Jim Ozier
In 1990, Jim Ozier followed the founder of a 7-year-old church, Trietsch Memorial UMC in Flower Mound, Texas. In his role as the second pastor for this young congregation, he learned first-hand how difficult the transition of pastoral leadership can be when a church has never done it before! When he left nearly 18 years later, the church had grown to more than 4,000 members and helped birth 3 new congregations. In addition, Jim saw how critical the “passing of the baton” is for the successor pastor following a long-tenured pastorate.
Fiona Haworth
Fiona Haworth is an active lay person in the UMC who began her work with Jim Ozier while she was Director of Talent Development at Southwest Airlines. She is currently Director of Learning and Development at Interstate Batteries, where she is responsible to grow its culture, which is grounded in faith and making a difference in the lives of everyone it serves. She brings a laity perspective to Ozier Coaching and specializes in church growth and culture.
Jim Chandler
After nearly 30 years of experience as a pastor and church planter in the Virginia Conference of the UMC, Jim Chandler founded “360intentionality Coaching” in 2016, which he will continue while networking with the Difference Makers Group. Jim also brings valuable insights from his time as a campus pastor and staff member of The Journey Church in New York City — a dynamic multi-site church known for its effective church ministry and small groups systems.
Chad Mattingly
Bringing over 20 years of experience in coaching pastors, Chad offers an expertise as he walks alongside leadership teams in assessing and developing healthy, congregational culture. Healthy culture is the key that empowers leadership and unlocks the vast potential of the local church. Chad is excited to join Jim and the Difference Makers Group in resourcing and equipping church leaders for this challenging and important work.
David Rangel
David brings a long and successful history of training mainly Spanish-speaking pastors and Spanish ministries on the area of preaching, discipleship, leadership and ministry strategies through his own coaching group Momentum. In addition to coaching, he teaches Preaching and Discipleship Formation for the Spanish Course of Study School at Perkins School of Theology.
Liliana Rangel
Liliana brings a wealth of experience to the Difference Makers Group as a dedicated lay person who worked for eleven years as the ministry coordinator for the Center of Church Development of the North Texas Conference. Under this position, she led the revitalization process, The Healthy Church Initiative where she worked with over 60 churches in training churches, conducting audits, and supporting pastors in their effort to revitalize their congregations.
Brad Kalajainen
Brad Kalajainen is nationally known and respected for his creativity and large staff leadership. He recently retired as the founding and lead pastor of Cornerstone UMC in Grand Rapids, MI. Brad’s passion is helping churches recover their vision and effectiveness.
Stephanie Parker
Stephanie Parker brings great hands-on experience to the Difference Makers Group as a 2nd Pastor Following a Founder! She is currently the pastor at The Gathering at Scott Memorial United Methodist Church in Virginia, a church merge that includes a church plant where she is the 2nd pastor.
Serena Eckert
Serena Eckert has served in full-time ministry as a lay person for 20 years. Her experience spans working in the local church, at the conference level, and serving as a ministry revitalization consultant and coach with congregations around the county. She has a passion for inspiring and equipping leadership teams and congregations to embrace new possibilities for fruitful ministry