Bible Belt Blogger: Asbury creates task force on "faculty-board communications"

Frank Lockwood

Dear Members of the Asbury Community,

Greetings in the name of our Risen Lord!

As we journey through the season of Lent and anticipate the glory of Easter, we, the Board of Trustees, want to share a brief update on our work:

-We all share in the universal appreciation of President Ellsworth Kalas. Many of us on the Board have read Ellsworth's wonderful book What I Learned When I Was Ten, and it seems as though God has long been preparing him for this very time. And we are deeply grateful for his steady and gracious leadership.

- We are grateful for the excellent relationship we and the entire Asbury Community have with Dr. Curt Bechler of Venture International. Together we are making substantial progress, especially in these areas:

a. Faculty - Board communications. A task force has been established to begin work in this area. Dr. Wade Paschal, Chair of the Board's Academic Affairs Committee and Provost Dr. Bill Arnold have gotten the ball rolling and expect fruitful dialogue that will lead to greater understanding.

b. The task force to clarify mission, vision and values has met and presented a preliminary report to the Executive Committee at their March meeting; the report was well received. It affirmed our commitment to our historic mission statement. It then focused on a process to define more clearly our vision in a way that will tie our vision to our mission and be expansive enough to move us to the place God would lead us. In order to accomplish this goal we will initiate a process for developing a shared vision among all stakeholders of Asbury Theological Seminary. The list of stakeholders includes, but is not limited to: alumni, faculty, missionaries/leaders in the two/thirds world, laity, students, judicatory leaders, friends, Board of Trustees, Wesley foundations, sending agencies. We anticipate developing a survey that will be mailed, with the results, hopefully compiled over the summer.

c. The financial task force is made up of the President's Leadership Steering Team and three members of the Board, and you have already begun to hear from them through President Kalas.

We invite your input into these and any other matters which may be of concern to you.

These have been times of great change for all of us. The writer of Ecclesiastes stated it so memorably: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." But while things have been in significant flux of late, there are some things that never change:

Asbury graduates continue to be highly sought after as exceptionally effective leaders of churches;

Asbury graduates continue to set the pace in starting new churches;

Asbury graduates continue to make an impact for Christ all around the globe;

Asbury professors continue to write some of the best scholarly and devotional material to be found.

Asbury continues to be a place where vital piety, solid scholarship, deep prayer, and creative innovation are at the very heartbeat of the Asbury community.

God continues to have His hand on this great institution. As we humble ourselves and pray, as we join our hands and our hearts, and seek God's face, God will bless in ways we have not yet imagined.

I can assure you that every member of the Board of Asbury Theological Seminary counts it a great honor and among their highest blessings to be able to serve God by serving the Asbury Community. Thank you for sharing in this sacred trust with us.

Faithfully,

The Board of Trustees,

Asbury Theological Seminary

Comments

You've got to be kidding!
Anonymous

Posted by:REV. HAROLD E. GREENWAY |March 22, 2007 at 09:42 PM