My thoughts for Greenway thus far have been 1) get to the meeting in Atlanta if at all possible and 2) confess and repent for not returning to the Task Force meeting and for the ultimatum issued to the Task Force. In this last thought on what President Greenway might do to retain the presidency I suggest his repentance should a) go deep and b) include accountability so it won't happen again.
a) It seems clear to me that if there were not long standing issues between certain board members and Greenway, this would not have happened. Greenway himself would not have been this provoked, and the EXCO itself would have overlooked his immediate conduct.
So while the charge of insubordination is the focal charge, it is not the underlying problem for President Greenway.
[As a side note, I believe personally that parts of the board have their own issues that the board as a whole really needs to resolve if Asbury is to remain a credible Christian seminary. There are plenty of secular Methodist seminaries already if someone wants to go to one of them. And I'm not even talking about a truly Wesleyan, warm hearted seminary. How many of those are there around (Duke and who else?). I have great fears for Asbury if President Greenway alone is made the scapegoat for this crisis, if there is no repentance on the part of some on the board, whoever they may be. Those with power may easily win on earth, but power doesn't count for anything in heaven, only foolishness and weakness.
Because of this crisis, several have already questioned openly whether Asbury is a worthwhile place for a warm hearted Christian, particularly one in the holiness tradition, to study for ministry (one graduate soberly announced he was returning his diploma). They have called into question not only the board, but the faculty and alumni like me as well for our part in the crisis. If all that comes out of this is the firing of Greenway, we can smile all we want but Asbury's reputation will be ruined for the near future. Unless there is a broader repentance and/or disciplining, beyond Greenway, Asbury will enter more troubled waters than these days have been.
If any on the board have stumbled on here, I beg the collective board, whether it believes itself to be completely in the right or not, to humble itself and repent as well for its part in the crisis. We can repent for corporate sin even when we don't know of any individual sin on our part.]
But these matters are matters for the board to deal with, not President Greenway. He can only repent of his part in these events. No doubt his failure to return and ultimatum constitute a pattern to those who think he should no longer be president. President Greenway himself will know what particular incidences they might have in their mind.
He will need to swallow hard, admit these, and repent of these as a part of his repentance on this occasion. Are there incidences where the board or chair instructed him to do something where he resisted for anything less than "by the book" reasons? He will need to repent of these sorts of things if he is to survive, I believe. Name them (they're thinking them) and say you were wrong. In short, in his repentance of insubordination, he will need to repent deep--he will need to own up to anything even vaguely resembling a weakness he has done these last two years relevant to the charge of insubordination.
b) He will need to show that it won't happen again. He will need to set up some system of accountability to ensure it. Lay out concrete steps he's taking to be different. "Here are five things I'm going to do differently." And make them five really good things.
Maybe he could set up an accountability group made up of individuals who the board respects and trusts to hold him to it. Maybe even invite some of those who don't get along with him on the board to help keep him accountable. If they're worthy to be stewards of Asbury's heritage, they'll be willing to do it.
These are the kinds of things I think President Greenway needs to do if he is to remain President Greenway. And if he can be this Christ-like, surely the board will respond in turn.
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I just want to affirm the approach you are taking in this series Ken. If Greenway is invited to present his case before the board this is the only way for his Presidency to survive. And if he takes this very Christian route, laying side the “we wonder” sword and humbling himself, then the board can do nothing other than restore him (at least for the time being) and get about removing the beams from their own eyes.
As you have so eloquently pointed out this is merely the Christian way to resolve this impasse. I have (only twice) seen such a “moving of God” in boards and it so impressed the memory of all attending that even to today it affects those who witnessed it.
This is what I pray for. It would bring great glory to God and great relief to Asbury and the rest of the Kingdom. Win-lose is no longer an option. Only two-sided repentance-forgiveness-reconciliation will save the day.
Here's the skinny . . . Greenway messed up big time - long before he refused to return to the meeting. However his refusal to return to the meeting simply confirmed their growing fears that he was in over his head.
yes thanks Ken for this more positive direction.
I think the public should know that although the campus has anxiety there are not too many active advocates for Jeff. Most of the students just want this to be over.
Speaking as a student, I think the we wonder series has backfired. Some of the faculty have really reached a low point. You improperly title the we wonder posts as coming from "Administration and Faculty", but they are only coming from the faculty and only 1/3 to 1/2 of the faculty at that. I fear that many students will remember their professor's actions during this crisis more than they will remember what they taught.
