given potential. Everyone is God’s “10”…somewhere! I seek to get the right people in the right places for the right reasons at the right time. To do that effectively, I’m committed to equipping leaders who can build and lead people and teams that are being faithful, fruitful and fulfilled.

I enjoy my four children and eight grandkids with all their partners and friends.

Doug Gillaspie

Doug.Gillaspie@comcast.net | 224.412.0799

Executive Coach and Organizational Strategist

• Over 30 years in church leadership
• 30 years experience information technology
• 20 years as a small business owner and entrepreneur
• 6 years coaching non-profit organizations around the world

My Journey

I was born on the east coast but raised and have resided in the Midwest most of my life. I grew up as the son of the pastor in a small Wisconsin town. I often think of this early context as similar to living life in a fish bowl. In many ways I was the classic PK. Though not overtly rebellious, apathy and hypocrisy were the hallmarks of my life in my youth.

Through God’s providence and the patience of a Godly wife I have been walking with Christ since my mid 20’s. During this transformational period God revealed leadership gifts that, to that point, had gone undetected.

My ministry life has always been in the role of lay leader in my local church. This experience has spanned three decades and includes leading a 100+ year-old church from the brink of extinction to new growth and vitality. This process was both excruciating and exhilarating. Along the way I have launched numerous specific ministries and been involved in leading numerous capital campaigns.

My professional background includes over 28 years in the field of information technology. I founded and operated a successful IT consulting business for nearly 18 of those years. An additional 10 years were spent in various IT management roles for a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical corporation where I managed a staff of over 70 people and budgets in excess of $7 million.

My passion is the local church. There is nothing more exciting or powerful than a local church committed to making a difference for Christ in the community they serve. I live by the belief and philosophy that every church or ministry can be fruitful regardless of their circumstances. Since 2006 I have had the privilege of doing ministry coaching and consulting with churches, schools and mission organizations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Kenya, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Frank Green

FGreen10@nc.rr.com | 919.244.8213

Personal Coach, Counselor, Church Leadership Specialist

My Journey

Though currently a resident of Wake Forest, North Carolina, I am a native Californian born in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles. I have degrees from Westmont College (Santa Barbara), Fuller Seminary (Pasadena) and National University (San Diego County).

My pastoral experience includes ministry in Pasadena, California; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Ramona, California. While still in the context of parish ministry my ability and passion for counseling grew, leading me to formal training as a Marriage and Family Therapist.

From Parish Ministry to Counseling

I counseled in my own private practice in San Diego County for more than a decade. My family and I moved in 1990 to Wake Forest, North Carolina and established the Charis Foundation. These past 12 years have found me serving as primary counselor for Charis and maintaining an extensive community-based counseling practice. Charis offers two-week small group counseling programs called “Intensives.” Over the years I have worked with many couples on personal, marital and ministry issues.

It’s been my privilege to teach in various settings. While living in California I was adjunct Professor of Pastoral Care at Bethel Seminary (San Diego), where I administered the seminary’s psychological testing programs. I currently serve as adjunct Professor of Pastoral Care at Bethel Theological Seminary in the Doctor of Ministry program at their campuses in Minneapolis and San Diego.

For a number of years I have taught courses at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. In addition, I have spoken at many seminars, workshops and retreats and teach a weekly Sunday School class in my home church in Wake Forest.

From Counseling to Coaching

It is exciting to see how my years as a counselor have prepared me for coaching. My years of counseling pastors, business leaders and entrepreneurs has taught me not only about helping people grow but also a great deal about the organizations they lead. My understanding of family systems theory also gives me insight into organizational systems. In coaching I am able to bring each of these areas of expertise to bear for the benefit of clients.

My wife, Susan, is a nurse at Duke University Hospital. Two of our three daughters are married and live with our grandchildren near us. Our third daughter is working toward her Doctorate in Marriage and Family Counseling. For fun and exercise I play racquetball and tennis. For peace of mind I play my trumpet and walk my dog, Buster.

Dr. Bill Hoyt

bill@hoythome.net | 626.893.5083

Executive Coach and Organizational Strategist

• 39 years experience as CEO of non-profit organization
• 25 years experience teaching communication and leadership on both Masters and Doctoral levels
• 81 years combined experience serving on 13 Corporate Boards

My Journey

My physical journey led from the East Coast, through the Midwest, to the West Coast of the United States.

