Meet the Learning and Innovation Team

Chief Learning and Innovation Officer

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Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson is chief learning and innovation officer for TMF. Blair is a facilitator, speaker, writer, and preacher. She facilitates conversations with leaders from across the Wesleyan ecosystem especially in the areas of expanding imagination, discerning purpose, and exercising the Five Muscles.

Blair serves as the Program Director of TMF's two Lilly-funded initiatives: Courageous Congregations Collaborative (C3) and Courageous Leadership Imperative (CLI). Blair is also the creator and producer of Leadership and Innovation's "Igniting Imagination” podcast. Blair is an ordained Elder in the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church and joined TMF in 2020 after a decade in pastoral ministry. She completed her dissertation on pilgrimage in the development of clergy leadership for her Doctor of Ministry degree at Perkins School of Theology in 2018.

Director of Learning and Innovation

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Rev. Kathleen McShane is the director of leadership and innovation for Texas Methodist Foundation. Kathi retired from active ministry as an ordained Elder in the California-Nevada Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2022. She led four congregations and served for eight years as the vice president for Institutional Advancement at Pacific School of Religion. Before attending seminary and beginning her life in ministry, she was a civil litigator, practicing law in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In her final appointment in Los Altos, California, Kathi co-founded the Changemaker Initiative, which is a small national movement of churches committed to empowering lay people to become compassion-driven changemakers like Jesus. That work has led her toward multiple projects that are re-imagining leadership for the church of the future. She is the co-author, with Rabbi Elan Babchuck, of Picking Up the Pieces: Leadership after Empire (Fortress Press, to be published January 2024).

Kathi lives on a vineyard on the Central Coast of California.

Associate Director of Learning and Innovation

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Derrick Scott III is the associate director of Leadership and Innovation. Derrick has been leading ministry in the collegiate and young adult context for over 20 years.

In addition to his work with TMF, Derrick currently serves as the creative producer of Studio Wesley, a ministry that’s exploring how to serve college-aged young adults in the digital space. He is also the co-lay leader of the Florida Conference of the UMC. He is passionate about empowering a new generation of leaders and laborers who will live as disciples of Jesus Christ to transform the world.

He has an undergraduate degree in history, is a Cicerone Certified Beer Server, and is a textbook introvert. He loves eating sushi, flying on Delta, and pouring craft beer. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his Chihuahua-mix dog Winston and Bengal cat Julian. Most importantly, he hates mayonnaise.

Learning and Innovation Executive Assistant

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Janet serves as Leadership and Innovation’s executive assistant and has leveraged her personal experience to tailor a career assisting church leaders, knowing how challenging ministry can be.

With the Leadership and Innovation team, Janet brings church leaders together for meaningful conversations that lead to change. Prior to coming to TMF, she held a variety of positions including as a math teacher and as an assistant operations manager at Teco-Westinghouse in Round Rock, TX.

Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Krystol is assistant vice president of Strategic Initiatives at TMF and works currently with the Leadership and Innovation. For more than 16 years, Krystol has served the foundation in various capacities, including communications, strategic planning, grant management, project management, and data analytics.

Krystol has a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Psychology and Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from the University of Houston. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt with a passion for how data science and evidence-based analytics may support the traction great ideas need to achieve long-term sustainability.

Krystol teaches Sunday School for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders each week. She serves as a board member and chair of the marketing committee for Communities in Schools Houston, and as a board member for Sodzo International.

Learning and Innovation Administrative Assistant

Leah Yancey is an administrative assistant in the Leadership and Innovation department. A seasoned hospitality professional with extensive experience in the industry, she brings over a decade of successful experience in Houston's diverse restaurant scene. With a background as a kitchen manager and sous chef, Leah's expertise extends to entrepreneurship, having co-owned and operated a thriving Catering Company, Food Truck, and Coffee Shop on a single campus for six and a half years.

Leah's dedication to her craft is evident through her achievements, including a Patisserie Certification from Le Cordon Bleu, London in 2012, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Restaurant, Hotel Institutional Management from Texas Tech, Lubbock in 2010. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, Leah's passion for the hospitality industry, combined with her commitment to excellence, organizational skills, and diverse background, make her an invaluable asset as she provides crucial support to the Leadership and Innovation department at TMF.

Facilitator

 Mike Bonem has a resumé that would impress any Fortune 500 CEO.

He has a B.S. in chemical engineering from Rice University. He has an M.B.A. degree, with distinction from Harvard Business School. He is a former manager with the renowned McKinsey and Company global management and consulting firm. He is a distinguished author, speaker, consultant, and successful business owner.

