Specialists

Rev. Cesar Martinez

Hi, my name is Cesar Martinez, and I am the Pastor of CrossRoads UMC. I grew up here in Houston in the Spring Branch area and graduated from U of H. I got my MDIV from Perkins after answering the call to ministry. My wife’s name is Karina and I have a daughter named Shibelle and son named Elisha. 

I have had the experience of guiding a congregation through its transition into a single board model. We have operated under this model for 4 years successfully. With this experience and knowledge, I can help walk both Pastors and congregations navigate this process from beginning to end and offer continued guidance as it is implemented. 

Rev. Dr. Steve Stutz

Raised in the UMC, I started ministry working with youth while in college

The Rev. Dr. Steve Stutz is an ordained Lutheran minister who has served rural/small town congregations in west Texas, as well suburban/inner city congregations in the metro Houston area. He has worked extensively with clergy and congregations of the Texas Annual Conference in a wide variety of consulting roles since 2014. He is a certified church consultant through the Society for Church Consulting and teaches at the Houston Graduate School of Theology.

Dr. Stutz is trained to assist congregations with forming effective leaders, to include staff development, church council training and support, and planning. This may include a “360 Assessment” to allow pastoral leaders to gain valuable feedback through an assessment taken by their team members and supervisors, peers, and those they serve regarding their ministry.

Team Building Workshops (i.e., Enneagram/DiSC, Conflict Management, Trust Building, other specific issues facing the local congregation, etc.), Church Council workshops that clarify roles and expectations, long range/strategic planning as well as working through topical issues facing leaders in the moment are all possible areas for development.

Rev. Fred Willis

Raised in the UMC, I started ministry working with youth while in college before being ordained in 1997. Since then, I have been a pastor both in rural East Texas churches as well as communities along the Gulf Coast. Most recently I have been serving in the suburbs of Katy. This has exposed me to a wide variety of settings and cultures for ministry in our Conference.

Besides my work in Youth and Camping Ministry, I have spent a time in the Methodist Healthcare System of Dallas as a Chaplain, completing 2 credits of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), received certification as a Pastoral Counselor through Krist Samaritan Counseling Center, and was trained by Coaching4Clergy, learning to stand alongside Pastors.

Most recently, I was one of original members trained to bring the Vibrant Church Initiative to our Annual Conference, spending several years walking alongside clergy while coaching the congregations. One of my biggest passions is to help congregations discover their own way to make Disciples and take Christ into their own unique settings.

After leading my own congregation through the proves of developing their One Board Model, I have consulted with several other congregations on the benefit to this shift in leadership.