Kurt Appel

Kurt has over twenty years of successful experience in conducting capital campaigns. He began his career in consulting with Cargill Associates, one of the longest-serving capital campaign consulting firms in the nation. Cargill Associates recently merged with DickersonBakker, and Kurt was promoted to serve as Group Vice President of the merged team.

An ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, Kurt has spent over 25 years in full-time ministry serving large and small membership churches. With his background in church development and experience in the local church, he particularly specializes in helping churches become disciple-making congregations.

Kurt is a New Orleans native but now resides in the Baton Rouge area. Prior to entering the ministry, he was an engineer with Sharp Electric, Inc., a family-owned commercial and industrial electrical contractor. Kurt completed his undergraduate work in Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University, earned a Master of Divinity degree from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, and received his Doctor of Ministry specializing in church development from Columbia Theological Seminary. Kurt is also certified as a Transitional Intentional Interim Ministry Specialist.

Kurt and his wife Claudia have been married for 35 years and have three adult children and two grandchildren. Kurt is a New Orleans Saints fan, loves to read books by James Lee Burke, is an avid golfer with a high handicap, and enjoys being off the grid and spending time at his home in Maurepas, LA where Claudia is a licensed realtor.