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NEXT STEP MINISTRY

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NEXT STEP MINISTRY

Dr. Victor Dingus

SHORT VERSION

Dr. Victor Dingus has led workshops in United Methodist annual conferences and has worked directly with congregations in helping them become more vital in local communities. He has done similar work in for -profit and non-profit organizations over the course of many years. He has demonstrated success in helping organizations become more vital in their business setting and achieving desired results. He has been a visible leader in the Kingsport District with the process of implementing a district strategy and throughout the district missional journey.

LONG VERSION

DR. VICTOR R. DINGUS

P. O. Box 1510

Lake Junaluska, NC 28745

828-454-1053

423-612-3116

vdingus@gmail.com

EDUCATION:

Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC

Doctor of Ministry May 2014

Concentration: Leadership and Congregational Development

Thesis: District Strategies: Building Sustainable Congregational Vitality

TO Expand The Reign Of God

Master of Theological Studies (with honors) May 2010

Concentration: Leader and Congregational Development

Thesis: The Revitalization of North American Methodism,

Helping the Small Member Congregation Thrive

University Of Tennessee, Knoxville , TN December 1973

Master of Business Administration (with high honors)

Concentration: Industrial Management and Organizational Development

University Of Tennessee, Knoxville , TN December 1970

Bachelor of Science (with high honors)

Concentration: Industrial Engineering

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE - MINISTRY

Self Employed - Consultant

Holston Conference, Johnson City and Kingsport Districts, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tennessee August 2009 to present

District and Congregational Revitalization

Initiated intentional district and congregational revitalization in the Johnson City and Kingsport districts – 123 congregations. To date approximately thirty-two congregations are taking action to transform themselves through community outreach and improved worship.

Lay Member, Holston Conference, Knoxville, TN July 1992- June 2004

Served on the Conference Vision 2000 Team, Conference Redesign Team, and the Conference Discipleship Team
Developed and deployed Vision 2000 to 900+ congregations through training and mentoring of District Vision Teams
Developed and mentored Conference Redesign Team and created a new Conference structure and relational network subsequently approved by the Judicial Council (first to be awarded approval) – fostered concept of connectional table and mutual development of ministry
Conducted congregational assessments and re-visioning workshops for congregational vitality
Taught concept of servant leadership based on Dr Evelyn Laycock’s work and study of the Beatitudes
Co-led the Conference Information Technology and Data Flow team to build a Conference-wide network and automated reporting and networking system including on-line services

Self Employed – Consultant

Southeast Jurisdiction/Lake Junaluska Assembly March 1994-April 1997

Provided leadership and team development for the senior leaders (CORE TEAM) which resulted in a new mission statement, vision, values, and strategic plan. The plan focused on Assembly beautification, leader and congregational development, and a new business model. Achieved numerous objectives including operating consecutive years with a surplus.
Partnered with resort management consultant to train personnel in the creation of a visit experience and use best practices of resort service practices.
Established the Academy of Servant Leadership – Lay Ministry Center – Worked with Dr. Evelyn Laycock in training hundreds of leaders in the concept of servant leadership based on the Sermon of the Mount

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Business and Leadership Development

TASC, Inc., Chantilly, Virginia April 2010-Present

Project Manager

Managing a large information technology project for Department of Defense
Developing technology strategy, information technology architecture, and project plans and resource allocation
Establishing customer relationships and requirements

Transformation Network, Inc., Blountville, Tennessee May 1987-Present

President and Lead Consultant

President and Owner of Transformation Network – a leadership and organization development consulting company serving organizations to achieve acceleration of overall performance and effectiveness in short periods of time. Clients include National Security Agency, Pals Sudden Service, State of Tennessee, Department of Labor – United States Government, Avery Dennison, Caterpillar Financial Services, Nashville, Tennessee Metro School System, and Nashville Power and Light.
State of Tennessee Governor Appointee - Created and delivered Quality Institutes across the state during 1991 and 1992 by training small business owners and others in quality improvement principles.
Assisted Pals Sudden Service (2001), and Caterpillar Financial Services (2003) in achieving the both the State of Tennessee Quality Award and the National Quality Award in Business Excellence
Initiated program for public schools for continuous learning for class room teachers in Nashville Metro, Sullivan County, Washington County, and Kingsport City and Johnson City schools K-12.
Conducted various business value assessments which led the businesses in achieving the State of Tennessee Quality Award of Excellence. These included businesses in information technology, manufacturing, service, schools, and resort management.