My cultural journey began with my roots firmly planted in the white, middle class soil of New England. I have been enriched through the years by exposure to and involvement with the African-American community, Hispanic and Filipino cultures in the United States. For more than a decade I have grown in my understanding of cross-cultural communication and relationships through significant involvement in Latvia, Estonia and in Asia, particularly Vietnam and Japan. I am energized by understanding people in the context of their culture, be it regional, ethnic or corporate.

My vocational journey began in the field of corrections working with juvenile offenders. I came to believe that effecting real change in people's lives required a holistic approach that included addressing their spiritual needs. I left corrections for full time Christian ministry where I provided pastoral leadership to congregations in South Dakota, Minnesota and Southern California. I believe health and productivity flow from who we are - and that we cannot fully understand who we are without spiritual roots. I celebrate with those who discover the delight and power of living God-focused lives.

My consulting journey consists of more than twenty years of consulting with pastors, congregational lay leaders and denominational leaders as well as CEO's of both small businesses and not-for-profit corporations. I have developed a sophisticated church health assessment survey and process which has been used in over 500 congregations in the United States and Europe.

My entrepreneurial journey includes numerous ministry initiatives. I founded UniReach International, a public benefit charity that does humanitarian work in Vietnam. UniReach has trained doctors, special education teachers, helped build two schools for handicapped children and built three playgrounds in poor communities in Vietnam. I also helped found the Charis Foundation, a counseling ministry based in North Carolina and Oregon. I love to dream dreams with others and then work with them in charting a path that leads to the realization of those dreams.

My coaching journey finds me partnering with today's leaders for tomorrow's success. Coaching is, for me, the convergence of who I am, what I have done and what I have learned over the past three and a half decades. I would count it a privilege to partner with you on your journey.

My Philosophy

I am a coach, mentor, and teacher who delights in giving away anything I have learned if it will help another live a more satisfied and effective life.

Mature, productive people do not like or need to be told what to do. They do value partners who will walk with them on a journey, who will listen, encourage and occasionally shed some light on a darkened spot. The most productive way to help others become better at life than me is not as an "answer man" but as a coach who listens with insight, guides with questions and shares experience and resources that have proven helpful to myself and others.

Gwyn Hoyt

gwyn@hoythome.net | 626.893.5081

Executive Coach, Organizational and Ministry Development Specialist

My Journey

My life’s journey has taken me from coast-to-coast. I was born and raised in Connecticut, having lived in the Midwest and now reside in California. This geographical span gave opportunity to observe and live in three distinctly different cultures. In those places I have found myself in diverse roles – small business owner, fund-raiser, executive assistant, pastor’s wife and mother. This experience in diversity helps me in both life and coaching.

My experience of more than two decades as a Senior Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics shaped me in three significant ways. I learned how to sell, how to develop and operate a business, and how to train and empower others. It was while working in Mary Kay that my passion for helping others grow and achieve their objectives gained intensity. That desire to train and empower others has long out-lived my career in Mary Kay.

In order to grow in my ability to run my own business and to better help others, I returned to college in 1992. In 1994 I graduated with honors and a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Studies. I had the rare privilege of marching just ahead of my younger son as we both received our bachelor’s degrees on the same day from the same college.

Recent years have found me in the field of development, raising funds for four organizations – the Southwest Baptist Conference, Interdev (an international mission agency), UniReach International (a public charity doing humanitarian work in Asia) and ScholarLeaders, an organization that helps proven leaders from third world countries obtain their PhD degrees.

Having been a pastor’s wife, I have been around not-for-profit organizations all my adult life. I have served in numerous ministry and leadership roles and am intimately aware of how non-profits operate.

My journey cannot be described without talking of my love affair with books. A life-long, voracious reader, I count Henri Nouwen, C. S. Lewis, Brennan Manning, Oswald Chambers, Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Thomas Merton, John Ortberg, and Philip Yancey among my literary friends.

My journey into coaching has been surprising. Over the years many women have allowed me the privilege of mentoring and coaching them unofficially. Whenever someone encouraged me to become a coach, I dismissed it thinking, “I will leave the coaching to my husband.” Over time I was approached by a growing number of women with requests for coaching. With experience came evidence that I not only enjoyed coaching, but I am effective in that role. It has been easy and natural to transition into a coaching career.

My Philosophy

Neither an expert nor a counselor, I am a fellow traveler and a partner with you in your growth. I ask more than I tell. Without a doubt we learn our most enduring life lessons by discovering the answer to an insightful question. Without a doubt we discover our best answers when guided by an understanding, experienced, effective coach. My task as your coach is to listen well, ask the right questions, point you to helpful resources, provide the benefit of my own experience, and hold you accountable to your own stated coaching goals.