But for dozens of clergy and lay leaders, Mike is much more than an executive with an extraordinary resume. He is a teacher, coach, sounding board, guide, resource, mentor, and ally. That’s because Mike is the facilitator for several TMF Learning Communities.

After Mike felt God’s calling, he pivoted his career to serve the Church, eventually spending more than 10 years as the Executive Pastor of West University Baptist Church in Houston. Today he uses his deep and extensive professional experiences to help other Executive Pastors fulfill their potential as they serve their congregations and the Church.

Executive Pastors serve a vital role in their respective churches. As the first assistant to the Senior Pastor, an Executive Pastor is usually responsible for managing church staff and operations. It’s also a job that requires a range of skills from handling human resource issues to managing the church’s finances.

The XP2 Learning Community focuses on issues of leadership, courage, and transformation. Executive pastors in this group work with each other to understand how to effectively embrace change, seek new solutions to tough challenges and find ways to continually grow and evolve through their careers.

As a facilitator, Mike understands what his professional experiences and insights can bring to the groups, but he also understands how important it is to let the groups find their own paths toward being more effective leaders.

“As a consultant, some times it’s challenging to stand back and allow the group to make the decision,” he says. “But my role is not to tell them how to accomplish this goal or that objective. It’s to listen, learn, interact and help the group to find a solution that they feel is the right path.”

While Mike enjoys contributing his insights, what he really values is how members of each group have helped one another.

“We give members of our groups the opportunity to talk about the most difficult challenges they face in their roles as Executive Pastors,” he explains. “When they understand that they are in an environment where they can discuss tough topics frankly and honestly, members feel comfortable enough to seek help in dealing with some very important issues. In a lot of cases, it’s the first time they’ve ever talked about these challenges with peers.”

For all the preparation, time and hard work Mike puts into facilitating two different Learning Communities, it pales in comparison to the sheer joy and sense of accomplishment he gets every time he meets with either group.

“I get to spend time with exceptional people who have all stood up, raised their hands, and volunteered to take on some very difficult challenges, both within their congregations and in the Church as a whole,” says Bonem. “The leadership, courage, and camaraderie I witness again and again continue to amaze me. It’s why I’m always looking forward to the next meeting.”

Facilitator

Nathan is an Episcopal priest who has served as the managing director of Alban at Duke Divinity School since 2014 and as the managing director of Leadership Education at Duke Divinity since 2007. He has worked with hundreds of congregations and congregational leaders – from those serving on Main Street in rural Oregon to those serving on Madison Avenue in New York City. He has facilitated strategic visioning processes for dozens of organizations, including for The Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes as they sought to pivot after a 30-year history of mission and ministry.

He teaches regularly in the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising offered through the Lilly Endowment-supported Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. He also teaches and trains congregational, denominational, and institutional leaders in the United States and globally on issues of change and change management, innovation and sustainability, vocation and leadership.

He holds degrees from Wake Forest University (B.A., Religious Studies, Political Science, and International Studies) and Duke University (Master of Divinity, Ethics). He has done further study in religion and psychology at Durham University (Durham, UK). He is certified in a number of psychometric assessments and in the Center for Creative Leadership’s SkillScope 360º feedback tool.

When not working, he is an avid runner, photographer, wine connoisseur and amateur chef.

Facilitator

William H. Lamar IV is pastor of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. Ordained as an itinerant elder in 2000 at the Florida Annual Conference of the AME Church, Lamar has also served congregations in Monticello, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; and Hyattsville, Maryland.

Prior to his two most recent appointments (in Maryland and the District of Columbia), Lamar was the managing director of Leadership Education at Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. Through his association with Duke, he convened and resourced executive pastors of large churches, denominational finance executives, young denominational leaders, Methodist bishops, and the constituency of Lilly Endowment’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Program. For nearly 15 years, Lamar has been actively involved with organizations like Direct Action Research Training (DART), Industrial Areas Foundations (IAF), and Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) for faith-based community organizing for justice. Most recently, he has collaborated with Repairers of the Breach, the Center for Community Change (CCC), and People Improving Communities through Organization (PICO) to enact a social justice ministry in surrounding communities and to exhibit a real embrace of the beloved community. Under his leadership, Metropolitan remains committed to worship, liberation, and service.

A 1996 magna cum laude graduate of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Lamar earned a bachelor of science degree in Public Management with a minor in Philosophy and Religion and a certificate in Human Resource Management. In 1999, he earned the Master of Divinity degree from Duke University. Lamar is currently a doctoral student in the inaugural cohort of Christian Theological Seminary’s Ph.D. program in African-American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric. An avid reader and writer, Lamar has published articles in outlets such as Christian Century, The Christian Recorder, Divinity Magazine, “FaithandLeadership.com,” The Anvil, “TheUndefeated.com,” and the “Huffington Post.” He has also been featured in The Washington Post and the Afro-American and on “The Takeaway,” the “Huffington Post Live,” and PBS “News Hour.”

