Discipleship Get In the Game
 
Mr. Greg Arnold
Deployed Staff

Greg Arnold, CPC: Coaching and equipping men to win at faith, work, and life. Greg finds purpose in helping others find their purpose. Greg operates Live Bold Ministries, where they work to equip men to win at faith, work, and life. Find out more at www.livebold.org Greg is a Certified Professional Coach and work to help men overcome barriers and discover God’s hand-delivered talents, skills, and calling for their life. He serves as a deployed staff member at the General Commission on United Methodist Men. He is an active member of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Vocationally: he is a serial entrepreneur with interests in the health care field where he serves in the CEO and Managing Partner capacity in his companies. Greg is a husband to his amazing wife, Rhonda, and father to the most impressive daughter on the planet, Olivia. He lives on the Mississippi gulf coast where you can often find him on the boat, fishing, or on land playing average golf.

 
Rev. Edgar Bazan

The Rev. Edgar Bazan is an Elder in the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He grew up in Mexico and moved to Dallas, Texas in 2004 with his wife Dr. Evelyn Garza to serve in The United Methodist Church as a pastor. Edgar is a Master of Divinity graduate from Perkins School of Theology S.M.U. and is currently working on a Doctorate at Asbury Theological Seminary researching Church Revitalization and Turnaround Churches. Most of his ministry has been focusing on new church starts in transitioning urban communities and working with non-profits. Edgar’s goal in life is to contribute to the wellness of the neighbor.

 
Mr. Jim Boesch
Deployed Staff

Jim Boesch, one of the first persons to be certified as a men’s ministry specialist, is a deployed staff member of the General Commission on United Methodist Men. After completing training sessions with Orlando-based Man in the Mirror, Boesch engaged in courses in United Methodist polity and history, safe sanctuary training, and hands-on experience in men’s ministry in a local church. He was certified as a men’s ministry specialist in 2009. Boesch has taught adult-education classes in local churches, and he has equipped church members to lead discipling experiences, Bible studies and Sunday school classes. In recent years, Boesch has been active in the delivery of the “Understanding Men’s Ministry” discipleship training for clergy and lay leaders throughout the U.S. Four years ago he also became a facilitator and performance coach as an advocate of the Lead Like Jesus servant leadership equipping ministry based in Augusta, Ga. He was involved in the development of the Understanding Men’s Ministry Leadership Training, and an Advanced Lay Speaking course. He has successfully combined his training skills used in his profession with our training needs in men’s ministry.” Jim lives in Florida and is available to speak with any and all local, district or conference level United Methodist Men’s groups in regards to facilitating an “Understanding Men’s Ministry” discipleship training program or “Lead Like Jesus” servant leadership equipping program at their facilities.

 
Mr. Mark Dehority
Deployed Staff
Currently serving as Deployed Staff - General Commission on United Methodist Men (UMM), Past President - Board of Directors of Disciple Bible Outreach of Illinois, Inc., and Executive Vice President - North Central Jurisdiction of UMM, and serving the UMC at the Conference, District and Local Church level. Magna cum Laude graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield. Thirty years of experience in the design and implementation of team based improvement systems, using small groups as the primary tool to engage people in cultural change and personal development. I believe God is calling me to bring men to Christ, through the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Men’s Ministry. He and his wife and spiritual partner Lynnette live in Central Illinois.
 
Mr. Gilbert C. Hanke
General Secretary
Gil is a member of the Texas Annual Conference and a Speech Language Pathologist. He is an associate member of Antioch United Methodist Church in Nashville. Gil has been very active in missions from a local level to international projects. He served on an advance team to Tomsk, Siberia, and has led 8 medical/construction teams to Costa Rica, and 25 teams to Haiti. Most of the work in Haiti has been to provide reconditioned hearing aids to children in schools for the deaf through the Hope of Hearing Project. Gil has been a local UMM president, district president, Texas Conference president and National president. He also served as the president of the General Commission on United Methodist Men, served as the convenor of the UM Agencies General Secretaries and has been General Secretary since 2010. Gil is a Paul Harris Fellow, a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and a John Wesley Fellow.
 
0Mr. Daniel Hulsey

Daniel grew up in the town of DeLeon, TX. He was a member of Troop 37 where he hiked the Sangre de Cristos Mountains at Philmont Scout Ranch. He has been around Scouting and ministry most of his life. During the summers, he worked at River Bend Retreat Center. He is the executive director at the DeLeon Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. He currently attends Sam Houston State University and is an intern in the campus ministry.

 
Mr. Mark Lubbock
Deployed Staff

Mark just celebrated 22 years of marriage with his bride Vickie Lubbock. He served as a pastor with the United Methodist Church for over 15 years before coming on staff with the General Commission on United Methodist Men where he currently serves as Deployed Staff. He was the first pastor in the nation to become a “Certified Men’s Ministry Specialist” through the GCUMM and Vanderbilt University & Co-Chairs the MMS Leadership Team with Mark Dehority. Mark is UMM President for the Louisiana Annual Conference after having served as an officer with UMM at the Local, District and State. Mark sits as the C.E.O. of the regional non-profit men’s ministry “Gulf South Men” headquartered in Baton Rouge, serving Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Gulf South Men supports churches and men’s groups in making disciples of Jesus through coaching, events, training, studies and small group formation.

 
Mr. Bill Morse
Community Engagement Director & Men's Advocacy Group Coordinator

Bill Morse serves as the Community Engagement Director and Men’s Advocacy Group Coordinator at New Friends New Life, a Dallas-based nonprofit that works to restore and empower formerly trafficked teen girls and sexually exploited women and children.

