Faith announces new President

Jim is a good man. The Lord used him in an amazing way in Alberta, building a church to a degree none of us ever thought possible in our country. He will be much missed up here, but I think he will do a good job down there.

Nothing to do with the man himself, but is it credible to have a president of a college and seminary with no legitimate seminary/post-grad degrees? When I was a Northland it worked, even though our president at the time had a fake doctorate, but it also resulted in the need to bring someone like Sam Horn on board to actually give academic credibility. Once again, nothing against Pastor Jim, but does being a great church-planter mean someone is qualified for a post like this?

I think a Christian college president (and maybe any president) needs to have excellent people skills more than anything else. At least, I think these days that’s what they are looking for.

Last week, before the announcement was made, I spoke to a man on the board at Faith who was intimately involved in the selection process. He expressed complete and absolute confidence in Bro. Tillotson - I daresay it was an almost unshakable confidence. I understand the selection process was long and painstaking. Give him a shot.

Well, Isaac Newton didn’t have a masters’ or doctorate, either. Our insistence on the Ph.D. for teaching in college (or semetary equivalent) is really only a few decades old, and it’s worth noting that Northland’s greatest growth was under Les Ollila, who also does not appear to have a graduate degree.

Key issue IMO is his philosophy, and I expect to hear about that tonight, as my pastor (Dwight Lapine) is one of those who made this decision.

for all Fundamental Baptist college presidents to have advanced degrees either theological or educational. But consider the wasteland left after the battles over Modernism, it is only in the last few years matters have settled down enough for men to go out and get the degrees some here want them to have. Let’s face it, there are only so many Larry Oats (of MBU) in this world. So, we can’t have one leading every school.

For what its worth Isaac Newton had an M.A. degree. He did not earn a doctorate however. At the time in England, and elsewhere, graduate education had political and religious undertones and requirements. To teach at Oxford or Cambridge longer than 7 years, for example, you had to be ordained in the Church of England as a priest. While Newton considered himself a Christian, he rejected Trinitarianism, so he refused ordination. The issue was avoided when the Lucasian Chair for Mathematics opened up, which specifically required the holder not be ordained. The previous holder, Barrows, resigned because he wanted to pursue theology but wasn’t allowed in that position. Thus Newton was a professor at Cambridge.

The same issue likely restricted him from a doctorate, though by the time he completed a M.A. he was relatively old (26 years old) and famous, having developed the generalized binomial theorem and integral calculus, as well as inventing reflector telescopes and a new theory of light. Likely no one wanted him as a student.

I am not super familiar with Maranatha. However, I visited the school a little over a year ago with a prospective seminary student. I was pleasantly and wonderfully encouraged by the meeting with had with Dr. Oats. Here was a guy who was personable, well-trained, but practically minded. He came across as a historic fundamentalist without being crazy about separation. I felt like our student would be in good hands at the seminary there. I don’t know that the problem is that there aren’t more guys like him, but rather that (as has been mentioned above in a roundabout way) Fundamentalism largely still does not value quality training with an eye towards practicality. I have heard some good preaching from pastors with only undergrad degrees, but all of the worst messages I’ve ever heard also came from that group (or those with no formal training). I grieved when Calvary closed…I can’t say they were unique (I’m just not as closely tied with any other seminaries), but their combination of strong classroom instruction and practical bent towards ministry were vital in my development for ministry.

I just don’t know that having a president who doesn’t have advanced training will ever lead a school towards developing that aspect of their program. Instead, the attitude of many will be (like that expressed above) that it is “semetary.” After all, Charles Spurgeon didn’t go to seminary (why do I always hear that line from untrained pastors who can’t communicate a text to save their lives?). And yet there is a fundamental difference. If you read Spurgeon, he was educated, just not formally. He HAD advanced training- it was just from his love of the text. That is a rare thing. For the rest of us, I am grateful for those men who took the time to get advanced degrees and then pour their lives into a bunch of young men and women who didn’t always grasp the great significance of being able to trace an argument, analyze tense, or a variety of other things. So, I give my thanks to the Larry Oats, Al Mohlers, and Sam Horns of the world.