I would love to meet you and walk the path of growth with you.

My husband Bill is the President of NexStep Coaching and Consulting. We have been married 49 years and have two married sons and six grandchildren.

Derek Maxson

Executive Coach and Organizational Strategist

• 9 years in student ministry and as executive pastor
• 16 years as church board member | 14 years on other nonprofit boards
• 23 years as technology business founder and leader

My Journey

I was raised in Southern California in a great community by loving parents and attended a church that helped me to grow in my faith as a student. I wanted to pursue a path in full-time vocational ministry. Unexpectedly, the Lord directed me on a different path, but one closely connected with local church ministry and leadership in many ways.

I received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Multnomah University and spent 8 years in student ministry. While working as a part-time student ministry leader, I co-founded Front Porch, a technology company working in the cable and mobile internet industry and in educational technology.

During my time as a student and executive pastor, I served God in small town, suburban and metro churches. Each student ministry grew through an emphasis on outreach and spiritual formation. As an executive and associate pastor, I’ve been responsible for overseeing staff and finances, adult ministries, and working on initiatives for developing new ministries and services.

Over a ten-year period, I’ve been privileged to travel and teach as an adjunct instructor for a Bible college in East Africa, teaching Gospel of Matthew and Old Testament Survey & Biblical Theology.

My introduction to NexStep came while serving as board chairman during the search to replace our 40-year founding pastor upon his retirement. NexStep Associate Dennis Baker coached our church and our new pastor over many years.

Much of my experience in the tech industry enriches my ministry as a lay leader, coach, and consultant. Helpful lessons were learned as Front Porch grew from a start-up to almost 100 employees both nationally and internationally. We had to raise more than $20 million in venture capital. We had to navigate the dotcom crash to become profitable now for over 20 years. In addition to a time as President, I served as Chief Technology Officer and on an interim basis, led our math education division (Get More Math) while mentoring my eventual replacement.

My wife of 30+ years, Christy, is a marriage and family therapist. I am the proud father of three adult daughters. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, mountain biking, pickle ball and quoting Star Wars movies.

John Vawter

johnvawter@aol.com 

Executive Coach

My Journey
I have degrees from the University of Oregon, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Bethel Seminary. After 10 years of ministry with Campus Crusade (including 3 years as the Northwest Area Director) I entered pastoral ministry. My senior pastorates were in the suburbs of Minneapolis where we grew from 200 to 1000 and Tempe, AZ where we served 2000 people. Along my journey I also have had the privilege of serving as president of both Western Seminary and Phoenix Seminary. My wife and I reside in Scottsdale, AZ.

In 1999 I formed You’re Not Alone, Inc. to help pastors and Christian workers whose kids abuse alcohol and other drugs. We now have a daily radio program that is heard on over 300 stations and a website (www.notalone.org) that is proving to be very helpful to parents.

I have had the privilege of consulting churches as well as serving as Strategic Interim Senior Pastor at five churches ranging in size from 300 to 2500.

My Emphasis and Focus
My emphasis has always been two-fold….Leadership and Vision. Leadership always depends on leader development, overcoming hindrances to leadership (both internal and external), knowing oneself as a leader and being smart and strategic in using one’s resources. Vision always depends on clarity of thought, understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in setting and fulfilling vision, realizing the stages of developing and fulfilling a vision and recognizing that vision includes the ingredients of motivation, mobilization and stabilization.

My Passion and Experience
Wherever I have been privileged to lead I have focused on helping the church or organization to rethink the “Why?” question. Why are we here? What are we supposed to do? Are we doing it? Could we do it better? What are we doing that we are not supposed to be doing?

As a consultant and strategic interim senior pastor I have had the privilege of helping churches focus on those “why?” questions. Unfortunately, not everyone is always on board…or, in agreement with the vision and direction of the church. As pastors and leaders, we care for people and want them to grow. But, sadly, sometimes we have to confront people and even discipline them if they grow divisive. This is not a fun part of leadership but it is a necessary part.

When the dust settles, it is very rewarding to look in retrospect to see what God has done through the pastor and leader who has helped a church move forward. This progress is always empowered by the Holy Spirit; it always encompasses vision, energy and focus.

I find it a privilege to walk alongside pastors and board members who are convinced God has more He wants to do through their churches and them.