Specialists

Rev. Cindy Doran

Pastor of Keltys United Methodist Church for over ten years; also, currently pastoring Bethlehem UMC in Hudson part time. She is Chaplain for the Lufkin Police Department and Serves on District and Conference Committees of the Texas Annual Conf. of the United Methodist Church.

After working in sales for most of my life, 17 years ago I committed my life to the ministry. I became a full-time youth director, dropping my income from over $100,00 to $32,00, the year my daughter started college. Since then, I have received my license to preach and completed my education at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. My days are filled with working in and through the churches, police department and community of Lufkin and I love every minute of it! I enjoy connecting the children and the youth of my churches with activities and people in the community.

Eddie Erwin

Eddie is a life-long United Methodist and has served at all levels of our connection. Eddie has served as District Lay Leader, General & Jurisdictional Conference delegate for 2012, 2016, 2019, & 2020. In addition, he served as Executive Secretary for the Division on Ministry with Young People for the 2012-2016 quadrennium, attended the Global Young People’s Convocation in 2014 in the Philippines, and led the South-Central Jurisdictional Delegation to South Africa 2018. From 2015-2021 Eddie served as the Director of Youth & Young Adults of the Texas Conference. Currently, he is Director of Student Ministries for Wildwood UMC, Executive Director of the South-Central Jurisdiction, and Methodist youth Ministry Alliance. In addition, he serves on the non-profit boards of Bee Harmony, Institute for Local Church Growth, and the Lydia Patterson Institute. Eddie lives with his wife, Emily, and their three children in Klein, Texas. When he is not serving the Kingdom, he enjoys the outdoors, traveling, investing in young people, and driving his children to their next activity.

Eddie has been engaged in youth ministry for over 25 years. He has served in roles from local church volunteer Sunday School teacher through the executive team of the division responsible youth ministry at the global level of The United Methodist Church. As the previous Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Texas Conference, he is equipped to partner with all sizes and styles of ministries through all the districts. Eddie specializes in leadership formation, intergenerational discipling, spiritual retreats, community engagement, sustainable systems, youth worker recruitment, all aspects of mission opportunities, and loves connectional ministry with young people. He holds his certification in youth ministry through The United Methodist Church, is a coach for the Center for Youth Ministry Training, on the Design Team for Perkins School of Youth Ministry, Director of Student Ministries for Wildwood United Methodist Church, and Executive Director for Methodist youth Ministry Alliance.

Steven Fisher

My name is Steven Fisher, and I was born in Liverpool, England. I have lived in Houston since 2011. I have been the Family Ministries Director at St. Stephen’s UMC since April 2018. St. Stephen’s is a smaller mid-sized congregation in northwest Houston. Under my tenure, we have been able to significantly grow our youth ministry, expand our offerings to our children’s ministry, and increase community engagement throughout our Family Ministries. Outside of work, I have been married to my wife, Christie for ten years. We have a two-year-old and one more on the way.

Our youth ministry has seen a large rise in UMYF attendance, Sunday school participation, and mission trip registrations. One of the things we were most proud of is that many of the students who attend don’t usually come to our church but were invited by their friends who do. We also started a program with two other local Methodist churches to hold combined youth groups six times a year. Through this partnership we have been able to be more ambitious in programming and evangelism, and even took part in an international mission trip. Our youth now also engage in service projects at a higher rate than before.

Julie Floyd

Julie has worked in youth ministry and children’s ministry for over 10 years. She is a certified ministry coach, a certified lay servant, the spouse of a pastor, and the mom to three great kids. She speaks at events and camps for teens, leads trainings, and guides people to becoming incredible leaders.

Whether you are launching a new ministry or revitalizing a seasoned one, Julie can guide you in making a customized youth ministry for your church. Hiring a youth minister is hard and Julie can help you find, hire, and train a great one. Additionally, Julie is skilled at volunteer recruitment and training, program design, coaching of youth ministers, and increasing congregational involvement. Julie will make sure you are empowered to have a successful youth ministry in your own unique context.

Adrienne Harrell

I was called into ministry when I was a junior in High School. I started leading bible study at church and taking on leadership roles in the Christian Club on campus. The fall after I graduated, I jumped right into ministry as a year-round youth intern at Texas City First United Methodist Church. Later I would become the youth director. In my time at this church, I also lead a young adult group, had the creative space to create new ministries, was the church liaison for events, lead mission groups, worked in the Mother’s Day Out, and directed VBS. Eventually I was called to leave this church and personally grew in a new church. At Friendswood Methodist Church I was the Associate Director of Student Ministries and later became the Director. Over the years I have directed summer camps at Lakeview, hosted district events at our church, managed volunteer appreciation for district and conference events, and been the South District Youth Coordinator. Recently I was an interim Children’s Director at St John’s Methodist Church in Texas City, helping families reconnect post-pandemic. Now I am the Family Ministries Director at Moody Methodist Church where I run the Children’s Ministry, connect families to the church, bridge a gap between children, youth, and our day school, and get to help do ministry with the youth staff.

I have done many different spiritual gift surveys and never seem to have the exact same line up or in the same order, however I always have Mercy. In the mix you can usually find apostleship, leadership, shepherding, and hospitality. A lot of my gifting involves me being with people wherever they are. I am a great listener and caregiver for where people might be in life. I believe therefore hospitality is part of my specialty. I want people to feel comfortable, seen, and heard. I love hosting events where I can serve my guests, make them feel welcome, taken care of, and connect them with new people. My experience in church settings has varied from socio-economic, congregation size, location, viewpoints, budgets, staff size, and more. My diversity, experience, and giftings has led me to this position as a Ministry Specialist. I am excited to make connections in Children’s, Youth and Hospitality Ministries; to help be a resource to other churches in our district and conference.

Chad McElveen

I was born and raised within the United Methodist Church, grew up in East Texas and have lived in and around the Houston area since 2012. I am married to my wife, whom I met in the 7th grade, and graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University as a theatre major and education minor. I have a great sense of humor, love being creative, and am very passionate to teach and share with others about my faith.

I have been serving in student ministry since 2006 and have served at several churches, including: smaller ministries, larger ministries, rural churches, and suburban churches. I am certified in Youth Ministry within the UMC and have attended numerous conferences to further my education and experience. I am currently the Southwest District Student Ministry Coordinator and have helped other leaders in student ministry stay connected and offer to help in all the ways I am able. I am very passionate about serving within student ministry and feel it is the mission field I have been called to. I am all about problem solving, keeping things simple and looking at doing ministry differently.