Specialists
Rev. Brian Brooks
Brian Brooks, originally from Longview Texas, is a lifelong United Methodist on both sides of his family and has been in pastoral ministry since 2000. He is presently the Senior Pastor at Dickinson First UMC, since 2022, and is married to his high school sweetheart Hannah. Hannah is a high school administrator. Brian & Hannah have three children. Brian is a graduate of Howard Payne University with a B.S. in Exercise Sport Science and a Minor in Computers. He also has a MDIV from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University and is a graduate of the Advancing Pastoral Leadership Program of the Texas Annual Conference.
Brian is from a family of financial people. His father was a CPA and a national bank examiner and owned banks. His great grandfather owned banks as well. His wife Hannah was a finance major originally and Brian took many classes with her as electives. His oldest son is pursuing Accounting as his major in college and will sit for his CPA exam soon. To say that financial oversight and leadership runs through his DNA is not a stretch.
His prior appointment was as the senior pastor of FUMC Hallsville. Upon moving to Hallsville, it was revealed almost immediately that the church needed to cut $100,000 out of the budget to continue to be viable. Brian set out over his first year to listen and discover the best way to go about that, and over the next few years, the church was able to trim $119,000 out of the church budget through various methods. Some methods involved hard decisions and conversations, and some just involved regular oversight and continuous monitoring. Many churches get complacent about what they are doing and how they are doing it and do not look at the whole picture. One of the other things that is important to look at is different ways to give, and the ways people are motivated to give. All of this is part of the entire strategy of having strong financial oversight and sound financial leadership.
In his current appointment at Dickinson First UMC Brian was tasked with walking with a church that was rocked by many challenges in the last number of years. In Brian's first 4 months the church adopted a new financial model that has proven very successful, and in 2024 will start moving forward in many areas for the first time in years.
Other clergy also utilize Brian quite regularly for clergy coaching, counseling, training, mentoring. All of this is done on a one-on-one basis and is driven solely by the other clergy reaching out for help in a particular area. Brian utilizes some of the skills he learned in Advancing Pastoral Leadership and is time as the Executive Pastor at Williams Memorial in Texarkana Texas to help these clergy make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
James Cermin
Twenty-three years with wholesale grocer, Grocers Supply Co., Inc. provided me with valuable experience in many areas. I held the position of Accounting Manager for both the large company and some of the smaller subsidiaries. I also served for many years in the corporate tax/family area. This included working directly for the family/owners in various aspects of both their business and personal finances. I achieved the designation of Certified Public Accountant from the State of Texas in 1980. For thirty-five years I have had a business preparing tax returns for small companies and individuals.
I have been involved as a member of both a small and a large church. Service in many areas includes Chair of Finance, Lay Leader, and Chair of Church Council. I have been a member of the Council of Finance and Administration of our Texas Annual Conference for the last five years. My years in both industry and public accounting has provided a wide range of experience in Finance.
Billy Cooke
I was raised a Methodist in Dickinson, TX and have maintained my Methodist roots for almost 67 years now. I attended the University of Houston receiving a B.S. in Civil Engineering in December 1978. My professional career as a consulting engineer in Private Practice was spent in Houston until retiring in 2017. My wife, Marsha, and I raised our children in the Katy area. Marsha continues to teach at HCC serving as an adjunct professor
Over the years, I have served on numerous committees at St. Peters UMC in Katy and Katy First, including serving as Chairman of Trustees, Finance and Church Council. I have also served as Chairman of the Building Committee at Katy First as well as Co-Chairing along with my wife and another couple our Capital Campaign Team. I also managed the retirement of the debt we incurred when we had the Connection Center constructed at Katy First. While at Katy First I served two non-concurrent 3-year terms as Finance Chairman. I also served two non-concurrent terms as Church Council Chairman, one 3-year and one single year. I believe my talents will be best utilized in Financial Oversight – Leadership due to this experience. With a background in design and construction, I can also help in any Building Committee efforts.
Jody Griggs
I am the youngest of three daughters, so I have spent my life problem solving. I am a current member of CF&A. I am on the board of Texas Conference Choir Clinic and serve as the Middle School Camp Director. I am a National Official for Track and Field and have been inducted into the Texas A&M Track and Field Hall of Fame. I have worked in the United Methodist Church for 31 years and counting. I love being a part of the financial ministry of the church. I feel like I am a part of all the ministries of the church and help touch members and visitor’s lives.
Sharing the knowledge that I have gained over the last 31 years would provide me great joy. I have used Shelby since 1996 and have used ACS the last two years. I think I can provide clarity and understanding for those getting started or those who need and extra set of eyes to help them problem solve or create new. Managing the stewardship of the church is a blessing.
Stacie Hawkins
I have 20 years of financial oversight that includes financial analysis. I have served on Wespath’s Board of Directors for the past 6 years and have been involved in financial oversight in United Methodist Congregations for 14 years. I can help your church analysis of issues and suggest ways to cut costs and track the financial records.
Current roles: Local - Finance Team, United Methodist Women, Communion Stewardess, New Membership Team. Conference - Board of Pensions, Delegate to General Conference 2020. General Church - Wespath Benefits and Investments, Black Methodists for Church Renewal.
