Seminary trustees to confront president over audit, management issues

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) -- Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board of trustees will meet Feb. 10 in a special session to discuss the leadership of President Phil Roberts, Associated Baptist Press has learned.

Trustee sources said the board’s executive leadership will recommend that Roberts be terminated for financial irregularities and his treatment of faculty and staff. Other trustees supportive of Roberts countered with plans to preempt his firing by voting out the current board officers and committee chairs en masse.

Roberts declined to be interviewed for this story. Trustee Chairman Wayne Lee of Southlake, Texas, who called the special meeting a month ahead of the next scheduled board meeting at the request of executive leaders, could not be reached for comment.

Ongoing questions about Roberts’ leadership took on a more serious tone recently when the board delayed completion of the school’s annual audit in order to conduct a “forensic audit,” a more detailed inspection of financial records by an outside consultant conducted to the standards of a court of law.

Trustees critical of Roberts have questioned the accuracy of his financial reports to the board, alleged misuse of government Pell grants for students and blamed him for a budget crisis. They call Roberts a “micromanager” who intimidates or fires employees who don’t agree with him, pointing out the seminary has had 11 chief financial officers during Roberts’ 11 years as president.

The rest of the story is at http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/7128/53/

 

It was amazing how the local paper and TV news noted that the trustees gave Dilday a good evaluation and then terminated him the next day with an offer of some money with the condition that he would not say anything against the seminary. If someone has nothing to be afraid of, then why would they want to offer money for someone to not say anything? If I remember right the chairman of the trustees was relieved of his duties when caught shacking up with two ladies in his church whom he was "counseling." I remember well the first time I met the former chairman it was "lights and sirens" that drew attention to his pride and arrogance. It is the lies and attempt at image building of the trustees that drew a lot of attention.

Surely SWBTS needed a new chapel and many more administrators especially during a down time in our economy. What a good deal the newly hired professors get so they can teach with a salary and no benefits!!! After all who wouldn't want to support a seminary that builds a new chapel, more than doubles the size of the president's home and offers newly hired professors a salary with no benefits. Gotta have those new buildings as an example of God's provision (as monuments to God's glory) but forget about the professors. Those professors are just all that important. It is extremely important to have new buildings and more administrators. Surely Lee Iacocca knew that when he turned Chrysler around.

What a time it must be to be able to tell the students how important evangelism is and send them out while at the same time build new buildings and get some additional administrators. Gotta make sure the evangelism budget is well spent on architectural evangelism. Gotta have buildings to be seen by everyone so at least they rival the Mormon Tabernacle.

 

Is this a case of trying to fly under the radar as the trustees did in the Dilday case? Is this a case of lying on the surface with another agenda underneath?

Do they really think the people in the SBC are that stupid to think that it will never catch up with the leaders of the SBC?

 

Already we are seeing courses being offered on DVD and online being taught by some very good professors. I believe that if they wanted the publishing companies could take over education in the U.S. They could employ professors to do courses online and DVD and have them publish books for their courses. So much work can be done online through access to databases. The universities are pushing for research and courses done online.

 

There is no need to be bitter about it because some of the best faculty from the former SWBTS have started a new school at www.bhcti.org . I am sure God just loves what he sees in the political cesspool of politics without scholarship.

Those who are rowing the boat are not usually the ones rocking it. They are so busy working that they do not have time to engage in backbiting and telling lies. Billy Graham had the same problem in the early years of his ministry. There were those who sought to defame him by fabricating lies. We see where those people are today.

 

Could you point out those websites because I am not aware of any?