Specialists

Rev. Alicia Besser 

Alicia Besser has served in a variety of appointments from a large church associate to District Superintendent.  She loves helping pastors process their experiences in the local church. If any of the wisdom she gained in ministry is helpful to others she happy to it share pastors.

A variety of experiences (associate at a large church, closed a small church, revitalized a soon to be suburban church; Senior pastor with associate in East Texas, District Superintendent and pastored during covid at a new appointment); Supervised Seminary Students doing internships.  Good listener and encourager. I love to brainstorm ideas with others

Rev. George Brookover

I have fifty-five years of pastoral experience. As an ordained Lutheran (ELCA), I served Holy Comforter Lutheran/Kingwood, Texas for three decades. This encompassed be church planter to leading a staff of nine ordained and lay leaders. From 1996-2014 I served my ELCA jurisdiction as an Intentional Interim Pastor. In 1997 Brookover Leadership was established for training and leading clergy and laity in several denominations.

Working with staff is a difficult setting for clergy who often have no previous experience of guiding a group of employees or volunteers. The development of a staff requires understanding personalities, egos, training, and specialization areas, and development of staff vision, goals, objectives, and implementation strategies.

Rev. Dr. Aleze M. Fulbright

Rev. Dr. Aleze M. Fulbright is an ordained elder in who is a person of conviction with a personal mission statement to Encourage, Equip, and Empower all people to live on purpose and live out their God-givenness, with her underlying values of Faith, Fire, Focus, and Fruit. Dr. Aleze approaches coaching (as an ICF Associate Certified Coach) as a conversation partner, ready to ask the hard questions, explore new possibilities, and hold persons accountable for their discoveries to yield fruitful outcomes.

Staff Development is one of the most important aspects of ministry, as without a cohesive team, it makes it more difficult to fulfill the vision and accomplish the mission. Staff Development for me takes on a coaching approach to identify what is the most faithful outcome for the time we will share and begin integrating tools and resources that will bring about healthier communication, conflict resolution strategies, and how to build a covenant to celebrate each other’s gifts but also hold one another accountable.

Josh Pulver

As the son of a United Methodist Pastor, I have spent my entire life in ministry. Even while working for Oklahoma State University, I was active in my local congregation as well as the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference. In 2011, I started my fulltime ministry at Egan Camp & Retreat Center in Oklahoma and served there until moving to Lakeview in 2019. In one way or another, my adult life has revolved around ministry through hospitality, event planning, and fundraising. I am excited to work with you to help strengthen The Kingdom of God.

Creating a strong working team is crucial for any ministry.  Everyone has a different method to building and managing their teams, but it takes intentional effort to build a successful working group.  How do you manage a team that you didn’t create?  It can be extremely difficult.  Building trust and making sure that the staff members can work together is imperative.  Through experience and resources, I am excited to help point you in the right direction.  Our resources at Lakeview will also help in team building if you so desire.

Rev. Dr. Steve Stutz

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. Dr. Richard ‘Dick’ L. White

Richard White served 44 years as an elder under appointment in the Texas Annual Conference before retiring July 1, 2021.  During his career, he served primarily in the Houston area as the senior pastor of several mid to large size congregations.  Prior to his final appointment as the lead pastor of Katy First UMC, he served six years as the District Superintendent of the Southeast District of the Texas Annual Conference. Richard earned his Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.  He is married to Letica who is a psychotherapist in the Katy area. They have three daughters and three grandchildren.

Pastors are lifelong learners.  Some things can be learned by reading a book or attending a seminar but integrating what is learned into the practice of ministry is best done with a clergy mentor or coach.  As a clergy mentor, I have 44 years of pastoral experience leading churches.  I served eight years as a member of the conference board of ministry and mentored many candidates as they discerned their call and readiness for ordained or local pastor ministry. During my time as a District Superintendent, I supervised 50 pastors in the Southeast District, some of whom had tricky ministry challenges. I am familiar with Family Systems Theory and have taught seminars on the Enneagram, which is a helpful tool for personal and professional growth. I have a collaborative leadership style, and I am energized by working with pastors in ways that encourage, guide, and support them in their work of ministry.

Rev. Lawrence Young

Currently serving as Sr. Pastor of Klein UMC – Texas Conf. Additional Senior Pastor appointments include Warren Memorial UMC; Cascade UMC; Jones Memorial UMC; Abundant Life UMC – (new church start), District Superintendent of the Central South District. He received his Master of Divinity of Gammon Seminary @ ITC.

Rev. Young is the founding pastor of a successful new church start (30 yrs. Old), has served in several multi-staff churches and has experience as a District Superintendent.