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.
Stan Copeland
“As I chose to retire after 27 years as the Senior Pastor of Lovers Lane, I prayed God would continue to use me to help other churches and clergy transition to greater and more impactful ministry than ever before. We said every Sunday, ‘God is good all the time…’ and along came Church Difference Makers.”
Before retirement in 2025, The Reverend Doctor Stan Copeland, “Stan” as he prefers to be called, was the 4th Senior Pastor in the 81 years of existence of the Lovers Lane United Methodist Church, in Dallas, Texas.
Fiona Haworth
Fiona Haworth is an active layperson at the United Methodist Church. She 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 Church Difference Makeers 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 group systems.
Yvette Thibodeaux
Yvette is a gifted church coach, consultant, mentor, and workshop presenter. She enjoyed a long career in the corporate world in executive management of marketing, communications, business operations, and organizational strategy.
She has worked with Fortune 500 and 200 companies and nonprofit organizations to increase their effectiveness.
David Rangel
David brings a long and successful history of training mainly Spanish-speaking pastors and Spanish ministries in 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 layperson who worked 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. She worked with over 60 churches in training churches, conducting audits, and supporting pastors 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 United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Brad’s passion is helping churches recover their vision and effectiveness.