Divided seminary forms "peacemaking taskforce"
Posted November 14, 2006
One of the nation's largest theological schools has created a "peacemaking taskforce" to help it move through what its leaders describe as a "painful time of transition."
Asbury Seminary president Jeff Greenway resigned in October after a seven-week standoff with members of the school's board of trustees. Although he received a lopsided vote of confidence from faculty, the board of trustees -- which had questioned Greenway's job performance and leadership style -- pushed for his ouster. The vote has polarized the campus.
The school has hired a consultant, Dr. Curt Bechler, an expert on "crisis management" and "creating a culture of civility and conversation".
In an e-mail to the Asbury Seminary Community today, the board of trustees stated:
We recognize that this is a painful time of transition. We recognize that some perceive the Board of Trustees as acting arbitrarily and unfairly in the formal evaluation process of Dr. Greenway; while others feel the board acted with integrity and due diligence.
The Board recognizes our place of responsibility in the traumatic events of recent weeks, and the issues we yet need to address, including the need for reconciliation.
(To read the entire memo, click below.)
A power-point presentation, shown to students, staff and faculty, includes a "brief history of (the) peacemaking taskforce and a three-phase process proposed by Dr. Bechler to "respond with integrity to the critical issues."
The presentation outlines "common crisis mistakes", "common leadership reactions", and "effective responses."
It closes with four "summary thoughts":
- New life often comes from death
- Respect and civility require sacrifice
- The nail that sticks out is hammered down (Japanese proverb) and
- Running is not always the fastest way to arrive (African proverb.)
November 13, 2006
To: The Asbury Seminary Community
From: The Board of Trustees
We greet you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for the many ways you have worked diligently through these challenging days to continue fulfilling the mission of Asbury Theological Seminary.
Thank you for the ways you have expressed care and concern for Dr. Jeff Greenway and his family as he transitions into his new post of ministry. We share in your gratitude for the multiple contributions Jeff made to our seminary through his two years of service.
Thank you also for the welcome you have extended to Dr. Ellsworth Kalas and his wife, Janet, as he assumes the role and responsibilities of Interim President. Please continue to pray for him and his leadership team.
We recognize that this is a painful time of transition. We recognize that some perceive the Board of Trustees as acting arbitrarily and unfairly in the formal evaluation process of Dr. Greenway; while others feel the board acted with integrity and due diligence.
The Board recognizes our place of responsibility in the traumatic events of recent weeks, and the issues we yet need to address, including the need for reconciliation. We are thankful for the wisdom of Dr. Kalas and his team to enlist the services of Dr. Curt Bechler and his firm, Venture International. We express our gratitude for the work of the Peacemaking Task Force, as appointed by the Presidents Leadership Steering Team, in beginning a healthy process of reconciliation. And we thank you for the hopeful ways you have already begun engaging in this crucial work.
In a consultation earlier today, the Board of Trustees spent significant time with Dr. Bechler. We want to express our commitment to fully engage in this process of identifying and owning the critical issues facing us as a seminary. We are encouraged that the difficulties of recent weeks afford us an opportunity to grow stronger as a seminary.
We invite the campus community to embark with us on a journey of change and discovery in the weeks and months ahead. There will be points of agreement and disagreement, but our commitment is to create a culture of respect, civility, and service. Our prayer is that Asbury Theological Seminary emerges stronger with a renewed sense of commitment to a distinct mission that furthers God’s Kingdom.
Mr. Paul M. Baddour
Mr. Randall Birdwell
The Rev. Gloria Brooks
The Rev. Bill Couch
Bishop G. Lindsey Davis
Mr. J. Ernesto (Ernie) Fernandez
The Rev. George H. Freeman
The Rev. Dr. Ira Gallaway
Bishop Al Gwinn
The Rev. Dr. Joseph L. Harris
The Rev. David W. Holdren
The Rev. J. Anthony Holifield
James W. Holsinger, Jr., M.D.
The Rev. Dr. Dan Johnson
Mr. William M. Johnson
Mr. Joe Kilpatrick
The Rev. Dr. Sundo Kim
The Rev. Leslie Krober
Mrs. Joan G. Krupa
Mr. Joseph J. Lee
Mr. John O. McNairy
Mr. E. Harold Munn, Jr.
The Rev. Dr. Luis Palomo
The Rev. Gregg Parris
Dr. R. Wade Paschal, Jr.
The Rev. Dr. Edmund W. Robb, III
The Rev. Dr. James Wilson Smith
Mrs. Karen E. Thomas
The Rev. Eradio Valverde, Jr.
*Voting Members Present on November 13, 2006.
Archived Comments
Respect? Civility? Service? Oh and lest we not forget the ubiquitously pious -What Would Jesus Do-.
All of these platitudes are lovely, just lovely. I wonder if anyone thought of them as Dr Greenway was being oh so "respectfully and civilly" railroaded?
It's doubtful. These concepts are only now being deeply contemplated and examined under the myopic microscope of penetance because donations and support are dwindling and dropping as we speak. The vast Beeson endowment has specific direction and federal law prevents redistribution (thank goodness). So the rest of the seminary's programs are waving in the wind for lack of cash flow. Ah yes, the inevitible mea culpa, mea maxima maxima culpa. Oh give me a break.
Well, the seminary has done the first two things that institutions tend to do when faced with a PR crisis: They've hired a consultant and formed a committee. The consultant has thrown out some nice platitudes and shown himself to be multicultural and hip by throwing in a Japanese and an African proverb. No doubt they'll all sit down and hold hands and sing Kum Ba Ya My Lord til they all get to like each other again.
Of course, if they'd just be open and tell the story, whatever it is, they wouldn't need a consultant or multicultural proverbs to get everybody back onboard. A school is a public trust. If the board or the students have something to say about Greenway, they should say it, and by the same token, if he has something to say about the board, he should say that.
This business of wanting to sweep it all under the rug, and their attempt to bribe him to do that, are straight out of corporate law, not out of spirit of christianity. Just looking through the keyhole, though, the fact that they were willing to pay for his silence suggests that he knows things they don't want told. And I'm still wondering about what was in those hundreds of pages of documents they said earlier the board had reviewed. I can't figure this story out, but something tells me money is at the core of it somewhere.