Tracking the mail…

For those who are interested in the Baptist Blogger’s recent mailouts, we are providing the tracking information for you to see when and where our letters have been delivered. Feel free to visit www.usps.com and track the mail.

Letter Requesting Information from SBC Institutions

Dr. Al Mohler
7006 2760 0004 2562 6092

Dr. Daniel Akin
7006 2760 0004 2562 6108

Dr. Phil Roberts
7006 2760 0004 2562 6535

Dr. Charles Kelley
7006 2760 0004 2562 6788

Dr. Paige Patterson
7006 2760 0004 2562 6542

Dr. Jeff Iorg
7006 2760 0004 2562 6498

Dr. Jerry Rankin
7006 2760 0004 2562 6504

Dr. Richard Land
7006 2760 0004 2562 6511

Dr. Morris Chapman
7006 2760 0004 2563 4097

Dr. Roy Fish
7006 2760 0004 2563 4080

Dr. Frank Page
7006 2760 0004 2563 4073

Rev. William Harrell
7006 2760 0004 2563 4066

Hon. Roy T. Sparkman
7006 2760 0004 2563 4059

SACS Letter of Complaint Regarding SWBTS Violations

Dr. Belle Wheelan
7006 2760 0004 2562 5613

ATS Letter of Complaint Regarding SWBTS Violations

Dr. Jimmy Dukes
7006 2760 0004 2562 5606

The second letter…

January 25, 2006

Dr. Jimmy Dukes, Dean
Extension Center System
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
3939 Gentilly Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70126

Dear Dr. Dukes:

While I regret that the nature of my letter concerns your role as chairman of the Commission on Accrediting for the Association of Theological Schools, I first wish to thank you for your faithful service to Southern Baptists, in particular, during these difficult days at New Orleans Seminary following the Katrina disaster. You have a long and honored tenure of service at New Orleans, serving under both Drs. Landrum Leavell and Chuck Kelley, and I am confident that your distinguished career has well suited you to address the issues which this notice of complaint raises.

I submit to you this letter of official complaint against one of the member institutions accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, and I am forwarding this letter to the members of the Commission on Accrediting for their review. Officially, I am still a student of record at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, though circumstances unrelated to this immediate complaint but consistent with a potential trend of accrediting violations has caused me to suspend the pursuit of any degree from the Fort Worth seminary and pursue doctoral candidacy at another institution.

I am requesting that you investigate what appears to be a serious breach of the accreditation guidelines for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. Should the commission determine that such a breach has occurred, I hereby request that you undertake any and all means necessary to bring Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary back in line with the accreditation guidelines of the Association of Theological Schools.

Below are the facts that warrant investigation by the Commission on Colleges:

During the April 8-10, 2002, Trustee Meeting of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX, seminary trustees approved the election of Dr. Sheri Klouda as a tenure-track professor to teach biblical languages in the seminary’s theology school. Dr. Klouda is a graduate of the Criswell College in Dallas, TX, holding both the B.A. and the M.A. with honors. She received her Ph.D. in Old Testament from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary later that Spring. I have attached to this letter Dr. Klouda’s Curriculum Vitae as Appendix A.

Dr. Klouda was elected with the status of assistant professor.The Policy Manual of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Section VII, page 30, defines an assistant professor as “a teacher who holds a doctor’s degree or its equivalent in professional experience in the field of instruction and who has shown evidence of special ability as a teacher and scholar.” I have attached to this letter the entirety of Section VII as Appendix B.

As a tenure-track professor in the school of theology, Dr. Klouda was guaranteed a clearly-defined process of tenure review. Section Ten of the seminary’s Policy Manual defines the process of tenure review, which I have attached to this letter as Appendix C.

All pronominal language in the Policy Manual is careful to reflect the gender diversity of faculty status and the equity of tenure review for both male and female professors at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The Policy Manual makes no gender distinction between the various schools of music, evangelism, theology, and educational ministries relevant to the selection of tenure-track faculty.

Dr. Sheri Klouda, subsequent to her election as a tenure-track assistant professor, was informed by the seminary administration that she would be ineligible for tenure review because of her gender. I have attached as Appendix D several news articles substantiating this claim, including statement from both Dr. Klouda and the trustee chairman, Dr. Van McClain.

Considerable evidence exists that Dr. Sheri Klouda was denied the process of tenure review outlined in the Policy Manual, and that she was denied the process on the basis of unenumerated criteria and gender bias, which constitutes a violation of the tenure policy guidelines adopted by the seminary trustees and governing the institution.

