Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have been summoned to a special meeting next Tuesday triggered by a bylaw provision that allows a simple majority of trustees to demand such a meeting. The online meeting will occur just six weeks…
Alumni and students of Canadian Baptist university call for investigation of sexual harassment claims
Forty-three alumni and students of Crandall University have signed an open letter calling on the board of governors of the Canadian Baptist school to address allegations of sexual harassment on campus. Crandall University was founded in 1949 by the Canadian…
Seattle Pacific University in governance turmoil as trustees resign and a group of students, faculty and staff sue to unseat six other trustees
Accusations of denominational meddling and the continuation of anti-LGBTQ hiring and personnel policies have led students and staff to sue members of the Seattle Pacific University board of trustees. Concerns about racial disparities, declining enrollments and giving also motivated the…
Conservative Christianity as threat to democracy
Christians should support democracy. This should not be a shocking statement. It should not even need to be said. U.S. Baptists, at least, used to be fairly clear about it. But today, it is becoming increasingly clear from looking around…
New details emerge about how SBC Executive Committee wants to control the sexual abuse investigation, as outrage mounts among other Southern Baptist leaders
Less than a day after the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee again declined to follow the explicit request of convention messengers, the resulting governance meltdown spread to the leadership of other agencies who fear they will lose funding from SBC…
SBC faces a test of its governance with tug-of-war over sexual abuse investigation
The Southern Baptist Convention currently faces one of the greatest tests ever of its internal governance while also fending off serious accusations of mishandling sexual abuse claims. This dual problem consumed the Sept. 20-21 meeting of the SBC Executive Committee…
What should it cost a denomination to control governance of a university?
How much money should a denominational body have to give to a university in return for the ability to control that university’s governance? Turns out, not much in many cases. As state, regional and national denominational bodies have faced declining…
The best change processes start now and are continual
Some years ago I had the responsibility to lead a team moving a denominational organization of more than 100 staff persons from a 35,000 square foot building to an 80,000 square foot building less than two miles away. It needed…