Disciples Church Extension Fund and Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are pleased to announce that Bethany Watkins Lowery will join the ministries as Director of Development, effective September 1. In this position, she will lead development team efforts that involve planning and implementing strategies to generate gift income for the ministries. These efforts include donor and investor identification, cultivation, promotion, relations and retention, responsibilities previously performed by Ellen Mitchell, who now serves both ministries as vice president in the area of Operations and Organizational Development.
A former doctoral student in History of Christianity with a Master of Divinity from the University of Chicago, Bethany is an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma, also with standing in Illinois/Wisconsin. She is a House Scholar from the University of Chicago Disciples Divinity House and recipient of a University of Chicago International Ministry grant.
Most recently, Bethany developed gift, grant and operational income streams for “Grounds of Being,” a non-profit cafe out of the University of Chicago Divinity School dedicated to raising funds for community reinvestment and student support. In this position and in her previous development roles at Disciples Divinity House and Phillips Theological Seminary, Bethany blended her skills in nonprofit fundraising and community leadership with relationship-building and partnership development.
“Hope Partnership is very excited that Bethany is joining us,” says Gilberto Collazo, president, “as she will bring her experience in growing relationships and her appreciation for the challenges and opportunities facing today’s Church to growing resources for our work with new and transforming congregations and their leaders.” Disciples Church Extension Fund President Rick Reisinger adds, “Bethany will bring a fresh approach to our development effort, using innovative communications and social media tools and her appreciation for our denomination’s diverse expressions of ministry and mission to nurturing relationships with both current and future friends and partners.”
Bethany has a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and a Principles & Techniques of Fundraising Certificate from the Fundraising School: Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.