OKLAHOMA DNA COACHING PILOT PROGAM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Rev. Dr. Don Nations

I wanted to write a few thoughts on our experience with DNA Coaching and Don Nations. We have experienced some wonderful transformation and change with the leadership of DNA Coaching, Don Nations, and the other churches in the DNA Coaching Pilot Program.

Since starting with DNA Coaching 2 years ago we have seen numerous changes. In the first few months of the program we constructed a Welcome Center, trained our Greeters, fine-tuned our guest follow up program, and spruced up the outside of our church facility. Over the next year we became a certified “Welcoming Congregation,” began making plans to add a second worship service, and began planning on expanding our church staff. Since then our second worship service has been a wonderful success and we have hired an ordained Associate Minister.

Over the past 2 years our worship attendance has increased by 16% over the previous 2 years and our Sunday school attendance has increased by 10% over the previous 2 years. As a pastor I have found that Don says much of what I have been saying for the past five years, but our church has responded more efficiently to an outside voice.

The Ministry Survey Report was a large undertaking with the church-wide survey and packet that we completed. There was some resistance to the survey, but it was finally accepted by most of our congregation. As Don asked me some follow-up questions just 1½ weeks after we turned in the completed report I was amazed at his insights into some of our struggles. He pinpointed issues that we had been avoiding for the past five years. He also had great insight into areas that we had not been able to verbalize before. I anticipate that his final report will give us a framework for ministry for the next 5-10 years.

Don has certainly taken some getting used to. He is blunt, sometimes overbearing, and often is perceived as arrogant, but his insight and skills make these aspects his strengths. Had he not been blunt he would not have been able to give us direction we needed. Had he not been overbearing we would not have heard. Had he not come across as arrogant we would not have listened to him as an expert.

I have truly enjoyed working with Don and even after our 3-year contract with him is complete I will continue to use him as a resource for the remainder of my ministry. He has been a wonderful asset to our church and me.

Rev. Lesly Broadbent
Pastor, Willow View UMC

DNA COACHING PILOT DIRECTORY

Ardmore District
Guy Ames Ardmore District Superintendent	Ardmore District UMC 333 West Main #445 Ardmore, OK 73401	guyames@sbcglobal.net
Participating Church	Pastor	E-mail
Ada, Asbury	Don Griffin P.O. Box 2342 Ada, OK 74821	dgriffin@swbell.net
Ardmore, Asbury	Kay Buchanan 516 Maxwell Ardmore, OK 73401	therevkay@yahoo.com
Enid District
Gary Holdeman Enid District Superintendent	Enid District UMC P.O. Box 5024 Enid, OK 73702	garyandjoyce@sbcglobal.net
Participating Church	Pastor	E-mail
Enid, Willow View	Lesly Broadbent 3525 W. Purdue Enid, OK 73703	pastorlesly@sbcglobal.net
NOKC District
Dan Pulver NOKC District Supt.	North OKC District UMC 4334 NW Expressway, St. 212 OKC, OK 73116	nokcdistrict@coxinet.net
Participating Church	Pastor	E-mail
Edmond, Acts 2	Mark Foster 4848 W. Covell Rd. Edmond, OK 73083	revmarkf@sbcglobal.net acts2umc@sbcglobal.net
OKC, Wesley	Diana Cox Crawford 1401 NW 25th OKC, OK 73106	revdcc@msn.com
Stillwater District
David Wiggs Stillwater District Supt.	Stillwater District UMC 424 Squires Blvd., St. 100 Stillwater, OK 74074	dwiggs@usa.net
Participating Church	Pastor	E-mail
Chandler, First UMC	Sungsu Hwang 122 W. 10th St. Chandler, OK 74834	plusgrace@hotmail.com
Cleveland, First UMC	David Mingus P.O. Box 160 Cleveland, OK 74020	dmingus@netcommander.com
Cushing, First UMC	Sonja Tobey P.O. Box 888 Cushing, OK 74023	revsonja@hotmail.com
Drumright, First UMC	Ginny Hathaway 115 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Drumright, OK 74030	hathawayginny@hotmail.com
McLoud, First UMC	Michelle McCarty P.O. Box 997 McLoud, OK 74851	mmccarty@dobsonteleco.com
Okemah, St. Paul's UMC	Brian Matthews P.O. Box 368 Okemah, OK 74859	revbmat@sbcglobal.net
Perry UMC	Ed Cook P.O. Box 206 Perry, OK 73077	elcook2819@sbcglobal.net
Ponca City, St. Paul's	Lisa Crone 1904 N. Pecan Rd. Ponca City, OK 74604	stpaulspastor@cableone.net
Sapulpa, First UMC	Darryl Owen 1401 E. Taft Sapulpa, OK 74066	soulmanforever@sbcglobal.net darryl.sapfumc@sbcglobal.net
Stillwater, First UMC	Stan Warfield 400 W. 7th Stillwater, OK 74074	aggiepriest@fumcstw.org
Stillwater, Highland Park	Derrek Belase 524 N. Stallard Stillwater, OK 74075	derrekbelase@yahoo.com
Other
Bishop Robert Hayes Resident Bishop	Robert E. Hayes, Jr. P.O. Box 60467 OKC, OK 73146	rhayes@okumc.org rhayes@okbishop.org
Joseph Harris Assistant to the Bishop Communications Director Conference Secretary	Joseph Harris U. M. Ministry Center 1501 NW 24th OKC, OK 73106	jharris@okumc.org
Brian Bakeman Director Conference Treasurer Benefits Officer	Brian Bakeman U.M. Ministry Center 1501 NW 24th OKC, OK 73106	bbakeman@okumc.org
Craig Stinson Dir. Connectional Min.	Craig Stinson U.M. Ministry Center 1501 NW 24th OKC, OK 73106	cstinson@okumc.org
Don Nations DNA Coaching	DNA Coaching 6339 Sturbridge Court Sarasota, FL 34238	don@dnacoaching.com