Meet the Staff

Kenneth R. Roney is the President of the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. Prior to serving in his present position, he served as the Executive Vice President for the Foundation, assisted Stewardship Development Ministries, the Nazarene Theological Seminary, various mission partnerships, and the Church of the Nazarene Foundation by helping individuals make lifetime ministry gifts, legacy gifts, and by working with individuals, trusts, churches, districts and schools who want to utilize the opportunities for investment and giving through the Church of the Nazarene Foundation.

For twenty-four years, Ken had practiced law, in both Florida and Colorado. His practice was a general civil practice with an emphasis on wills, trusts, estate planning, real estate, corporate law and dispute resolution. In addition to practicing law, he has served as a mediator and an arbitrator and has been a trainer of mediators in private industry, state agencies and in courses approved by the Supreme Courts of Florida, Indiana, Tennessee and California. He graduated with high honors from the University of Florida (B.A.) and from Nova University Law School (J.D.).

In addition to serving as the Foundation's president, he is a member of the Hope Springs Nazarene Church located in Loveland, Colorado. He has served as an adjunct professor with Mid-America Nazarene University teaching courses in grant writing and business law in their MBA program and is currently serving as an adjunct professor in the online program offered by Indiana Wesleyan University.

As a third generation Nazarene, his roots go back to the early days of the denomination. He has been an active layman in his local Nazarene churches having served in various capacities and has been a member of Gideons International for several years. In 2001, Ken was elected as the state secretary for the Gideons in Colorado. In 2002, Ken was given the opportunity to serve the church as one of the first Registered Stewardship Representatives with Stewardship Development Ministries and then was selected as the Executive Vice President of the Church of the Nazarene Foundation in 2004.

'I am delighted that God has given me this opportunity to use my talents and skills to directly serve in the kingdom. I have enjoyed a successful professional career and now He has given me the opportunity to have a more direct role in the kingdom.'

Ken and his wife, Lynn, make their home in Greeley, Colorado and have four children and two grandchildren.

Mark E. Lail was selected as the Executive Vice President for the Nazarene Foundation by Board election in March 2012. He provides dual executive leadership for the Foundation and for the Church of the Nazarene, where he has served as Director of Stewardship Ministries since 2008. Prior to his Stewardship assignment, he was a Nazarene pastor for over 20 years, most recently at the Fishcreek Nazarene Worship Center in Ohio.

"The partnership between the Foundation and Stewardship Ministries is an opportunity to bless each local church with current and long-term funding resources as we partner to fulfill the mission of the Church of the Nazarene to Make Christlike Disciples in the Nations," says Foundation President, Ken Roney.

Lail believes that the Foundation is an important piece of the fundraising puzzle and sees this as an exciting partnership with unlimited potential for maximizing local church funding. He is honored by the expression of confidence that the Foundation Board and President Roney have placed in him.

He serves as chief operations officer for the Foundation with responsibility for oversight of office operations, donor and institutional planned-giving development to local, district, and general Church ministries for long-term ministry sustainability.

He is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Nazarene Theological Seminary. Lail also holds an advanced degree in Spiritual Formation and Church Growth from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has severed in several positions including district treasurer, district Sunday School Ministries chairman, and instructor for the Nazarene Bible College extension on the East Ohio District. He has served on several boards including the Church of the Nazarene Foundation, the East Ohio District Advisory Board, the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Board of Trustees, the East Ohio Board of Ministerial Studies, and the East Ohio Board of Ministerial Credentials.

Lail and his wife, Ruth, live in DeSoto, Kansas, and have five daughters and two grandsons.

Dr. Harold Henderson was born in Watertown New York and has been a lifelong Nazarene. He has served in pastoral ministry for 34 years in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.

His educational path took him to Eastern Nazarene College, BA; Nazarene Theological Seminary, BD; Eastern Baptist Seminary, DMin, and several continuing educational programs, including the School of Large Church Management. He has held a variety of district responsibilities and has taught in the district ministerial studies program.

In January 2002 Harold joined the staff of Stewardship Development Ministries as an Area Coordinator for the Eastern Nazarene College Region. For the first year he worked with local churches and individuals assisting in the areas of estate planning and financial development. Since that time Harold's assignment has involved the development of the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. He has met with over 58 of the District Superintendents on behalf of the Foundation and has made presentations at district assemblies, District Advisory Boards, Finance Committees and local churches related to estate planning, special gifts, and investments with the Foundation.

