KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) — The chief financial officer at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary resigned Sept. 20 in a dispute with president Philip Roberts over a financial analysis that raised questions about Roberts' leadership, the school's trustee chairman said.
David Hodge, vice president of business services, confirmed his resignation but declined to talk about the dispute or criticize the seminary.
However, according to trustee chairman Gene Downing and other sources, Roberts placed Hodge on administrative leave Sept. 20 after Hodge declined to give Roberts a copy of the confidential analysis, which Hodge prepared at Downing's request.
Phil Roberts and his trustees have been in a behind-the-scenes conflict in recent months over the president's leadership and alleged financial “irregularities,” according to sources close to the seminary. Those issues, and Hodge's resignation, are expected to be addressed by trustees at their mid-October meeting.
Chairman Downing, a businessman from Oklahoma City, said he requested the “professional business analysis” from Hodge, who was a banker for 26 years, with the understanding the document was confidential. Downing said he sent the document to the other members of the trustee executive committee.
When Roberts found out about the analysis, he asked Hodge for a copy, Downing said, but the vice president refused. “David Hodge, being the honorable and reputable guy he is, felt that was not ethical,” the chairman explained.
“I asked him, as COO, to give me his assessment of where we are at,” Downing said of the document he requested from Hodge, who is the seminary's chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “Some of those things may not have been complimentary toward Dr. Roberts. … I thought it was a good, very professional review.”
The analysis included information that had been requested from Roberts “for quite some time” and that Roberts “had not responded to,” Downing said.
He said the VP's resignation was “very unfortunate because David Hodge is one exceptional guy” who was “just trying to do his job.” Asked if Hodge was put on leave because he provided the analysis to trustees or because he didn't give Roberts a copy, Downing said “both.”
Roberts did not respond to two telephone requests for comment or a request for an e-mail interview.
Downing said he is arranging an “exit interview” in a week or two between Hodge and the trustee executive committee, acting on a recently adopted trustee policy to interview any departing vice president.
He insisted Midwestern is not in financial trouble and there are no financial issues. Instead, the dispute with Roberts is over his “leadership” and his dealings with trustees and staff, Downing said.
Eight years ago, trustees fired Roberts' predecessor, Mark Coppenger, over his treatment of staff. “… [E]xpressions of anger admitted to by Dr. Coppenger had irreparably damaged his ability to lead the seminary,” said Carl Weiser, trustee chairman in 1999.
Downing, the current chairman, declined to say if the trustees are likely to fire Roberts, except to say “the majority always rules.” He added: “There's a saying: 'It takes hard work to get you to the top, but only character will keep you there.'”
Downing said the seminary remains strong despite the dispute over Roberts' leadership. “These are some of the finest professors I've ever met,” he said of the Midwestern faculty. “The students don't go there because of Phil Roberts.”
Roberts has drawn criticism recently for his handling of an $8 million sale of seminary land to a developer, plans to build new student housing, and the opening of an off-campus extension program reportedly without the approval of the seminary's accrediting agency. The off-campus center is located at First Family Church in nearby Overland Park, Kan., whose pastor, Jerry Johnston, is under investigation by state law enforcement officials.
Downing said some trustees are upset about Roberts' friendship with Johnston. Roberts, who publicly supported Johnston against the allegations, recently awarded Johnston and three family members bachelor's degrees.
Hodge declined to discuss his departure. “Obviously something happened or I'd still be sitting at my desk this afternoon,” he said by cell phone while driving home. But he said the exchange with Roberts that led to his placement on leave and resignation was confidential.
Hodge, who in February resigned as president of Central Bank and Trust in Wichita, Kan., to go to Midwestern, worked at the seminary only six months. When he was hired, after a quarter century in banking, Roberts called him “an extraordinarily gifted Christian financier.”
Hodge said he did not want to say anything that would reflect poorly on the seminary. “I would prefer that you not do a story,” he told Associated Baptist Press. “David Hodge is not newsworthy.”
He repeatedly expressed his confidence in the seminary, adding he had nothing but praise for the students, faculty and staff. He said there were no financial improprieties at the school and that Southern Baptists can have full confidence in the seminary.
Hodge added he would do “everything in his power” to support the school — including going back to work there if asked. “I would go back if the [management] team wanted me there,” he said, even if Roberts remains president.
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