Intrega-Seal Industries, Kingsport, Tennessee September 1999-present

Vice President - Business Development

Founder, business partner, and owner
Achieved market place acceptance of patented products serving the water, milk and juice industries, with sales currently at $5,000,000
Experienced continuous grow from 8% to 20% each year since inception

Eastman Chemical Company, Kingsport, Tennessee February 1984- June 1997

Technical Associate and Manager of Benchmarking

Served in a number of plant and corporate assignments regarding business management improvement and organization development.
Served in staff, manufacturing, and business management positions.
Assisted in the development of Eastman’s leadership process, customer satisfaction measurement system, customer partnership process, team management implementation, worldwide manufacturing strategy, business organization development, Eastman’s approach to best practices benchmarking, 1993 National Quality Award, and cycle time reduction programs.

Holston Defense Corporation, Kingsport, TN May 1971-February 1984

Engineer and Manager

Served in various assignments in maintenance and staff support.
Developed maintenance management system and a plant-wide safety improvement program
Managed security and disaster recovery operations readiness
Created explosive proof innovative shipping techniques and a value engineering/operations improvement program

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN AND FUND RAISING EVENTS

Holston Conference district revitalization – received grants totaling $70,000 to initiate revitalization in two districts and currently supporting thirty-two congregations
Founded Integra-Seal Industries, a plastic molding business, manufacturing tamper evident enclosures for the water, milk, and juice industries. Employees twenty-five people – having raised over $500,000 to initiate business in 1996/1997 including funding from the State of Tennessee Economic and Business Development Council
State of Tennessee – created an unfunded program (subsequently funded by State Government) to train small business owners in quality improvement as well as create a state quality award. Trained over a thousand small business leaders, educators, and state officials. The State Quality Award has been recognized as the nation’s most successful state recognition program.
Salvation Army – assisted in capital campaign program to renovate and build on to an existing facility by raising approximately $500,000
Served on the local congregational Stewardship Team over a period of years by using the Next Step Process which increased giving

MEMBERSHIPS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Institute of Industrial Engineers, Fellow

American Quality Society, Member

National Center for Quality, Founding Member

Management and Engineering Society, Institute of Industrial Engineers, Founding member

Lay Ministry Center, Lake Junaluska, Academy for Servant Leadership, Founding Member

Publications:

BOOKS

A Quality Revolution in Manufacturing, 1988

A Practitioner’s Guide to Work Design, 1990

Published nines articles in various national publications

Television (PBS)

A two-hour series for small business in the State Of Tennessee entitled “Quality, A Strategy for Small Business and Industrial Growth” for the State Of Tennessee Employment Security Commission

OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS:

Salvation Army of Kingsport, Board Member 1980-1985

Holston Home for Children, Board Member 1985–1990

Saint Bernard Club of America, Treasurer and President 1986-1994

Tennessee Quality Award, Lead Examiner 1992-2000

University of Tennessee Football team member – National Champions and Southeastern Conference Champions in 1967 and Southeastern Conference Champions in 1969

Special Gifts and skills:

Business planning (visioning, strategy, annual business planning, and deployment)

Transition Leadership (change management, culture assessment, and opportunity mapping)

Mentoring and coaching (roles and responsibilities, accountability)

Team Development (Missions, skills, and capabilities, resource allocation)

Assessment and Problem solving

Mediator, conflict management and peacemaking

NEXT STEP MINISTRY

Rev. Jim Goddard

SHORT VERSION

Rev. Jim Goddard is an ordained Elder in the Holston Conference appointed in Extension Ministries as a Principal Consultant with Next Step Ministry NOW and a Certified Church Consultant with LifeWay Co. He has served effectively in appointments throughout 36 years of pastoral ministry. His appointed ministry has been in large and small churches in single and multiple point charges. In 1989, he was awarded the first Denman Evangelism Award in the Holston Conference for his ministry in the Riverview Circuit (a five-point charge). With his leadership, churches, where he has served, have received recognition by the Holston Conference for professions of faith as well as outreach and mission.

Jim leads a variety of workshops as well while being a church Health/Growth consultant.

Workshops: NOTE: all of these workshops and seminars have maximum impact in a retreat setting like the Hinton Center.

The Next Step Ministry NOW Process - a 14-16 month Sub-District revitalization process for 6-12 Churches. These churches and pastors discover the Call of God for their church. Through prayer, demographic studies, and community interviews the church uncovers the unique ministry for their ministry setting. The process is not a “Cookie Cutter” program but an intentional exploration of God’s direction for their community and church. Each church is different, and each community is diverse. So, the developed ministry is specialized to the pastors, people, and needs of the community. Churches and districts across the Southeast Jurisdiction of the UMC use this process with specific, measurable results.

