Specialists

Rev. Marlin Fenn

Marlin has served as pastor in Deport, Baytown, Trinidad/Cedar Creek Lake, Galveston, Hallsville, La Porte, Bryan, and Katy. He served the Northwest District as Superintendent from 2015 until retirement in 2021 and as Interim DS of the South District for three months in 2021. He lives in Katy, TX and has an ugly garden and good-looking grandkids. His interest is in the spiritual health of congregations and pastors. His training and experience include Mediation and Conflict Transformation, Decision Analysis, and Executive Coaching.

Marlin can guide a process for pastors and congregations seeking to move beyond conflicts or crises. He can guide churches that have a real desire to engage the community in ways that can encourage church growth. He can coach pastors needing someone with whom to process difficult events or decisions.

Rev. Andrew Hook

Howdy! I’m Pastor Andrew Hook, currently serving Magnolia UMC in Magnolia, Tx. I was born and raised in Central Texas before moving to College Station. After working in retail management at Waldenbooks, Kay Jewelers, and LensCrafters, I received a B.A. in History and Political Science from Texas A&M. While attending Duke Divinity, I served as a student pastor in the Spring Hope Charge (Gibson Memorial UMC and White Oak UMC) in the North Carolina Conference. After graduating from Duke Divinity, I was appointed to Christ Church Sugar Land in 2017 and then to Magnolia UMC in 2019. I’ve been married to Jackie Hook since 2005. And we have 3 amazing kids: Gemma, Lincoln, and Izzy. I’m a sucker for a great story and a good cup of coffee.

Every single appointment I have served had their particular opportunities and challenges. And each congregation has offered me unique lessons that I have learned and been able to carry with me into each new appointment. The areas that I have developed a real passion for are evangelism and community engagement. If a church is to grow and accomplish its call to make disciples of Jesus Christ, learning how to engage the community in which the church is planted and how to tell God’s story to that community in ways the people can hear is paramount. The places where ministry has taken me has allowed me to learn how to do this wherever God calls me to go. Finally, having served in small membership churches in North Carolina and now in Magnolia, I’ve learned how to overcome the challenges that small churches often face in order to help each church see the possibilities for ministry before them.

Don R. House, Sr.

I have benefitted from years of local church involvement as a layman and years of studies of growth and decline of churches through local church year-end reports—from 1974 to 2020. I serve as president of the Institute for Local Church Growth (ILCG), supervised by the West District but serving annual conferences and local churches throughout the U.S.

Improvements in evangelism begins with an assessment of membership entry points:  worship, Sunday school, small groups, VBS, day school, etc. Visitors attending entry points are recorded and contacted. New members are followed for five years to evaluate levels of activity, membership terminations, and reasons for termination (such as relocations). The effectiveness of evangelism efforts is evaluated annually.

Rev. Dr. Laceye Warner

Rev. Dr. Laceye Warner provides support for congregations to build and strengthen ministries in evangelism, mission, as well as leadership development. She is also a resource in strategic planning, asset mapping, and program evaluation. In addition to consulting with congregational leaders across the U.S., Warner teaches evangelism, mission, UM Studies, and leadership at Duke University Divinity School where she has served for over twenty years. For the majority of that time Warner also served in senior administrative roles while overseeing several substantial grant programs aimed at supporting congregations. Warner holds a BA from Trinity University, MDIV from Duke University Divinity School, and PhD from the University of Bristol, UK.

Rev. Jen Webber

Pastor Jennifer is serving as the Associate Pastor at First UMC Bryan, the lead pastor to the Awakening Service, and a Ph.D. student in Leadership at Texas A&M University. Jennifer is passionate about creating new opportunities to worship and share the gospel. She recognizes that to reach the unchurched, it is going to take time and requires creativity, innovation, and a heart for all God’s people. With the support of FUMC Bryan and the connections and relationships built over the years, Jen is instrumental in creating an outside worship service at a local downtown venue called the Awakening Downtown. Jennifer also brings with her experience working with other congregations in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the UMC where she served successfully in leading her parishioners to become growing and vital congregations.

Once one realizes that Evangelism doesn’t mean scaring someone into believing in Christ, it can become one of the most enjoyable ministries for a congregation. Rooted in Jesus’ life and ministry, evangelism is simply finding people who do not know Christ, building a relationship with him or her, and sharing the gospel. To evangelize in the 21st Century requires our congregations to answer the question, “Where are the people in our mission field?” It then requires one to find creative ways to meet them, get to know them, and eventually invite them to know Jesus. As I have done in the past, I continue to help congregations answer these questions and build bridges to connect the congregation to the people. Being an evangelism consultant, I can teach biblically based classes on evangelism as well as collectively brainstorm with pastors and congregations on how to reach those outside the walls of the church.