College and Church go public with dispute
Criswell College president accuses First Baptist Church of Dallas of wanting to sell school's assets
Excerpt:
A simmering feud over control of Criswell College has boiled over, with its president and some trustees accusing leaders of First Baptist Church of Dallas of plotting to sell the school's assets to finance a new church sanctuary.
Criswell President Jerry Johnson late this week criticized the Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, which founded the Dallas Bible school and controls appointment of its trustees. As pastor, Dr. Jeffress is automatically chancellor of Criswell College, which has a small campus on Gaston Avenue and operates a radio station, KCBI-FM.
"For six months, the chancellor has been trying to cannibalize Criswell College to fund his building program at the church, which will cost $170 to $240 million," Dr. Johnson said in an e-mailed response to questions.
"Furthermore, the chancellor has stated and started a plan to stack the Criswell College board with trustees that will go along with his plan to liquidate college assets, including our campus and KCBI, for the financial benefit of the church."
Dr. Jeffress flatly denied that.
"Neither the deacons nor I have any plan to sell KCBI or the campus of Criswell College, period," he said.
"Given that our church building committee just engaged an architect, I find it strange that Dr. Johnson would claim to know how much our building project, which is still several years away, is going to cost. This, along with the alleged plan to sell college assets, is just another example of Dr. Johnson's overactive imagination."
Comment: Lesson is that there needs to be clear lines of demarcation between the parent church and subordinate separately incorporated entities. Also clear lines of accountability and reporting. The President of the school should be fired (in my own opinion!). Also the trustee who took this public should be removed.
Do you honestly think the Dallas Morning News is going to portray this story honestly? They are going to approach it with a bias that will make either institution look bad.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, Criswell College is a ministry of the church and is accountable and subject to the rules/obligations set forth. If they cannot agree to abide by those rules or standards then they need to find a way to split away amicably.
Personally, I think any school that is founded outside of a local church is deadly because there is no accountability and God has ordained the local church as his institution and everything needs to flow through that institution.
It is a shame that this dispute has become public knowledge because it gives fodder to the unsaved to make accusations against believers regarding pettiness.
Looks like a lot of people are airing out their views in the media instead of among their colleagues; it's not just the school's head that needs to be removed.
ReplyDeleteI would dare suggest that this is what is bound to happen when a church gets too big and tries to run itself like a corporation. You create an un-Biblical hierarchy, and then you're surprised to find that people are trying to climb that ladder.