Reverend Dirk Elliott is a devoted individual with a genuine commitment to facilitating the growth of the church through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He believes that maintaining an open connection to God and showcasing strong leadership are indispensable qualities for fostering church expansion. His personal mission is succinctly stated as: "To encourage, teach and coach pastors and leaders to grow healthy churches." Rev. Elliott holds a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and is a recognized elder in the United Methodist Church, affiliated with the Michigan Conference. Having recently retired in January 2024, he has shifted his focus towards providing coaching and consulting services. During his career, he spent twelve years in the Michigan Conference, culminating in his role as the Director of Congregational Vibrancy. Prior to this, he dedicated a decade to the East Ohio Conference as the Director of Congregational Development. Before his involvement at the Conference level, Dirk served as a pastor for 18 years across three appointments. With a background in the West Ohio New Church Start Academy, Rev. Elliott has pursued further education in church growth, evangelism, and faith-sharing. He has actively participated in various church programs and workshop, including those led by Herb Miller on Effective Worship, Visionary Leadership, and Evangelism. Notably, he is a trained consultant in Natural Church Development and has undertaken roles as a Spiritual Director on numerus Emmaus Walks. He is an at-large representative to the Path One Team, the United Methodist's church planting initiative through the Board of Discipleship Ministries. As a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accredited by the International Coach Federation, Rev. Elliott holds coaching credentials in Executive Leadership Coaching, High Performance Coaching, Church Planting coaching, Life Coaching, and Simplified Accountable Structure (SAS) coaching. He is also recognized as an endorsed Mentor Coach through Path 1 of the General Board of Discipleship and is a member of the faculty for Coaching4Clergy. While on Conference Staff, Dirk helped to oversee the starting of over fifty new churches or new faith communities, many with an emphasis on reaching minority or people of color communities.