“Shift” Workshop - Using Phil Maynard’s book “Shift,” pastors and laity evaluate their church from five perspectives and develop specific goals in each area, worship, outreach, mission, discipleship, stewardship. The training includes a 4-week preparation with a one-day workshop 9 AM – 3 PM.

“Shift” Network- Jim also leads the 12 month district revitalization process using Phil Maynard’s “Shift” network process. Churches and pastors develop one internally focused and one externally focused goal for each of the five “Shifts” - worship, outreach, mission, discipleship, stewardship. 5 - One-day workshops 9 AM – 3 PM with year-long ongoing evaluation and preparation.

Church Hospitality Workshop - “Becoming a Welcoming Church” - utilizing Thom Reiner’s work, pastors and Church leadership teams, evaluate their congregations' effectiveness in hospitality. The teams set specific goals and timelines to increase hospitality in their church. The training includes a 4-week preparation with a one-day workshop 10 AM – 3 PM.

Church Evaluation for Vitality - The workshop, utilizing Thom Reiner’s work,- Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive, this workshop helps churches to evaluate themselves in light of the decline of the Protestant North American church. It gives churches the tools to speak to the"elephant in the room" without pointing fingers at each other. The workshop is sobering. The churches and pastors evaluate options to develop revitalization in their churches. The training includes a six-week preparation with a one day workshop from 10 AM – 2 PM.

Church Outreach/Evangelism “Get Their Name” utilizing Bishop Bob Farr’s book, this two-day workshop, Friday– Saturday with six weeks preparation. This workshop leads the church in teaching individuals to share their faith in Jesus Christ. Bishop Farr says, "United Methodists invite someone to their church one time every 38 years” thus leading to the decline of the UMC. Pastors and lay people learn specific ways to share their "God stories" on a daily basis. Learn to recognize the power of God in their lives and thus have a "story to tell” when God leads them to engage their friends and neighbors for the Kingdom of God. The training includes a four-week preparation with a 2-day (Friday - Saturday) seminar.

Individual Pastor Coaching - During hourly coaching, with a minimum of four sessions, pastors develop specific goals and strategies based on their ministry settings. Pastors explore a wide variety of topics, i.e., approach, calling, vision casting, conflicts, and bullying.

Individual Church coaching - 12 to 14 months of specific strategy development for outreach and church health/growth.

Certifications:

LifeWay Consultant
Phil Maynard Consultant
‘Coach Training for Leaders”
36 years “on the job” ministry

LONG VERSION

FAMILY

I am married to the love of my life Rev. Kim Goddard – Lead Pastor – Mafair United Methodist Church. We have two beautiful daughters, Annie [20] and Lindsey [16]. I have one adult son, Jimmy,– Chattanooga Tennessee. With his wife Dale, they have given us four grandsons. Christmas is crazy at our house when we all get together! I love my family! They are an amazing blessing from God!

HISTORY

Served 36 years as a full-time UM Pastor.

• Local Pastor - 1976 – 1994

• Ordained Deacon 1989

• Associate Member Holston Conference - 1991

• Ordained Elder in 1994

• Retired 2011- age 56

• TODAY - Self-Employed consultant – fundraiser –mentor – coach – mission leader

EDUCATION

• Hiwassee College, AA

• Tennessee Wesleyan College, BA

• Counselor Training – Coalition of Battered Women, Durham and Orange County, NC

• 5 Year Course of Study +2 years Advance Studies at Duke Divinity School

• The Divinity School at Duke University – M.Div.

• Coached/Mentored by Bill Easum - 3 years

I bring an understanding of ministry both as a Local Pastor and as an Elder, having served as both. I have served five point circuits (One of which had seven different ZIP Codes and three different telephone exchanges) as well as large membership churches (the largest having 28 staff).

RECOGNITIONS

• Denman Award for Evangelism - I was honored in 1989 to receive the first Denman Award presented in Holston Conference while serving as a local pastor with the five-point Riverview Circuit.

• Received the Kingsport District Evangelism Award

• Received the William P. Miller leadership award from Tennessee Wesleyan College

TRACK RECORD

• Growth in Membership, worship attendance, and Professions of Faith in 33 of 36 years of full- time pastoral ministry.

