Bechler Memorandum, March 26, 2007
Memorandum
To: The Asbury Faculty, Staff, and Students
From: Curt Bechler, Ph.D., Venture International LLC
RE: Update
Thank you for the opportunities to meet with faculty and staff members this past Wednesday on the Wilmore campus and via V-tel with the Florida campus. I recognize that in my meetings in Kentucky, I was not able to meet with all of the faculty, staff, students, and board members of Asbury. Consequently, I want to provide an update to the broader community as well as identifying the next steps in the process of moving forward.
Here is a brief recap:
1. After retreats with the board and the president’s leadership steering team in mid-February, Venture International slowed the process down in late February to ensure a clear understanding regarding the various roles, boundaries, and relationships between myself, the board leadership, and the leadership team at the seminary.
2. There has been and continues to be vigorous work at the board and PLST level aimed at moving the institution towards renewal and health. This includes acknowledging and working to change problematic systemic issues that have limited organizational growth and development. There is also an acknowledgement that functional behaviors which led to past success can become dysfunctional behaviors without evaluation and change.
3. Both members of the Board and the President’s Leadership Steering Team have grappled in special retreats and on numerous conference calls with how to work at conflict in a healthy fashion as well as seeking to cope with a number of difficult current issues related to finances, relationships, and communication. These ongoing discussions will continue and there will be increased efforts to communicate with the community on these issues.
4. In order to both communicate and to involve a wide cross section of individuals across the Board and seminary community, multiple task forces have been convened and additional task forces will be formed. The various charges and timelines for these groups will be specific and the parameters of their work will be shared with the community in the weeks ahead.
5. It is worthy to note three specific task forces that are either underway or soon will be underway:
a. Strategic Planning Task Force: This task force will be establishing a plan to work at long range strategic planning. The board has made clear to this task force that they need to develop plans that involve and listen to the major stakeholders of the seminary (i.e., faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors) prior to the creation of any institutional direction.
b. Faculty/Board Communication Task Force: This task force will be establishing a plan to work at rebuilding the communication and trust between the Board and the faculty.
c. Presidential Search Process: The Board for the first time has decided to use the services of a professional search firm in seeking out and selecting the next president. Asbury is one of the largest and best endowed seminaries in the world. The Board is committed to finding a candidate that reflects both values and vision for the seminary.
6. In addition, there will also be groups working at:
a. Evaluating and working with Board policies and governance
b. Developing healthy conflict interaction patterns at all levels of the organization (i.e., faculty, staff, students, and Board)
7. Over the next two months there will be a series of focused meetings for community members (i.e., faculty, staff, students, and Board members). I would encourage everyone to try to take part in one of these gatherings. These meetings will be 60-90 minutes in length with a focused agenda. The meetings will be outcome based with the goal of establishing a shared discussion on values, communication and conflict while giving everyone a voice in Asbury’s desired future.
On April 10 and 11, I and a Venture International team member will again be on campus. If you would like to schedule a time to meet with one of us, please contact Shawn Smith. Shawn and JD Walt have worked tirelessly to coordinate our visits to Asbury over the last several months. We have appreciated their efforts to coordinate and schedule our time with people across the seminary.
As the process moves forward, it is important to recognize that it will be both slow and complex because it involves multiple stakeholders at multiple levels. The issues being worked at are both recent and long-standing (i.e., both symptoms as well as deeper systemic issues).
While there will always be a bias for the status quo in every organization, I have heard a clear commitment from the Asbury Theological Seminary Board of Trustees and the President’s Leadership Steering Team to deal with not just superficial issues but to work at long term resolution, renewal, and growth for the seminary.
I have no doubt that there will be those that find rewards through continuing to engage in the conflict or dysfunctional behaviors at all levels within the organization. This is not uncommon, nor should it be unsettling to the process. The call to peacemaking and positive renewal should not be based upon or driven by what others do, but by an individual commitment to demonstrate civility and respect while seeking growth and change. I have heard this commitment from the Board members in Atlanta and from the President’s Leadership Steering Team on retreat in Wilmore.
This will be both a time of learning and development. Mistakes will be made at times as we work together to find a balance in discerning direction and responding to current realities. It is easy at times to judge others based upon their behaviors (and mistakes), while judging ourselves based upon our motives (while ignoring our mistakes). In my work with the Board, faculty, staff, and students, while there are wounded people on all sides, I have found that there is a genuine desire on everyone’s part to do what is best for the seminary.
As we work together, extending respect and grace will be important. There are no perfect organizations, be it churches, nonprofit, or for-profit organizations. There also are no perfect people working at this process; however, there are many individuals truly committed to creating a seminary that reflects “best practices” and a positive sense of place.
Every student that comes to Asbury will work at some point in his or her life in an organization or church that faces internal struggles. The days ahead provide an opportunity to model a renewal and growth process that provides students with an educational perspective on how to deal with crisis and conflict in a healthy fashion.