I am available to you should you require further information to substantiate an accreditation review of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, an institution which has already, in the recent past, faced investigations and citations for its failure to meet accreditation guidelines as required by the Association of Theological Schools.

Should you feel the necessity to recuse yourself from this investigation on account of potential conflicts of interest due to your service at Southwestern’s sister seminary and the fact that your seminary president is the brother-in-law of Southwestern’s president, I will fully understand.

Thank you for your diligence. The solvency of accrediting agencies such as the Association of Theological Schools is further assured by your expedience and thoroughness in this matter.

Sincerely,

BSC

Enclosures

CC: Susan E. Davies

Bangor Theological Seminary

Bangor, ME

Wendy Fletcher

Vancouver School of Theology

Vancouver, BC

Paul Rajashekar

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

Philadelphia, PA

Anne T. Anderson

University of St. Michael’s College

Toronto, ON

David E. Draper

Winebrenner Theological Seminary

Findlay, OH

Gary Riebe-Estrella

Catholic Theological Union

Chicago, IL

Mark R. Ramseth

Trinity Lutheran Seminary

Columbus, OH

Mary Ann Donovan

Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

David Esterline

McCormick Theological Seminary

Chicago, IL

Melody Mazuk

Palmer Theological Seminary

Wynnewood, PA

Barbara Mutch

Carey Theological College

Vancouver, BC

Kevin LaGree

Pastor, First United Methodist Church

Des Moines, IA

Gordon Smith

Overseas Council Canada

Mayne, BC

Hillary Gaston Sr.

Philadelphia Baptist Association

Philadelphia, PA

Right speech…wrong speaker.

Baptist Press has just reported that the pastor at FBC Daytona Beach, FL, has resigned his position, effective at midnight last evening.

I have two thoughts.

1. This is a very sad circumstance, and most likely it was preventable. David Cox has resigned with grace and sincerity from a position that brought challenges he never could have foreseen. That Bobby Welch was in the service of his resignation is perplexing to me. Jerry Vines has done the right thing by moving away from Jacksonville to allow Mac Brunson the freedom to establish himself as pastor. Overlapping pastorates are recipes for disaster.

2. David Cox has bowed out of a position of leadership for causes far less serious than those which currently face other leaders in our convention. His resignation should have been drafted for them instead.

More doublespeak from Southwestern…

Giving Tom Hatley a run for most bumbling Baptist trustee chairman, Van McClain has continued to trip over his own words.

From Religion News Service:

McClain also denied that gender discrimination played a role in Klouda’s dismissal: ‘The second issue involves the desire of (the seminary) to have only men teaching who are qualified to be pastors or who have been pastors in the disciplines of theology, biblical studies, homiletics, and pastoral ministry. This is in keeping, of course, with the statement of faith of the SBC that clearly says the pastorate is reserved for men.’

Did you get that?

“It had nothing to do with gender.”

“But she isn’t a man so we can’t let her teach.”

Thanks for clearing that one up for us there, Van. We are soooo much more confident that you know what you’re doing over there in Fort Worth.

Is anybody else concerned that prospective faculty members at Southwestern Seminary are about to undergo the most humiliating of scrutinies? And who, pray tell, gets to “check under the hood” to make sure Southern Baptists don’t end up with their own version of Pope Joan myths? I can hear it now:

“Come in. Welcome to Southwestern.”

“Thank you, Dr. Blaising.”

“Now before we begin the interview, could you just have a quick seat over here in this special little chair. MmmmHmmm. Well I guess that will do.”

(Turning to shout to his secretary on the other side of the screen)

“Barb…could you turn the thermostat up. It’s a little cold in here.”

Weekly column…

Some people in my church asked me to begin writing a weekly column for them. For three weeks now I’ve been supplying the Sunday bulletin with an insert. Just rambling thoughts, for the most part. I guess I’ll post them here too for the helluvit.

_____________________

The Book of Hebrews tells us about the “sins that so easily entangle us.” This week, I’ve been thinking about sin more than usual, which I guess means I should confess a little.

I don’t think I sin like I should. By that, I mean that I forget too often that I’m a sinner. The nature of religion is that it traps people into a system of self-righteousness. At the moment of salvation, we find ourselves at the altar of the temple crying out to God like the publican, “God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Eventually, however, we graduate to the place of the Pharisee and thank God that “we aren’t as other men.”