And I find it interesting that they are only concerned with the process. It seems to me that at first they were supporting Jeff much more. Now they dont really seem to care that much about Jeff as they do incriminating the board chair and other leaders.
Many have not been able to read all the discussion going on in the campus forums, but many are starting to show a different side of Jeff than many students have know.
For example, I heard that Lawson Stone recently shared a "rumor" that Jeff's lawyers were demanding that a "resignation agreement" that included: public claims that God called him to be President, $500,000, a car, college funds for his children, and resignation of the board chairman.
Can anyone verify this?
Perhaps we are witnessing something that Keith Drury predicted--that when this is all over people will blame Greenway for the crisis. We'll forget about the things and people we never really knew much about.
It's far too late for me to rehearse the arguments, although it makes me real sad if your perspective is what is prevailing on campus. Surely the board knows more than any of us, has heard all the arguments, and will do its best collectively to make the right decision they can. I think they will.
What makes me saddest is that you feel this way about the Wondercats. Greenway couldn't stand up for himself in this way. If he was to have any chance at all, someone else would have to do it. I hope I would have signed it if I was there--although I would have been a little afraid to. Frankly, I'm a little disappointed in those tenured faculty who voted for Greenway's restoration and yet weren't willing to sign it.
I hope you'll give them a second chance. If you do, I think you'll find that most of their hearts are as pure as anyone's at Asbury.
I think it is completely valid for the Wondercats to address the process...even more than the person, perhaps. Regardless of whether Greenway stays or goes, the policies and standards are what will remain; and whether or not those are followed will affect both current and future presidents, faculty members, administration, boards, and most everyone connected to ATS.
Also, my husband, Jim, has seriously considered attending ATS, and has expressed doubts himself after following recent events...
It is interesting reading this blog. As an Asbury grad (twice) -- I didn't know about this situation until I was skimming through Keith Drury's blog (which, by the way, is one of the best blogs in the Church) a few days ago. I am a United Methodist pastor who generally tries to keep informed about what is happening at Asbury and in the Church.
I polled other UM pastors. In a very unscientific poll, 2 of 17 UM pastors (most Asbury grads) knew of the current situation. Of the five perspective seminary students (4 of the 5 are leaning toward Asbury), 0 of 5 knew of the current situation. I give these numbers to say the within mainstream United Methodism (Asbury's largest population), Asbury may not be having a public relations crisis.
I think the mistake was hiring Greenway as President. Virtually nobody knew who he was two years ago when he was hired. I remember doing a google search and finding a real estate agent and a minor league baseball player by that name -- but no pastor / professor / author. Most of the faculty and staff have more academic credentials than him, he has never planted a flourishing church, or pastored a church that is known around the country for innovative ministry.
Maxie Dunnam gave Asbury credibility within Methodism. Asbury grads are now looked upon as excellent candidates for ministry and receive good appointments. Asbury needs another leader who is well-known in Methodism who can continue to make it the seminary of choice for ministry condidates.
Asbury needs a leader like:
1) Michael Slaughter, the pastor of Ginghamsburg Church and one of the most influential pastors in the country. He loves Asbury and has invested so much time in developing young leaders.
2) Bishop Lindsey Davis, the Bishop of the North Georgia Annual Conference and a Kentucky native. He is one of our most visionary leaders.
I get excited about those leaders or similar leaders. I was not excited about the future of Asbury when Greenway was president.
My two cents worth...
FYI, as I have mentioned before on this blog, for the "We Wonder..." series, we recruited only from among the tenured faculty. The result was that over 2/3 of the tenured faculty were involved as signators. This was a strong message, then, from a large number (but obviously not all) of the senior faculty.
I am a current Asbury College student and a prospective of ATS. I know several ATS students, and so far, they've all told me that the majority of students and faculty at the seminary support Jeff Greenway as president and believe the EXco was in the wrong, when they put him on leave. I also know one of Greenway's sons, so that makes me biased.
Being from the North GA Conference, I can also vouch for Davis. However, if I were to judge Greenway on what ATS faculty and students have said about him, I'd say he's doing a fine job, and that there is no need to replace him right now.
Some of us are getting information from this blog. I heard that Greenway resigned. What is the latest?
Delete the part of the URL that comes specifically to this entry and you'll see that he has resigned and that Kalas is interim president.
www.kenschenck.blogspot.com
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