Rev. Jay Jackson
I am a second career minister with 25 years of ministry experience who was raised in the United Methodist Church as the child of a UMC pastor. My first career was as a Chemical Engineer with Exxon, but my entire life has been spent as a devoted member/pastor in the United Methodist Church. I have been blessed to serve in a wide variety of ministry settings from small rural churches to large multi-staff churches. I have served in several East Texas settings, as well as in the Houston area and College Station, and was also a part of the Cabinet of the Texas Annual Conference. I have been blessed to leave every church that I served in better condition than I found it, while bringing significant turnarounds to several of them. I currently serve a dynamic congregation at Longview First United Methodist Church that is thriving and extending ministry in new and exciting ways.
Many of the churches I have served have previously experienced a variety of challenges and struggles in their financial situation. One was operating hand-to-mouth with an inability to even keep accurate financials through the financial system they employed. After five years of leadership, they were financially strong with a much larger operating budget and faithful ministry. Another church engaged in a large capital project and had not paid their indebtedness in nearly five years prior to my arrival, while struggling to operate and not paying apportionments. In five years, they paid most of the debt while paying 100% of apportionments with an expanded budget. Another church had a year-end crisis to cover expenses every year. They now operate consistently in the black with expanded ministry and numerous areas previously lacking funding now paid for and completed.
Rev. Dr. Faulk Landrum
I am a retired elder from the Texas Annual Conference after having served various congregations and institutions including Lon Morris College for 22 years and Director of Heartspring Methodist Foundation for 11 years. I retired in 2002. I am married to Eleanor.
I am glad to serve the Texas Annual Conference in any way I can to strengthen the United Methodist congregations.
Rev. Paul Meiller
I am a second career pastor currently serving in my first appointment at Aldersgate UMC in Santa Fe, TX. For 20 years prior to this, I was as an engineer for a multinational chemical company. I have broad experience in projects, operations, management, and accounting. My beautiful wife Alison and I are lucky parents to two girls, Emilie (12) and Julia (10), and one rabbit, Oreo.
I have experience with keeping the financial books for a mid-sized church and preschool. I helped Chapelwood UMC in Lake Jackson overhaul their financial systems which included a transition to QuickBooks Online.
John Sneed
As a financial professional for more than 40 years, I enjoy helping organizations achieve their financial objectives and improve the benefits and conditions for their employees. As a life-long United Methodist, I learned in Confirmation class John Wesley’s advice to “Do all the good you can …”, and I try to remember that advice when making decisions or advising others. I have been a member of Cypress Trails UMC (now known as Spring Community Church, a United Methodist congregation) since 1983, serving on many committees and service areas, and have especially enjoyed serving others through U.M. ARMY (United Methodist Action Reach-out Mission by Youth) for the past 20 years.
I am available to assist churches with developing, evaluating and improving their accounting, budgeting, and financial reporting systems to provide the necessary information for making sound decisions regarding the use of the church’s resources. I can provide tools for converting detailed, financially oriented budgets to narrative budgets for use in stewardship campaigns. I can also assist in the evaluation of overhead costs, non-clergy employee benefits, property and casualty insurance and financing alternatives and make recommendations accordingly.
Rev. B. T. Williamson
Rev. B. T. Williamson retired from active ministry in July of 2020 after 53 years of service in Executive Pastor roles, Senior Pastor leadership, Superintendent of the Houston South District, Director of Ministerial Services, Director of the Center for Clergy Excellence, and Assistant to the Bishop. A native Texan, who grew up in a parsonage family and lived across the breadth of the Texas Annual Conference, he holds degrees from the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University and pursued additional studies in Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin.
For the last twenty-two years Rev. Williamson’s career focused on strategic planning, leadership formation, supervision, and administration. His service in the Center for Clergy Excellence helped establish standards for the professional development of clergy, interim ministry services, and one of the strongest benefit programs in the denomination. While in the position of Assistant to the Bishop, Rev. Williamson directed the Annual Conference gathering, coordinated the work of the Cabinet, facilitated the operations of the Core Leadership Team, and supported the bishops’ objectives related to boards, legal, personnel, fiscal, and strategic concerns.
Rev. Williamson was the co-founder of Benevolent Missions International, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing needed ophthalmic care to the underserved in Belize and Fiji. Current avocational interests include serving on the boards of Benevolent Missions International, Methodist Retirement Communities, Wiley College, the Transitional Intentional Interim Ministry Specialists Association, and he continues his membership on the Texas Annual Conference Investment Committee.
The opportunity to serve in matters related to finance is based on years of experience in different sectors of the church. In the local church setting I am familiar with how to manage small church budgets in the range of $150,000, while in larger churches the budgets were approximately $500,000. Additionally, I have been able to share in capital improvement campaigns and annual stewardship programs. While serving in offices of the annual conference I had numerous responsibilities for financial oversight: Group Health Benefits and Pension funds that were multi-million dollar operations; building up annual conference reserves in order to assist with funding of administrative costs, program development, and clergy benefits; creating Investment Policies for both the benefits sectors and annual conference; leadership on the Council on Finance and Administration; and participation both past and present on the Investment Committee. Membership on non-profit boards has given me the opportunity to work on their Finance Committees, notably with Wiley College and Methodist Retirement Communities. All these diverse experiences, coupled with the longevity of service, help me be a suitable resource for financial leadership.