• Started 1 new church - Appalachian Prayer Fellowship

• Began the Morristown District Revival

• Began a Corporative Parish Senior Adult Ministry (on-going after 19 years)

• Developed a Christmas pageant in 2 different appointments av. att. 35-40 (81 people in each play.) This outreach was specifically designed to be larger than either of the individual churches so that by its very nature it required community involvement or it would fail.

• Merged 2 churches and lost no members

• Developed a circuit wide choir to share a Christmas musical in each of the three churches on the Draper Circuit. The choir was the largest choir in Pulaski County. Each performance resulted in a packed house!

• Led the Unicoi United Methodist Church to build a $1.5 million, 15,850 sq.ft. Family Life Center in 2.5 years and dedicated it debt-free. We incurred absolutely no debt at any point in time during the construction.

• Led the Pleasant View United Methodist Church to purchase 5 acres of adjoining property and developed the Wesley Medical Clinic on the site. This clinic provides free medical care to the uninsured. It receives no funding from any source that would hamper the ability to offer the gospel of Jesus Christ during an individual’s visit to the clinic. At least one person from every country in the Western Hemisphere has been treated at the Wesley Medical Clinic in Abingdon, Virginia.

• Developed “Mafair on the Map”; a congregational outreach emphasis that raises awareness in the Kingsport community to the presence of the church. This has led the Mafair United Methodist Church into an era of excellence in ministry as well as community involvement. We received two grants totaling $10,000 from the Holston Conference Witness and Revitalization Ministry Team and the Holston Conference Foundation to fund this endeavor. The detailed specifics of this emphasis will be published in an upcoming issue of Net Results Magazine.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

In developing each of the following organizations we used the facilities of the church to begin their work. I led in organizational development, recruiting and training volunteers for specific areas of need in the respective organizations. All of these organizations exist today.

• ‘Volunteer’ Ruritan Club - served on the founding Board of Directors

• Carter’s Valley Volunteer Fire Department – served on the founding Board of Directors

• Chatham County Rock & Gem Organization - served on the founding Board of Directors

Global Mission Ministry

•I have led multiple mission trips to Mexico, South Sudan, Jamaica, as well as a biblical; pilgrimage of Egypt and the Holy Lands.

Hispanic/Latino Ministries

• I have been involved in Hispanic/Latino ministry for the past 25 years. At Unicoi United Methodist Church in East Tennessee we developed a Hispanic ministry and hired the first Hispanic Lay Missioner in the Holston Conference. Pastor Arelio Ocon and I developed a Hispanic congregation in Unicoi.

• While I was serving as a part-time pastor in the Sanford District of the North Carolina conference and attending Duke University Divinity School, I served on the Chatham County Hispanic Ministry Team who secured Pastor Hugo Lopez as one of the first Hispanic pastors in the North Carolina Annual Conference.

Conference /District service

• Board of Ordained Ministry – Conference. & District.,

• Dist. Secretary,

• Dist. Outreach/Evangelism Director,

• Conference Hispanic Team,

• Conference Evangelism Team,

Current Ministries

• Coach several pastors (large and small membership churches)

• President of the Robert Sheffey Memorial Campmeeting Association

• Kingsport District Transformational team

• Kingsport District South Sudan Partnership Ministry

• Consultant to the Abingdon, Knoxville, and Cleveland Districts of Holston Conference

• Principle Consultant with Hinton Rule Life Center

My Mentors

• Dr. Bob Wilson - The Divinity School at Duke University

• Dr. David Brownlee – North Carolina Annual Conference

• Dr. Lyle Schaller - Church Growth Consultant

• Dr. Bill Easum - Church Health Consultant

• Sir. Alan Walker - Sydney Australia – Pres. World Methodist Conference, Pastor – Central Methodist Mission, Sydney

My Call

I have always had a very clear call from the Lord to lead people to Jesus Christ and to equip others to do the same. I truly enjoy teaching others how to transform lives and therefore transform our world in the name of Jesus Christ.

My Greatest Joy

Developing new ministries and then setting people free to serve God with confidence. I remember Bob Wilson at Duke University saying that the pastor’s number one responsibility was to work themselves out of a job. I believe this completely. For me, it is a true joy to find an individual and help them find their joy in serving God. Mentoring has always been a cornerstone of my ministry.

My Skills

• Coaching/Mentoring

• Vision Casting

• Teaching/Preaching

• Counseling

• Media Development

• Video Editing

• Keynote / PowerPoint

• Grant Writing/Demographics

• Music Leadership

• Street Spanish for Dummies