In a comment thread on this blog, a former trustee at Southeastern Seminary posted the following comment in response to my post on nepotism. I felt it deserved a wider reading that it would have received in the comment section. So without further ado, here are the thoughts of former Southeastern Seminary trustee Jimmy Hedrick:
Ben, having been a SEBTS trustee during the Patterson reign I do confer that consrervative denominational leadership did seem to have shades of nepotistic and cronism skin color when I rubbed up against it. Reading your blog and seeing the names referenced in the co-op chain of denominational institutions was a flash back. Yet it was an act of a good providential sovereign God that arranged my weak connection that saw to my chosen appointment as the replacement of Adrian Rogers when he stepped down to a bigger kettle of evangelical fish (Focus on the Family board member). I was a rookie with Dr. Tim Lahaye(short lived of Maryland residency) visitng Dr. Patterson’s stuffed wild game presidential office my first campus trustee mtg. visit. I was a nobody from the hinterland of Seneca, Kansas pastoring a flock of less than fifty sheep. I learned alot about the working of power and authority in my 6 yrs of service. Stuff does constantly happen under the radar screen. It was humbling to observe how things came to pass under the almighty hand of God. I do believe the philosophical statement on leadership, “you get the leaders that you desrve / leaders are no better than the stock from which they grew out of”. I feel like the conservatives are not any different than the liberals of past reigns ie.,Give us liberty w/o accountability.God have mercy and send a revival of repenting and loving hearts amoung all us pietistic do good missional SBCers…”
The Baptist Blogger 