BRYAN K NELSON
THE BACKSTORY
Originally from Milwaukee, WI, I was an average kid. The middle child of three with two solid Christian parents. My dad was a clinical psychologist and my mom was a physical therapist. Moments I remember most clearly growing up were building model rockets, playing my first Korg DSS-1 sampling synthesizer for youth groups, surviving the F4 tornado that destroyed my home, entering 4-H projects into the county fair, sketchbooks drawing and coding music on a Commodore 64 computer.
After attending public high school, I wanted to try a different experience and find a private Christian college that had a decent Graphic Art and Design department that leveraged computers (a novel concept at the time). I discovered Grace College in northern Indiana that would provide a scholarship if I performed with one of the college’s traveling music groups — and they had a stellar computer art program. After a year, I called my parents and said I wanted to switch my major to music education and music performance. My parents originally thought I might have been off my rocker going from art to music — but fully supported it after explaining I wanted to teach music in a public school setting.
After graduating college, I discovered a church in Pennsylvania that would take me as an intern for a year — exploring music in the non-profit world — before I would jump into teaching music. However, that one-year internship turned into a wonderful decade of ministry. I learned in those years that leading teams would require a leadership muscle that I needed to improve. So I completed a masters in leadership to spur personal growth in this area. Also while at this first church, I met my beautiful wife, Lisa, when she was traveling on a music tour through the area. We were fortunate enough to tour together for a season, as the church allowed me to bring on some additional interns at the time. After we married, she she completed her masters in music theory — commuting 6 hours a day to Temple University in Philadelphia (definitely before virtual learning was a thing).
Once kids started entering the picture — we realized how far the rest of our immediate family was from us. We moved to a church in Topeka, Kansas to be closer to family — which is a joy having kids grow up next to grandparents! Then we were recruited to a church in Kansas City, Missouri, not far from family, to help serve in a season of ministry. While I thrive at the intersection of helping others, leveraging technology solutions and working with teams to accomplish something greater together than we could as individual parts — I feel that my family is of value above who I am. My wife has a private piano studio and manages our household, including guiding our three kids (Josh, Kayla, Tyler) who are amazing kids.
We have a few more years before our “littles” head off on their own independent journey — so we are making the most of the time we have together right now. We are making some shifts in 2021 and exploring a new season ahead.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Twenty-five years of volunteer management experience as an adaptable leader driving organizational change. Quick learner focused on setting goals, time-efficient strategies, analytics, and metric-based outcomes. Effective verbal and written communication in leading project-based teams. Innovative thinker who uses creative approaches to discover solutions to problems. Passionate about coaching others and creating self-led teams. // Originally from Milwaukee, WI — I sought a school out for Graphic Art and Design that used computers (very new at the time), so I found a small private college that had a computer studio for this purpose. I received a scholarship if I performed with one of the college traveling music groups. After a year, I called my parents and explained I wanted to switch my major to music. My dad, a clinical psychologist, and mom, a physical therapist, thought I was a little off my rocker. But 25 years later, God has blessed me with an incredible family (my wife, Lisa, and three kids, Joshua, Kayla, Tyler) and a wonderful journey of doing meaningful creative work. The intersection of helping others, technology solutions, working with teams and
SKILLS
Technology: Web Development, Audio Editing, Video Editing, HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, jQuery, Slack, Planning Center Online, ToDoist
Music: Keyboard, Guitar, Trombone, Writing, Arranging, Transcriptions (see kcmusicstudio.com)
EDUCATION
Bachelors of Science in Education K-12, Grace College, 1995
Bachelors of Science: Music Performance, Grace College, 1995
Masters of Arts: Leadership, Lancaster Bible College & Graduate School, 2005
EXPERIENCE
CREATIVE ARTS PASTOR, PLEASANT VALLEY (LIBERTY, MO) – 2013-PRESENT
- Manage a volunteer team of 300 and serve on the executive leadership team responsible for guiding the organization’s visionary direction.
- Oversee and manage $500,000 of a $5 million annual budget.
- Elected top leader to lead our COVID-19 reopening strategy and continue to provide on-going consultation to departmental phased openings.
- Adapt weekly live environments to online streaming platforms.
- Developed a self-led team model by equipping volunteers through written training materials, verbal coaching sessions and visual presentations.
- Created an evaluation metric to measure success based on untapped community members.
- Selected and developed two interns who became full time employees and are still with the organization.
WORSHIP PASTOR, TOPEKA BIBLE CHURCH (TOPEKA, KS) – 2007-2013
- Led the organization to adapt from a single experience venue to a multi-venue model leveraging technology and adaptive methods.
- Developed and recorded audio training material for weekly use by volunteers.
- Initiated the development of a web-based record-keeping system to manage and streamline the collection and reporting of program data, which has now expanded to over 150 non-profit organizations.
WORSHIP ARTS DIRECTOR, GRACE CHURCH (LITITZ, PA) – 1995-2007
- Transformed the organization from a stylistic traditional format to a modern format.
- Expanded volunteer team base from 30 to 120 by building relationships, casting vision, and giving guidance toward specific objectives and measurable outcomes.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & SKILLS
- Presented a professional development training class for North Kansas City School District educators how to record and distribute digital content to students.
- Crafted several virtual performance groups for North Kansas City School District.
- Volunteered with Warren Hills Elementary for production with annual talent shows.
- Volunteered for Northland food distribution during COVID-19 shutdown.
- Some other skills are G-Suite, Slack, Audio/Video Editing, Graphic Design, HTML, CSS, SEO, Google Ad/Analytics, project management applications (ToDoist, Asana, Monday).
- Completed (barely) a marathon for Team World Vision to raise awareness and funds for clean water in Africa.
Working Genius Areas (workinggenius.com): Discernment and Invention
DISC: Adaptive = DISC, Natural Style = CDIS | Myers-Briggs: INTJ
Strengths Finder 2.0: Futuristic, Focus, Belief, Individualization, Analytical
785-217-7298 | bryan@bryanknelson.com | bryanknelson.com | linkedin.com/in/bryankeithnelson
