Who We Are
David S. Bell, President & Executive Director
As President and Executive Director, David leads the ongoing strategic vision of the Foundation. He oversees the leadership development, planned giving, fund management, and financial stewardship services of the Foundation. He administers the Foundation in ways that promote clergy excellence, the spiritual discipline of generosity, and value-aligned, socially responsible investing. Serving the Foundation for over a decade, he has thirty year of ministry experience, including experience as a pastor, a development director, and a regional and national church leader. He is an ordained clergy member of The United Methodist Church.
David is a frequent keynote speaker at national and regional conferences. He received a post-graduate certificate in Executive Leadership from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Drew Theological School and completed his undergraduate degree from The College of Wooster.
Contact David for consultation regarding investments, planned giving, estate planning, clergy financial coaching, and trust administration. – Contact David
Rev. Brad Bartelmay, Sr. Director of Mentored Learning
Rev. Bartelmay will assist church leaders with implementing financial best practices. He will also intentionally mentor new pastors and pastors in transition to strengthen their financial understanding and steward leadership skills. As his title implies, his focus is on mentoring pastors and church leaders so that we are growing generous communities of faith across the Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church and beyond.
-Contact Brad
Ann Buck, Sr. Director of Account Services
Ann served for many years in the area of administrative services with the former West Michigan Treasurer’s Office of The United Methodist Church. As a result, she is well known throughout much of the Michigan Conference. Ann is responsible for many bookkeeping functions of the Michigan Area Loan Fund, local church investment statements, other trust and annuity account services, and direct customer service.
Contact Ann for information about account statements, investment allocations, distributions, and deposits, and loan fund payments. – Contact Ann
Marian Coles, Sr. Director of Operations
Marian has worked with the Foundation longer than any other current staff member. She has a lengthy history of serving the Church, including a former position with the Board of Ordained Ministry. Prior to this service, she worked for over ten years as a human resource manager. In this management position, she worked extensively with benefit management, conflict resolution, recruitment of professional staff and customer service training. She holds both a Master’s of Science Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
Contact Marian for information about planned giving resources, communications, operations, scholarships, grants, and awards. – Contact Marian
Rev. Joel Fitzgerald, Sr. Director of Church Relations
Rev. Fitzgerald brings considerable experience as a pastor and a passionate advocate for high capacity pastoral leadership. He currently serves as the Treasurer of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, is a member of the Wespath Benefits and Investments’ Board of Directors, has been a General and Jurisdictional delegate or alternate, and recently completed the MBA program at Dakota Wesleyan University.
Joel is available to coach and lead workshops to help churches and pastors live as generous communities of faith.
Jeff Regan, Sr. Director of Stewardship
With four decades of pastoral ministry and conference leadership experience, Jeff brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the Foundation. His primary focus is providing consultative services to local churches throughout Michigan. Jeff is available to assist church leaders with stewardship education, church financial strategies, vision and strategic planning, annual stewardship campaigns, and capital campaign readiness.
Contact Jeff for consultation regarding local church stewardship. – Contact Jeff
Rev. Gary Step, Sr. Director of Leadership Development
The Rev. Gary Step brings a wealth of experience in congregational and community transformation. He is familiar to many church leaders throughout the Michigan Conference where he served most recently as the Associate Director of Congregational Vibrancy. In this capacity, he gained valuable knowledge about the Foundation and the Michigan Area Loan Fund. Rev. Step will guide congregations to live as generous communities of faith, coach pastors to be inspiring steward leaders, and lead learning cohorts to address organizational transformation.
– Contact Gary
Karen Thompson, Sr. Director of Loan Services
Karen’s responsibilities include both stewardship ministry and loan services. Karen elected early retirement from Ferris State University in 2018 where she served in a financial investment position. Her passion for the Church, her personal faith, her knowledge of financial services and her commitment to the Foundation’s ministry lead her to be a natural fit for this position.
Contact Karen for consultation regarding ministry loans and promissory notes. – Contact Karen
