Bill Hamer Coaches Bishop and Staff to Greater Effectiveness
Bill Hamer serves as Management Consultant to the Bishop / Operations Director of the United Methodist Center.
Bill Hamer, active member of St. Mark UMC, Birmingham retired just over a year ago as Senior Vice President at Protective Life Corporation. Then God (and Bishop Willimon) called Hamer into a new form of ministry – coach and supervisor at the United Methodist Center.
“I had an executive coach back at Duke and found the practice very helpful,” said Bishop Willimon. “Few of us pastors have much training or experience in supervision and management. When I got called to this ministry of oversight I prayed for help – and God sent me Bill Hamer!”
Hamer teaches a business course at Birmingham Southern College where he serves as Executive in Residence. When he came to the United Methodist Center he worked with staff members to devise accurate job descriptions and helped build a Performance Evaluation system.
When not coaching Bishop Willimon he advises the Cabinet on their work, helping the Cabinet to work more efficiently and productively in their meetings and their deployment of pastors.
“Bill has single handedly revolutionized the way we work,” says the Rev. Mickey Morgan, new Cabinet Convenor and Coordinator.
Director of Connectional Ministries Rev. Dale Cohen adds, “Having someone to consult with on a daily basis with life experience and management experience like Bill’s is raising the level of my work and helping me improve the performance of the entire Connectional Ministries Team.”
Hamer has encouraged the development of new systems of accountability for churches and pastors -- like the new “Weekly Benchmark Statistics report” that will be unveiled this fall that enables each church to report how it is fulfilling Conference Priorities. He has also coached Bishop Willimon in the selection of and evaluation of District Superintendents. Bishop Willimon utilizes Hamer in training and supporting District Superintendents in their work, giving him special assignment to projects throughout the North Alabama Conference.
“I am very blessed to work with Bishop Willimon, this outstanding team at the United Methodist Center and the North Alabama Conference Cabinet. I did not retire, I just reinvented myself,” says Hamer. “Having an opportunity to share what I learned during a full career at the University of Montevallo and then Protective Life is just great.”
“I’ve learned so much from Bill. This is a wonderful gift he is giving to our church,” said Bishop Willimon. “I urge every pastor who is faced with management challenges to reach out to the laity within the congregation and get help from those like Bill whom God has given a gift for helping others to make the most of their ministry.”