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Meet Michigan transformers

Posted on by Michigan
Gary Step (l) and Ben Ingebretson have provided leadership at the Area's two REACH Summits in 2014 and 2015. ~REACH FB photo

KAY DeMOSS
Senior Editor-Writer, Michigan Area

Seeking revitalization in the New Year? The Michigan Area introduces the Trinity of Transformation … three staff members who are ready to assist churches on the journey to new life.

Dirk Elliott. Naomi Garcia. Gary Step. These faces are not new to the West Michigan and Detroit conferences. But each of their roles has now been expanded to include the entire Area, while at the same time, each of their roles has been more

Dirk Elliott shares with the crowd gathered at the REACH Summit in 2014. ~REACH Facebook
Dirk Elliott shares with the crowd gathered at the REACH Summit in 2014. ~REACH Facebook

focused to a specific ministry.

Dirk and Gary have been serving as Detroit and West Michigan Conference Directors of New Church and Congregational Development. While serving in their separate realms, they have partnered in the administration of the Vital Church Initiative (VCI).

Rev. Benton Heisler, Director of Connectional Ministries for West Michigan, explains that the decision to become one Michigan conference, announced June 10, 2015, triggered the need for an interim plan for this ministry. How would VCI and new church development work in the next three years? “We recognize the Design Team and the Annual Conferences need to determine 2019 and beyond,” Heisler says. “We see this as prelude to what could be a future structure and implementation of staff.”

Benton, along with his Connectional Ministries counterpart for Detroit Conference, the Rev. Jerry DeVine, began conversations with Dirk, Naomi and Gary. Their gifts and passions were identified and out of that acknowledgement of expertise came these role designations as of January 1, 2016:

  • Rev. Dirk Elliott is the Director of New Church Development for the Michigan Area;
  • Rev. Gary Step is the Director of Congregational Excellence for the Michigan Area;
  • Naomi Garcia is the Associate Director of Discipleship for the Michigan Area.
Naomi Garcia (r) is a face familiar to many involved in the Vital Church Initiative. ~Facebook photo/Rick Blunt

There will still be some 30% overlap of the work done by Dirk and Gary. “It is like two-point guards on a   basketball team,” Benton explains. Gary will take the lead on VCI. Multi-site initiatives, vital mergers, and new church starts is primarily Dirk’s responsibility.

For the past three year’s Naomi has served as West Michigan’s Associate Director for Discipleship, a role that encompassed VCI, youth ministry, Wesley Foundation, and oversight of abuse prevention. Now she will be caring for discipleship concerns across the Michigan Area, with major focus on VCI leadership recruitment, training and equipping of coaches, consultations, and authoring of materials.

“This is a bridge step as we move toward unification,” Benton notes. In this interim time pastors and congregations are invited to contact any one of the three transformers (details below). They will be linked with the appropriate leader(s).

Last Updated on December 15, 2023

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The Michigan Conference