Lamar is honored to serve Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he seeks daily to extend the cathedral of African Methodism’s nearly two centuries-long legacy of bearing witness to and ushering into this world the reign of the living God.

Facilitator

Neil has worked in local churches since 2004 in a variety of ministry roles. He moved to White Rock UMC to experiment with urban church renewal. White Rock UMC had lost connection with its neighbors, viewed its beautiful, aging building as a liability, and despaired for its future. His job was to start connecting, preach hope, clean the building, and help create a new vision for the old building. After only 3 years turning White Rock UMC around, Neil decided to take on another campus in a more resource and opportunity poor neighborhood after one of their partner UMCs decided to close.

Just as he did at White Rock, he began building partnerships with non-profits, after school programs, community groups, and other ministers. Owenwood has and will continue to evolve into a multi-use space for the community to tell their stories, connect with one another, find resources to make ends meet, teach and learn, and live out the Gospel.

Neil has met with churches and ministers from all over the country to share what he's experienced and learned at White Rock & Owenwood. Out of those conversations, he connected with Partners for Sacred Places to bring his voice to their work for preservation of historically significant sacred spaces through strategic partnerships, space repurposing, capital campaigning, community engagement, and activism.

He has benefited from lots of conversations with TMF as a participant on the President's Advisory Committee, Legacy Church Project, Forum on Wesleyan Potential, and now CLI.

He spends most of his time with his spouse, Rev. Elizabeth Moseley, and their 3 kiddos: Nathaniel (6), Evangeline (4), and Josephine (2).

Right now Neil is reading "White Fragility" by DiAngelo and "One Person, No Vote" by Anderson. He listens to podcasts such as Pod Save America, Broken Record, More Perfect, and several others.

Facilitator

Rev. Gil Rendle is a retired Senior Vice President and part-time Consultant with TMF as well as an independent consultant working with issues of change and leadership in denominations. Prior to this position, he served the Alban Institute as an author, seminar leader and senior consultant for twelve years. An ordained United Methodist minister, Rendle served as senior pastor of two urban congregations in Pennsylvania for sixteen years and as a denominational consultant for The United Methodist Church for nine years.

Rendle has an extensive background in organizational development, group and systems theory, and leadership development. He has consulted with congregations on planning, staff and leadership development, and issues of change. He is well known for his work with middle judicatory and national denominational offices and staff as they wrestle with denominational and congregational change.

In training workshops and conferences, Rendle has led numerous large and small groups in practical learning that directly impacts participants’ decisions and practice in their leadership roles. He is the author of ten books, a contributor to four books, and the author of numerous articles and monographs. His most recent books include:

• Journey in the Wilderness: New Life for Mainline Churches (2010) and
• Back to Zero: The Search to Rediscover the Methodist Movement (2011), both published by Abingdon Press.
• Doing the Math of Mission: Fruits, Faithfulness and Metrics (2014) and
• Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World, both published by Rowman & Littlefield.
• Countercultural: Subversive Resistance and the Neighborhood Congregation, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Gil is a resident of Pennsylvania where he lives with his wife, Lynne.

Facilitator

Melissa Wiginton is Vice President for Education Beyond the Walls at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which she founded in 2011, and Research Professor in Methodist Studies. She designed the Fellowships in Pastoral Leadership for Public Life, and is co-creator of The 787 Collective, a community of congregations committed to serving with and for young adults.

Ms. Wiginton holds the MDIV from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, a JD from The University of Texas Law School, and a BA in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She previously worked for the Fund for Theological Education, creating multiple projects to encourage gifted young people to explore ministry as a vocation. While practicing law in Austin before Seminary, she served as president of the Austin Family Mediation Association and co-created Moving Through: A Workshop for Divorcing Families, the first educational program in Austin to help parents in conflictual divorces ease the children’s difficulty. In 1996, the Texas Senate recognized Ms. Wiginton for her work on behalf of Texas families.

Ms. Wiginton has participated in several major research initiatives relative to the church and pastoral leadership, including Duke Divinity School’s Pulpit & Pew project and Pathways to Ministry, a project of the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education. She is the co-editor of Awakened to a Calling: Reflections on the Vocation of Ministry, a collection of sermons focused on young people and the vocation of ministry; author of “Truth,” in Way to Live: Christian Practices for Teenagers; and a contributor to Greenhouses of Hope: Congregations Growing Young Leaders Who Will Change the World.