Revitalize to Plant

Desmond Barrett is the lead pastor at Summit Church of the Nazarene in Ashland, Kentucky, where he is married to his wife Julie and has four children. He is the author of Revitalizing the Declining Church: From Deaths Door to Community Growth (2021), and Addition through Subtraction: Revitalizing the Established Church (2022). He is a host of the Revitalizing the Declining Church with Dr. Desmond Barrett podcast, has done extensive research in church revitalization, and serves as church revitalizer, consultant, coach, and mentor to revitalizing pastors and churches.

He is a graduate of Nazarene Bible College (bachelor’s degree in ministry), and Trevecca Nazarene University (master’s degree in organizational leadership, and a doctorate in education in leadership and professional practice).



Jeffery D. Skinner is currently the global director of Coached DOT Academy and is a senior master trainer for Dynamic Church Planting International. He resides near Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife of thirty years, has two adopted children—Blaine, who attends Trevecca Nazarene University, and Hayden, who is a sophomore in high school. He is a contributing author to the book Uncontrolling Love: Essays Exploring the Love of God, with Introductions by Thomas Jay Oord, hosts a weekly podcast entitled Echoes Through Eternity, and has over fifteen years’ experience in church planting and over twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur in the IT industry.

He has undergraduate degrees in music and business from Trevecca Nazarene University, a masters in spiritual formation from Northwest Nazarene University, and a doctorate in education in leadership and professional practice from Trevecca Nazarene University.