Dr. Dennis Baker

DNBaker@aol.com | 562.889.5146

Executive Coach, Transition and Pastoral Placement Specialist

• 20 years of pastoral experience in local churches
• Over 10 years in denominational leadership
• 30 plus years coaching churches and pastors in transition, pastoral search and placement

Dennis Baker, an Oregon native, graduated from BIOLA University and took graduate degrees from Western Seminary (M.Div.), Denver Seminary (M.A.) and the Talbot School of Theology (D. Min). He also completed additional doctoral work at Bethel Theological Seminary.

Ordained in 1972, he recently celebrated his 37th wedding anniversary with his wife, Lynette, who is a registered nurse. They have three adult children: Suzanne (and son-in-law Gabe) Daniel, Rachelle (and son-in-law David) Trigueros, and Meredith (and son-in-law Tom) Wilson.

Dennis served his first ten years of ministry as an Associate Pastor of Christian Education and Youth Ministry in Oregon, Colorado and Massachusetts. The second decade of his ministry was as a Senior Pastor in Minnesota.

From 1987-1993, he was the Regional Executive Director for a church association in Southern California. He ministered as the General Director of CBAmerica, a national association of 1200 churches, from 1993-1997. He served for more than a decade as Director of Placement, Transition and Coaching for EFCA West.

He serves as a Consulting Editor with Leadership Journal. Dr. Baker, the author of a widely used Pastoral Search Manual, is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and The American Society for Church Growth. He was elected to Outstanding Young Men in America and has been listed in Who’s Who in Religion.

His areas of special expertise include pastoral placement, church transitions, ministry consulting and coaching for churches, Christian leaders and Christian organizations.

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.

Denny Ford

Dford360@gmail.com | 949.651.0356

Business Advisor, Coach, Mentor

• 25 years of Public Accounting & Information Systems Consulting
• 15 years of Faith-based Nonprofit Consulting & Management
• 18 years of Christian Higher Education Board Leadership

My Journey

For more than 30 years, I have been helping organizations become more effective in fulfilling their mission and achieving strategic goals. As a CPA, management consultant, pastor, and CFO, I work closely with executives, managers and employees on organizational and personal development; and to design and build solutions that integrate people, processes, and technology.

Prior to joining NextStep Coaching, I was a partner with Wright Ford Young & Co., one of Southern California’s largest CPA firms; and named among “the best 100 accounting firms to work for in the United States” by Accounting Today magazine. Following my career in public accounting, I have led multi-year projects for an international humanitarian and emergency relief organization, international and district denominational organizations, churches, and other businesses and nonprofits. Most recently, I worked for Whittier Area Community Church as Pastor of Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer.

In addition to working with businesses and nonprofits, I enjoy my leadership role in Christian higher education. In 1995, I was elected to the Board of Trustees of Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota; serving eleven years on the Business Affairs, Audit, and Seminary Affairs Committees. Presently, I serve on the Executive Board of Bethel Seminary San Diego.

My wife, Marci, and I live in Irvine, California. Marci is the author and teacher of “In-the-Word”, a comprehensive study of the whole Bible in its literary, historical and cultural context. Marci and I have three adult children who are married and have growing families of their own. Each in our own way, using our unique gifts, Marci and I share a passion for helping women and men become all God designed them be; people who live out their faith with grace; at work, in our community, and at home.

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.

Mike Huber

mike@threecords.org | 303.638.4550

Executive Coach, Organizational Strategist and Ministry Development Specialist

• 22 years experience as CEO of non-profit organizations
• Experienced Small Business Owner
• 33 years experience in local church or church support ministries

My Journey

I was raised, the oldest son in a family of seven children, in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country – Lancaster, PA. I can’t remember a time when “going to church” wasn’t just part of the “Sunday morning ritual.” However, at 18, I came to a personal crisis of faith and surrender to Christ. This watershed experience made such a profound impact on my own life and perspective that I determined to share it with as many other people as possible. My formal education began in Eastern Pennsylvania, progressed through Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon and culminated in San Diego.

After a couple years of college, I was drafted into the US Army, at the height of the Vietnam Conflict. I served as a Chaplain’s Assistant in Saigon and I Corps, near the DMZ. It was a time of intense self-discovery. It was also a time of wonder, that God could use me in someone else’s life as a counselor, consultant and friend.

Most of my vocational experiences have been in Christian ministry, both as a volunteer and in church related ministry positions. However, while in graduate school, I had a job resolving conflicts between moving companies and their clients over broken and damaged furniture. I honed my skills of making peace and honoring both parties in the conflict, utilizing a winsome reasonableness and ability to see potential “third alternatives.”

I have led a campus ministry to high school and college students and served in church ministries to students and their parents, young married couples, senior adults and provided pastoral leadership to congregations in Colorado and Wyoming. For the past 18 years, I have served a denominational district fellowship of self-governing churches. It required a leadership style that depended upon relational equity and mutual trust between lay-leaders and pastors and me. In that time, we doubled the number of constituents and increased the number of churches by nearly 65%.

I have demonstrated capabilities in pastoral placement, training and coaching, as well as church consulting, problem solving, strategic planning and team building.

For the past 28 years, Pam and I have lived in the Rocky Mountain West – both in Colorado and Wyoming. We have three sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren, all of whom live near us in the Rockies.

My Philosophy

I have experienced enough success in life and ministry to give me confidence, first of all in the principles of Scripture as a guide for Leadership and Organization and secondly in my own practical wisdom and insights in leading, resolving problems and conflicts. I’ve experienced enough failure to keep me aware of my own short-comings and to remain dependent upon the One who is the real problem-solver and need-provider. In many ways, the “failures” have proven to be of greater value to me personally than the “successes.”

Obviously, success and effectiveness is important to us in our Western culture. However, I believe that God is even more interested in our success and fruitfulness than we are. He has built it into us to grow and produce, whether as individuals or organizations. If we can discover how to remove the hindrances that prevent our success and align with God’s purposes for us, then success, fulfillment and effectiveness will be the natural results.

God has gifted me with the ability to listen and process with a person or group, naturally order and prioritize the issues at stake and then discover, with them, the solutions and clarify a new direction. I would welcome the opportunity to serve you and your organization in this way.

John Vawter

johnvawter@aol.com | 480.205.0199

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.

Sarah Weeks

sarah.w@nexstepcoaching.org | 678.983.3956

Executive Assistant

Sarah brings a diverse graphics, management, and marketing background in both the corporate and non-profit worlds over the last 15 years. She is gifted in leader development, personal growth, team building, project management, graphic design, brand oversight, event management, and more!

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications from Shippensburg University in Pa., and a Graphic Design certification. She resides with her family in Atlanta, Ga. and away from work, her priorities are being a great wife and mom to three boys, social director for her family, baseball mom, interior decorator, and fitness and nutrition motivator.

Being a highly organized, strategic thinker is a rare combination that enables Sarah to stay organized and serve others well.