I understand Brian’s question about degrees. At the same time, Faith has plenty of academically trained men, including Paul Hartog, arguably one of the best qualified men academically to serve in a Baptist Fundamentalist institution (http://www.faith.edu/academics/faculty/seminary/paul-hartog and http://www.faith.edu/news/faith-in-focus/paul-hartog-publishes-major-bo…).I don’t think that will change just because of the new president.

Also, while I expect that the new president will have a relationship with students to one degree or another, their exposure to him, if it is like my experience at Faith, is not going to be in the classroom as much as it is in chapel and similar kinds of venues. When I was at Faith, the president had no classroom responsibilities at all that I can remember.
What I read in this decision is a recognition of a problem like this article talks about:

Seminary students (from the states, at least) have a 100% failure rate when applying to us. Why is this? Because we hate students? No. Far from it. We find seminary that seminary students:

• Lack the faith for this kind of ministry. They want concrete answers and guarantees for every doubt. They want a guaranteed salary and don’t want the embarrassment of raising financial support (expressed more than once by individuals and couples).
• Have unrealistic expectations of the mission field. Will I have “me time”? Will we have a pension? Can we return home for medical care (my favourite)?
• More often than not they want to do “further studies” to “prepare for the ministry” (read, seminary is great and we get to drink coffee, read books and have lovely debates – they don’t want it to end).
• Seem unable to share the gospel but more than ready to pontificate on the problem of 16th Century debates around the ingrowing toenails of angels vs the hairstyles of cherubs. Or something equally as meaningless.
• Just completely unprepared for anything in life ever! I have met students who have ‘never really met an unbeliever’ (I kid you not). I have met those who were scared we wouldn’t have wi-fi and they wouldn’t be able to maintain contact with family. I could go on…

Faith has always been very good at maintaining its focus on what it is- a ministry preparation school. I do not know Pastor Tillotson, but from everything I have read about him, he appears to be someone who will do nothing but help them maintain this vision. I anticipate good things to come out of this appointment, and look forward to seeing how God will use his influence as president to strengthen the work at Faith in the days ahead.

…..is that there is good hope that Pastor Tillotson will make bridges beyond the GARB demographic into the independent fundamental demographic. Outreach, maybe a touch of mending bridges…..whatever.

The involvement of the president in day to day operations is probably overblown. Your point is well made. Not being very familiar with Faith (I have a deacon who attended there back in the day, but that’s about it), I don’t really know much about them. Thanks for pointing out Dr. Hartog. I read that article, and really have no point of reference. For an organization to reject 100% of seminary students tells me that something is fundamentally flawed in their application process. The types of things they bring up were either not part of my seminary experience (like pointless theological discussion- though there was a lot of that at the college level), or they are borderline arrogant (equating not having an answer for every doubt with a lack of faith). Missions is a complex thing, and let’s face it, the previous generation of missionaries are not to be looked to as carte blanche examples of great faith (those would be the men and women who opted out of social security-many while lying to do so- and haven’t saved a dime for retirement). These are the missionaries who we are expected to support while they live in Florida and don’t do any form of vocational ministry while good couples struggle to get support. All that to say, I wonder where the individual who wrote that article is coming from.

And there’s nothing wrong with appealing to a broader demographic, especially today! I am not a card-carrying “Fundamentalist.” I guess I would identify myself with the historic fundamentalists, but oftentimes fail to see the real differences between them and conservative evangelicals (outside of an ever-changing view of separation). Do you have a basic summary of the differences between the Independent Fundamentalists and the GARBC group? I’ve known folks from both, but never really known much about the GARBC (other than its history which we covered while at Northland).

Brian, to be honest, I’ve got nothing but stereotypes—Pastor Dwight and I were trying to make sure a missionary got on the road so he’d get home to his wife before the wee hours of the morning. I would invite others to comment on this, though, who know better than I.