Full-time Staff

Craig W. Robertson, Executive Director -- Founding member and Executive Director of Spiritual Leadership, Inc., he was formerly the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Otega Services, Inc., National Technical Director of Odgen, Inc., and founder and President of Lightpath, Inc. Craig is a Lay Pastor and active member of his church in Lexington. He has served in many roles within the United Methodist Church and has now been Coaching and building Ministry Teams for 6 years. Craig is married to Jill and they have two children.

Bryan D. Sims, Leadership Coach -- Bryan and his wife MyLinda founded Eleventh Hour Ministries in 1997, which exists to challenge students and adults alike to passionately worship God with every part of their lives. Bryan is a lead-worshiper, and through SLI he is involved in training and coaching leaders to live a life of worship in love. His primary focus is to serve alongside leaders in churches and organizations over extended periods of time to bring spiritual awakening and missional effectiveness. Bryan is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary (M.Div., 2003) and is working on a Ph. D. in Organizational Leadership at Regent University. He and MyLinda have been happily married since 1997 and have two boys, Isaiah and Luke.

Dr. Charles H. Lord, Leadership Coach -- A founding member of Spiritual Leadership, Inc., Chuck is a Board member and an Associate Professor of Music, at the University of Kentucky and is growing from teacher to “guerilla change agent” at SLI. He is founder of College Solutions, a planning firm for families with college bound children. Chuck is a Lay Pastor and church leader at his church. Through his passion for Alpha, the internationally renowned ministry for sharing the Christian faith, God has developed him into a regional resource and leader for evangelism. Chuck is married to Sue, and they have three grown daughters and one grandson.

Margaret D. Groves, SLI Coordination -- Margie began her career in 1980 in management in the food and beverage industry, ending this experience in fine dining before the close of the decade. Margie is wife to Joey Groves, a postmaster, and mother to 2 young adult children. In 1999 she served as executive director of a ministry for single mothers for 3 years. She has been an active member of her local church, functioning in prayer ministries, worship ministry and a host of other leadership roles. She was in youth and young adult ministry for nearly 15 years, serving most recently on staff with UK Wesley Foundation. She has been involved in and led countless initiatives around prayer for the District and the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Her heart for prayer has helped to form her for nearly 15 years and she is a part of the SLI Prayer Strategy team.

Board Members and Others

T. Greg Survant, Board Member-- Greg is a founding member of SLI and Vice president and general manager of Lexmark’s business products.  He has grown through God’s grace in his business endeavors and 20 years of church leadership experience, and is a founding member of SLI and chairman of the board.  He works not only on the board but also serves mentoring and consulting.  He is a Lay Pastor and is currently involved in the discipleship program of his local church. Greg and his wife Glenda have two sons.

Tom Tumblin, Board Member -- Tom serves as an associate professor at Asbury while superintending the Northwest Plains District in the West Ohio Conference of the UMC. He is the former Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and was on staff at Ginghamsburg UMC near Dayton for a decade. His professional associations include Leadership Network, the Academy of Religious Leadership where he has served on its editorial board and the board of the United Methodist Publishing House. Articles include "Toward a Redemptive Organization" and ""Wesley's Methods: An Organizational Analysis." Tom and Yvonne enjoy three teenage daughters and reside in Findlay, OH.

Sam Augsburger, Board Member – -- Sam is a member of the executive board of SLI. He serves as the director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Shriners Hospital for Children, providing recommendations for treatment of children with walking disabilities. His favorite passage is Isaiah 61:1-4, being the primary motive of his work. He lives on a little farm in central Kentucky with his wife and two children.

Dr. Ronald K. Crandall, SCLI Executive Director/SLI Board Member -- Ron is an ordained elder in the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. He and his wife Bonnie have two sons, Matthew (wife Jennifer, children Jordan and Julia) and Joshua. Dr. Crandall worked as a missionary in Vietnam during 1966 and 1967. In 1977 he was appointed to the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tennessee where he served for six years as Director of Local Church Evangelism. In 1983 he joined the faculty of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky where he now serves as the Sundo Kim Professor of Evangelism and Practical Theology, and Dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism. Dr. Crandall is the originator of SCLI (Small Church Leadership Initiative) and the ABIDE renewal program for smaller congregations staffed by team members from SLI and SCLI. He has served on the International Steering Committee for the Walk to Emmaus, is past president of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education, and is a member of the American Society of Church Growth. His publications include numerous articles in periodicals and journals, along with two books on the small church There’s New Life in the Small Congregation, Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church, and The Contagious Witness: Exploring Christian Conversion. His newest publication is WITNESS: Learning to Share Your Christian Faith, a twenty-five week small group resource for local churches.

Wes Olds, Coach Apprentice -- Wes Olds is the Teaching and Network Pastor to Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral, Florida. He is an Ordained Elder in the Florida Conference of United Methodist Churches. Wes received his BA from the University of Kentucky in English Education and went on to receive his Masters Degree in Divinity at Asbury Theological Seminary. Wes served as the youth minister at Christ Church in Fort Lauderdale and as a Pastor with Youth and Evangelism at Centenary UMC in Lexington. At the same time, he also served on the Adjunct Faculty at Asbury College as an instructor in youth ministry and congregational leadership and Asbury Seminary as an Adjunct Faculty for Mentored Ministry. Eventually, God prepared a way for Wes (with SLI’s help!) to start a multi-cultural, urban church called The Rock-La Roca UMC in Lexington, KY www.rockumc.com. While there, Wes co-founded Lexington’s “Room in the Inn” www.roomintheinn.net, a ministry of hospitality and shelter to homeless men. Wes is married to Becky and they have one awesome son, Caleb. Wes loves music and plays guitar, enjoys fishing, driving Firebirds, and hanging out with his friends and family.

Lee Smedley, Coach Apprentice-- Lee Smedly is a District Lay Leader in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. A member of Bethany UMC in Hamburg PA for more than 20 years, he sings in its chancel choir and leads the praise band. Previously Director of Organizational Development for a Fortune 200 company, he now heads Smedley Consulting. One area of specialization is conflict intervention and he has offered his services to several small churches in Eastern Pennsylvania. Lee loves small churches as places “Where everyone has an oar and expects to row.” A singer-songwriter, he has composed the ABIDE theme song based on John 15, Jesus the Vine.

Catherine Self, Coach Apprentice-- Catherine Self has thirty-five years experience in the health care field, primarily in leadership roles. Last position title: Vice-President for Organizational Learning, Saint Thomas Health Services, Nashville, Tennessee. Currently working as Senior VP for Mission and Operations at the Baptist Healing Trust and as a facilitator with Spiritual Leadership, Inc. focusing on culture change and capacity building. Her education includes; B.S. in Physical Therapy, M.A. in Organizational Leadership, and she is currently a Doctoral Student in Leadership Studies at Regent University. Catherine has been married for thirty-two years with a daughter and a son, both married. And she is a Grandmother to the world’s most beautiful baby girl and another grandchild due October 2007!

For information on SLI services, contact Margie Groves (859)967-8986