Ministry Consultants

Dr. R. Franklin Gillis, Jr.

The Rev. Dr. R. Franklin Gillis, Jr. is an ordained United Methodist minister and a retired member of the Virginia Annual Conference. A native of Hampton, Virginia, he is a graduate of Ferrum College (A.A.), Randolph-Macon College (B.A.), Wesley Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Lancaster Theological Seminary (D.Min.).

Franklin has served a variety of appointments, including Minister with Youth, Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, Cincinnati, Director of the Wesley Foundation and Campus Minister at the College of William and Mary, Arlington District Program Coordinator, and pastor of small and large churches in Virginia. He served as Richmond District Superintendent prior to taking early retirement in June 2001. Following retirement, he served as Interim Director of Communications for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church and Editor of The Virginia Advocate, 2001-02. He established Four Seasons Ministry which specializes in training lay and clergy leadership for more effective ministry in the areas of visioning, evangelism, leadership, and stewardship. As director, he is a ministry consultant/ coach, workshop leader, and motivational speaker.

Franklin is a regional trainer for the United Methodist Church’s “Igniting Ministry” program, Connectional Giving Workshops, Intentional Interim Ministry, and adjunct faculty at Virginia Union University School of Theology. He is a frequent resource leader for district and conference events.

Franklin’s hobbies and personal interests include electronic media, amateur radio, writing, photography, and travel. He is author of It’s About Time: Time Management for Church Professionals, Sermons for All Seasons, Revealing Christ: Sharing the Faith: A Study Guide for Doing Evangelism in the Local Church, (co-author), and numerous editorials and articles for The Virginia Advocate and other religious publications.

He is married to Betty Osterhoff, a native of Indiana, and graduate of Purdue University. She serves as a partner in ministry, Administrative Assistant for Four Seasons Ministry, and provides support and co-leadership for various workshops and retreats. They are parents of two grown children and a grandson, Jacob Franklin.

Rev. D. Glen Langston

The Rev. Mr. D. Glen Langston is an ordained United Methodist minister and a retired member of the Virginia Annual Conference.  He was born and raised in Texas and moved to Virginia in 1963.  He is the recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and a Master of Arts degree in Christian Education from Scarritt College in Nashville, TN and the recipient of a Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Rev. Langston served churches for fifteen years as a Director of Christian Education and Director of Program Ministries before entering the ordained ministry.  As an ordained minister, he has served a variety of church settings, including multiple point charges, single church charges, rural, suburban, and city churches.  He has also served as the national director of The Institute of Industrial Ministries (ICM), a national industrial chaplaincy placement ministry, as a social worker with street gangs, and as the Program Coordinator for the Arlington District of the Virginia Conference. In addition to his role as a Four Seasons Ministry Consultant, Rev. Langston serves as the Harrisonburg District Program Coordinator in retirement.

Rev. Langston has received additional training in the areas of program development, leadership development, time management, how persons learn, and communications.  He has received certificates from Leisure Ministries, Healthy Congregations, Royce and Jane Reynolds Program in Church Leadership, Industrial Missions, CASA (Court Appointed Advocates for Children), Igniting Ministries, Disciple Bible Studies, and Christian Believers.

Rev. Langston’s hobbies/personal interests include gardening, traveling, and singing.  He is married to Tara deButts, who is in private practice as a counselor specializing in drug and alcohol addictions.  They have a son and daughter-in-law and most importantly a granddaughter.

Rev. Michael Shirley

The Rev. Mr. Michael Shirley is an ordained United Methodist minister. He is a graduate of Asbury College and Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. For 39 years, Mike served as a pastor of both small and large membership churches in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. His pastorates included being the founding pastor of Christ Church, Venice, where he served for 11 years. His last appointment was as Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church, a 2700 membership church in Stuart, Florida.

For ten years, Mike co-led “Re-Visioning an Intentional Ministry” retreats with the late Dr. Mark Rouch, Director of the Intentional Growth Center at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Mike’s service to the United Methodist Church included serving as Chair of the Committee on Superintendency, the District Committee on Ordained Ministry, and numerous other conference and district boards and agencies. For years, Mike has served as a mentor for ministers in Florida and Virginia.

His skills and passions include the use of visuals in worship, and church leadership and growth principles. He has also received training in other ministry areas including Disciple Bible Study, Preaching with Presence, Silent Retreats, and Stewardship. Mike and his wife, Sue, are Stephen Ministry Leaders. He has also been a speaker and leader at numerous workshops, retreats, and revivals.

Mike and Sue have a daughter in Richmond, one in Santa Clarita, California and three grandchildren. His hobbies are grand parenting, reading, photography, travel, and include being a “news junkie.”