Some of these associates are close colleagues. We have shared workshops, mutual recommendations, training, consulting projects, and teaching assignments. Others are professional colleagues in other areas of expertise. We recommend each other for areas in which we do not ourselves focus.   

Church Consultants

I, Randy Willingham, have dedicated my life to serving Christ in a ministry across congregational lines. My spiritual story is deeply rooted in a multi-generational conflict between Baptists and the Church of Christ. My great great grandfather wrote the hymn entitled "The Church of Christ" and my great uncle offered to pay all of my theological education if I would go to a Baptist school. The offer was made in front of my grandmother who feared I would leave the Church of Christ. Yet, I was raised in what churchmen would call non-churched environment and taken to church by grandparents belonging to the conservative element of the Churches of Christ.  I am the first-born son and the first-born grandson to a first-born mother and a dominant grandmother in a world of strong women. In my earliest years, I was cared for by my mother, grandmother, and four aunts (another aunt was born at the same time my little sister was born). Almost all of these women have very strong personalities.

I believe God has provided an opportunity for me to understand the double bind roles and expectations inherent to ministry, understand the Church of Christ from both an inside and outside perspective, and to serve in a leadership style that rises above categories of gender. I tend to think more in terms of voice than vision, possibilities than limitations, and maturity than achievement. My focus has been on high value conversations that do more than achieve a task. Rather, they change us as we meet others, ourselves, and God in new and surprising ways. 



Charles Siburt is a nationally recognized church consultant (often referred to as the “Church Doctor”), director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Abilene Christian University, director of the Center for Church Enrichment, associate dean for ministry services and church programs in the graduate school of theology, and the Frazer professor of Church Enrichment. He directs Elderlink, the Minister Support Network, and provides conflict mediation and counseling for churches and church leaders. He is married to Judy and has two sons, John and Ben.  

Charles also serves as an elder at the University Church of Christ in Abilene. He teaches graduate ministry courses, including Introduction to Christian Ministry, Church Leadership, Pastoral Ministry Skills for Church Leaders, and Managing Conflict in Churches.He has served ministers, church leaders, and congregations by directing programs such as ElderLink and the Minister Support Network.

Charles completed his A. A. degree at Lubbock Christian University before graduating from Abilene Christian University with a B. A. degree in 1968 and a M.Div. degree in 1971.  He earned his D.Min. from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1978.  He came to ACU in 1988 after serving as a minister in several congregations.  He has performed seminars and consultations in scores of congregations in the U. S. and Canada.

Charles and his wife, Judy, have two married sons, John and Ben, both of whom are also ministers. Their greatest joy is time spent with their three grandchildren. 

AbileneChristian University
ACU Box 29405
Abilene, TX 79699 
Office: 325-674-3732
Home: (325) 673-9405
Email: siburt@bible.acu.edu
Web Page: http://www.acu.edu/academics/cbs/gst/faculty/siburt.html

Flavil Yeakley is a professor of Bible and Religion at Harding University and has served as Director of Harding's Center for Church Growth Studies for a number of years. He is a well-known author and is quoted across the nation by well known figures in the areas of Church Growth. He has served as president of the American Society for Church Growth and president for the Association for Psychological Type. He has received awards for his research in both contexts. Dr. Yeakley has studied leadership and patterns of growth and decline among Churches of Christ for over 30 years. He has conducted more than 100 congregational assessments throughout the United States and Canada. He has served as Director of Harding's Office of Outcomes Assessment for over 10 years and is a member of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. Moreover, he has served in full-time local church ministry as a preacher, elder, and/or deacon for 20 years.

Dr. Yeakley has B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. from teh University of Illinois. He has been happily married to Maydell Yeakley for over 50 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren.     

Other Consultants

Bob Anderson

Bob Anderson’s story as an innovator and visionary in leadership began in high school and college where he staffed intensive personal and leadership development retreats. In business school, his love for statistics and economics helped to culture a unique talent: he became skillful at taking complex ideas and integrating them into models and methods for leadership development that are powerful, tangible and accessible.

While working as a manager in manufacturing, Bob completed a Master’s degree in Organizational Development. Early in his career, he was fortunate to have had Peter Block as his mentor. He has also worked closely with some of the industry’s most respected names including Peter Senge, Robert Fritz and Ken Wilber. He and David Whyte co-taught leadership workshops created by Bob.

For the last 20 years Bob has created and conducted intensive leadership development workshops. His most current breakthrough programs include: The Authentic Leader,Mastering Leadership, and Pathway to Partnership. Bob’s clients rank among the nation’s top companies.

To better serve his clients, Bob searched for an assessment tool that matched the frameworks he had been developing for nearly 30 years. He found himself using multiple surveys because no single tool did enough to reveal both behavioral competencies and the underlying motivational system that establishes the pattern of strengths and weaknesses. He decided to create a tool that did it all. With The Leadership Circle Profile, he succeeded.

 

According to Bob, “Much of leadership development has been too superficial. Most organizational change efforts fail, not because they are ill conceived, but because at the center of those efforts is an implicit and unrecognized requirement that people behave in ways associated with higher levels of consciousness. This is a much bigger demand than we ever understood."

"The kind of cultural change we have been striving for requires far more than mere skill development from our leaders. It requires that they grow—that they significantly upgrade their inner ‘operating system’ to be able to embody the kind of leadership that can create the envisioned culture."

Bob Explains, "We now recognize that leadership is a process of transformation whereby a leader is encouraged to make a profound shift—to gain a deeper under-standing of themselves, the world, and their relationship to others. This deeper, longer term work is what TLCP brings to the table, what TLC stands for, and this is the kind of work we invite organizations to experience.”



 Jim Rough, Founder & President of Dynamic Facilitation

Jim is a business consultant who for almost 20 years has been the principal seminar leader for Dynamic Facilitation Skills. He has been leading public seminars and evolving Dynamic Facilitation for over 20 years, while facilitating for clients that include government agencies, corporations, and community-based organizations. He is author of the book"Society’s Breakthrough! Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People", which one reviewer called,“...certainly one of the hundred most important books available in English.” He is originator of the Wisdom Council process, referred to by a blogger as, “...the most important political innovation since the jury,” and which is now being implemented in government agencies, cooperatively owned businesses, schools, and communities. He is co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Wise Democracy. Jim is a frequent speaker in conferences and produces a web access channel on these topics, the Wise Democracy Channel. Before founding Jim Rough & Associates, Inc. in 1985, Jim worked as an internal consultant within Boeing, Xerox, IBM, and Simpson Timber Company. His education includes a B.A. in Physics from Occidental College, M.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Columbia University and years of independent study in Jungian psychology. Contact Jim at (360) 385-7118 or jim [@] dynamicfacilitation.com. 

 

Faculty Colleagues

Organizations

Coming Soon