Every problem facing the Southern Baptist Convention, every new crisis and scandal and reported financial irregularity, can be reduced to a single and seemingly insoluble root cause: a bloated trustee system that is outdated, inefficient, unmanageable and hopelessly beset by…
The SBC’s trustee system is broken
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again now: The Southern Baptist Convention’s system of electing trustees to oversee its agencies and institutions is broken and in need of dramatic reform. The latest evidence comes from the bizarre turn…
Northern Seminary expands board; NT professor McKnight resigns
As it seeks to rebuild after a tumultuous year of internal controversy, Northern Seminary has added three new board members, bringing the total number of board members to 16 and increasing the diversity on the governing board. Two other new…
How to find the trustees of the SBC entities behind the amicus brief
Who’s actually responsible for the positions and actions taken by entities of the Southern Baptist Convention? This is a pressing question now, as controversy flares over the SBC and three of its entities signing an amicus brief in a Kentucky…
As seminary enrollment dropped and expenses rose, trustees gave Patterson a $25,000 ‘vacation fund’
In 2008, as enrollment was declining and expenses were skyrocketing, trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary gave Paige Patterson a gift for his fifth anniversary as president. That gift was a $25,000 “vacation fund” to be used at the discretion…
Seminary trustee who called for forensic audit resigns, history of financial dysfunction goes back years
The layers of historical dysfunction in the financial management of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary continue to be peeled back as current trustees and administrators have pledged more transparency — as evidenced by the release of 21 years of audited financial…
Russell Dilday: A portrait of light
Less than a month after John F. Kennedy was buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the eternal flame was lit, it was extinguished. A group of Catholic schoolchildren visiting the memorial was blessing the site with holy water and managed…
Southwestern trustees release 20 years of financials that show devastating decline began under Patterson
Trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have released 20 years of audited financial records — more than any Southern Baptist Convention entity has done — documenting a devastating pattern of overspending while enrollment plummeted. The spending spree began with former…
Here’s a guide to understanding the latest report from Southwestern’s trustees
What’s most interesting about the “Response to Sligar-Bunnell Allegations” document released by Southwestern Seminary trustee officers Friday afternoon, June 2, is the additional bits of insight into what’s been happening at the Fort Worth, Texas, school in the past year….