In June of 2004 Harold was named as Vice President for Gift Planning of the Nazarene Foundation. His residence and office is located in Monroe, Ohio. He travels extensively across six of the educational regions and is available as needed for districts, churches, and individuals.

Harold holds the Certified Estate Planner certificate and continues in training programs to develop his knowledge of estate planning and the various instruments to assist persons in planning for the future.

Harold has been married to Betty (Caster) for forty-one years, and they have 3 children: Brenda Parker, Troy, and Craig. They are the proud grandparents of 8 grandchildren.

Harold enjoys computers, reading, travel, woodworking, and RC model airplanes.

Sheila Bird joined the Foundation team in August 2007 as the Office Manager. She comes with over 25 years of experience in non-profit administration, the most recent of which was Program Coordinator for Stewardship Ministries for the International Church of the Nazarene. Her service in administrative and staff roles is vast and she has served in churches in Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, and Kansas.

She is a three time graduate from MidAmerica Nazarene University earning an undergraduate degree in Psychology, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Arts in Organizational Administration with an emphasis in non-profit administration. She serves as an adjunct professor on the MidAmerica staff teaching Revenue Development in Non-Profits in the MAOA program and as a Project Thesis Advisor for the MHR program.

She is currently in the process of earning her 'Certified Stewardship Professional' designation from the Christian Stewardship Association. She has also served a term on the Board of Directors for 'The Lighthouse,' a local pregnancy crisis center in the Kansas City area. In her spare time she is active in her local church where she provides leadership for Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries, sings on the worship team, and champions the prayer ministry there.

Sheila has been married to her pastor husband, Don, for thirty years, and they are the proud parents of 4 children: Justin, Jessica, Jeremy, and Julie and one daughter-in-law, Lisa. Their 2 year old grandson, Matty, spreads joy around when he turns on his charm to get Nana or Papa to do something for him.

Bob attended MNU graduating in 1981 with a double major in accounting and business administration. After graduating from MidAmerica, Bob did what all good business students do who don't know what to do with their life, he went to graduate school obtaining an MBA from Kansas University in 1983. After graduate school Bob worked 3 years as a computer systems analyst for an international consulting company.

From 1986 to 1991 Bob served as Vice President and Portfolio Manager for a private money management firm in the Kansas City area and during this time obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. In 1991, Bob resigned to begin his own financial planning practice in Kansas City and relocated to Wichita in 1995.

For the past 19 years Bob has worked in the fields of investment management, financial planning and charitable giving with institutional and individual clients. In 2002 Bob started Planned Stewardship, LLC as a fee only consultant to charities assisting with the development and closure of planned gifts. In this capacity Bob works with a variety of organizations including multiple local churches, two hospital foundations, a civic organization, a retirement community and the Nazarene Foundation.

Bob is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and a member of the following organizations: CFA Institute, the Financial Planning Association and the National Committee on Planned Giving.

Currently Bob assists Foundation staff in marketing the services of the Foundation with the development of marketing materials, group presentations and web site coordination.

Felicia Thornhill joined the Foundation team in July of 2012 as the Director of Finance. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was in Public Accounting for 11 years where she provided individual and business tax preparation. She also provided financial compilations, reviews and audits for nonprofit and for profit clients.

Felicia received her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Central Missouri. She later went on to Graduate school at Keller Graduate School of Management where she received her Master's degree in Business Administration and her Masters in Accounting and Financial Management. She is a CPA and has a Specialist Accreditation as a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) by the AICPA.

In her spare time she is active in her local church and enjoys playing golf with her husband Jim. They have been married for 21 years and are avid Dachshund lovers. Rudy, Riley and Oliver are their four legged children.

Julia joined the Foundation in Fall 2012 with a desire to help serve an organization that more closely mirrored her beliefs. In her role as Accounting Assistant, she is able to implement, exercise, and increase her accounting knowledge by assisting the Director of Finance with the daily operations.

Born and raised in northern Vermont, Julia has spent a considerable amount of time in the Northeast. Later, she moved to Indiana where she was able to attend Indiana State University (ISU). Julia graduated from ISU in 2009 with a Bachelor's in Science of Accounting with a minor in Forensic Accounting. Immediately after graduation, she moved to Boise, Idaho.

While in Idaho, Julia primarily worked for an accounting firm that focused solely on offering external shared services to non-profit organizations around the world. She enjoyed helping organizations reach their goals by easing the stresses and increasing accuracy related to financial management and reporting. This role also enabled Julia to see a wide range of organizations and their programs in action globally.

Julia and her husband, Shane, are recently married and are excited to be in Kansas together with their dog, Rufus.