After joining New Friends New Life in 2015, Bill led the development of the organization’s first men’s coalition, the Men’s Advocacy Group. Now totaling 75 men including a board of directors, the Men’s Advocacy Group engages men, boys and businesses to increase education and awareness about the illegal sex trade in the Dallas area and to fight sex trafficking and exploitation through advocacy and action.

Bill established The manKINDness Project™, an interactive program that engages adolescent males and young men in candid conversations about respecting women and girls and the truth about manhood and masculinity. The curriculum teaches the importance of respecting women by not tolerating those who marginalize, objectify or demean women, a prime factor among men who buy human beings for sex.

As a former financial services executive and general auditor, Bill served almost 30 years in the Federal Reserve System before joining the fight against human trafficking. Bill has an MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Virginia.

Bill is enjoying his 32nd year of marriage to his lifelong sweetheart. They are the blessed parents of two incredible adult children.

 
Mr. Taylor Newsom
Team Leader Men of Faith

Taylor Newsom is a regional sales manager and he and his wife Amber live in Wylie, TX with their daughters, Finley Grace, 4, and Sadie Ruth, 2. Taylor loves spending time with his family, traveling, being outdoors, and watching sports. His passion is seeing people realize their God-given potential at work, church and at home. Taylor has been involved in the men’s ministry, known as Men of Faith, since joining First United Methodist Church Richardson in 2009.

During his time in leadership at FUMCR he helped create the young adult ministry and organized an intramural sports league that reached more than 100 young adults across 10 different churches in North Dallas. He’s also led Bible studies for men and young adults, served on the church council representing the men’s and young adult’s ministries, and has represented the church during annual conference. For the past four years Taylor has led Men of Faith as it evolved into a ministry geared toward helping men become better husbands, fathers, brothers, friends, and disciples for Christ.

 
Rev. Payton Parker
Pastor of Youth Ministry
Payton Parker has been an Associate Pastor at St. Luke's Community UMC since 2015.  He is responsible to managing the budget for youth, children and young adults which consists of planning and executing a number of ministry events for discpleship, outreach and community service.  He also leads a team of 15 coordinators in different areas of ministry.
 
Mr. Steven Scheid
Director, Center for Scouting Ministries

Steven Scheid, a former engineer and licensed local pastor in the South Carolina Annual Conference, assumed the post of Director of the Center for Scouting Ministries on June 1, 2018. Steven volunteered with BSA for over a decade. He became a local licensed pastor in response to the call. While serving, a new opportunity came open to connect two organizations he deeply loves – the church and Scouting.

His passion is for youth to have faith building opportunities. As a Scout chaplain, Steven sought to connect the church to the youth in the troop. “It is a ministry. Not just a group that meets at the church. We need to pray for the youth and support them in growth. When the church reaches into a community it points clearly to God. We need to walk the trail together and hear God call.”

Steven and Connie celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Together they have journeyed through college and both have served as licensed local pastors. They have two children: Richard and Cathryn who is married to Matthew; they have two sons: James (6) and Ryder (2).

 
Mr. Scott Smith
President

Scott Smith is President of Appliance Innovation, which is a company that designs commercial cooking equipment for the foodservice industry. After taking Financial Peace University with his wife, Shannon, when they were first married, they have been leading FPU at FUMCR for over 5 years. He is active at FUMCR involved in the Men’s Ministry, Habitat for Humanity, Garden Ministry, and Group Life. Scott has two daughters and likes golfing, running, and other outdoor activities.

 
Mr. John Tolson
Founder, Tolson Group

John Tolson has taught and spoken nationally and internationally.  For more than 45 years, John has spiritually mentored hundreds of thousands of adults and students. In fact, about one million people have been helped through The Gathering, a discipleship ministry he founded.

John’s deepest desire is to see people become the leaders God created them to be; successful in family, life & business. John has served as a faith developer for some of the nation’s leading executives, celebrities, and athletes. He started one of the fist team chaplain programs in the NBA, and he has served professional sports teams including the Houston Rockets, Houston Astros, Houston Oilers, Orlando Magic and most recently, the Dallas Cowboys. As an avid basketball player and fan, he holds a personal best record of 127 straight free throws.

John has inspired audiences through his speaking and over the years, he has been called upon by major corporations including Walt Disney World and IMG to keynote conferences and seminars. He is the author of Take A Knee, a motivational book based on the locker room messages he gave to the Dallas Cowboys, and co-author of The Four Priorities, which challenges men and women to mature in their faith. Married to Punky Leonard Tolson in 2001, John is the father of two grown children with his late wife Ruth Anne, and has three adorable grandchildren. John received his Master of Divinity from Columbia Seminary and Doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. Additionally, he had a special study opportunity at L’Abri Fellowship with Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland.

 
Rev. Dr. Rick Vance
Director, Center for Men's Ministries
Rev. Rick Vance is the Director of the Center on Men’s Ministry at the General Commission on United Methodist Men. Prior to coming to GCUMM, he served as lead pastor at Ebenezer UMC in Newark, DE. He holds degrees in Radiologic Technology, and Adult Education and worked in the health care field for 12 years prior to becoming a pastor. He has a Master's of Divinity and a Doctor in Ministry degree in leadership excellence, from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC. He is the co-founder of “Temple Keeper Ministry” a ministry devoted to physical and spiritual health and wholeness. He is a national and international speaker, speaking on topics including, men’s ministry, leadership development, small group ministry and Spirit lead living and ministry.