I guess I’m trying to say that I see other men’s sins more easily than I see my own, which explains why Jesus admonished his disciples about trying to remove splinters from somebody else’s eyes when they had planks in their own. It’s very easy to get caught up noticing the flaws and failures and follies of those around us. And it’s easy to preach sermons or moralize about what everybody else is doing wrong so we never have to face ourselves — our nasty, filthy, fleshly selves — in the mirror.

But this week has been different for me. I’ve been thinking about my own sinfulness in general, and my sins in particular. I’ve been thinking about how long it’s been since I’ve truly “repented” of something, or since I’ve truly confessed my sins to somebody rather than just “apologize” or “ask forgiveness.” When this realization hit me, I thought to myself, “Well, it’s easy. Just get on your knees and talk to God about it.” That’s what I’d preach to others, and that’s how I’ve counseled some of you.

So I tried it. I got down on the bedroom floor and leaned over my chair and started to talk to God about my sins. It wasn’t easy. My mind wandered, and I started thinking about other people’s sins. If I was confessing lust, then my mind raced to think about somebody I know who’s dealing with it worse than I am. If I was confessing poor stewardship, I started thinking about the thieves in our convention who steal money from God’s people. If I tried to confess the sins of my tongue, I couldn’t help but think about things other people had said about me in the past.

Finally, I just sat there thinking about the royal mess I was in that I couldn’t even have a sin-free time of confessing my sins. I guess Jeremiah knew what he was talking about when he said that “the heart is deceitful and wicked.” So I guess I’m writing this column to ask you to pray for your pastor. I want to learn greater obedience to the Lord, and I want to experience victory over sin in my life. I want to strip off the robes of a Pharisee and get back down where those godless tax collectors gather to get a taste of God’s infinite mercy for sinners.

And while I’m thinking about it…some of you need to get down there with me.

Rules for Radicals, Pt. 3.

“Winston Churchill’s remarks to his private secretary a few hours before the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union graphically pointed out the politics of means and ends in war. Informed of the imminent turn of events, the secretary inquired how Churchill, the leading British anti-communist, could reconcile himself to being on the same side as the Soviets. Would not Churchill find it embarrassing and difficult to ask his government to support the communists? Churchill’s reply was clear and unequivocal. ‘Not at all. I have only one purpose, the destruction of Hitler, and my life is much simplified thereby. If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.”

Continuing our study of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, we are now brought to a consideration of the age-old question of ends justifying the means.

3. The third rule of ethics of means and ends is that in war the end justifies almost any means.

I find it interesting that Alinsky did not suggest the complete honor of all available means to accomplish political ends, but he did open wide the spectrum of available means. Not every battle in life is a war, however, which exposes the chief flaw of fundamentalist warfare. For the fundamentalist, all of life is a fight to the death. Everything is to be judged in terms of winning and losing, of defending the faith or succumbing to liberal theology. That’s why a man who is uncomfortable with the word “inerrancy” is labeled a liberal, banned from seminary posts, and normally shut out of convention life, even though he affirms every syllable of the Bible as true and authoritative.

It’s why a man like James Merritt, whom I respect and admire, can raise dubious accusations about my commitment to traditional family mores or my opposition to abortion and human slavery. I do not believe that drinking beverage alcohol is unacceptable Christian conduct, therefore I must affirm the ordination of Rev. Gene V. Robinson. “Non sequitur” is the sharpest tool in the fundamentalist shed, and it is brandished about the Southern Baptist Convention with frightening frequency.

For now, I’m unconvinced whether the current crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention rises to the level of a war or if it is just a momentary internecine skirmish. I guess that’s why I’m resisting the urge to roll out the heaviest artillery. Wade Burleson, C.B. Scott, Marty Duren, Art Rogers, and I have weekly conversations about the state of affairs in the SBC and the way to address our concerns. All four of those men have been pressing me to begin releasing to the public copies of the documents and information I have accumulated over the past few years. These men have seen what I’ve got, and they’ve heard corroborative testimony. For a solid year now I’ve been arguing for a strategy resembling Chernobyl rather than Hiroshima. Slow, steady leaks are better at building momentum than dropping a few megatons in the Southern Baptist Convention. Nevermind the fact that Hiroshimas can be rebuilt with relative ease, but not even a weed lifts its head within fifty kilometers of Chernobyl.

I guess I’m trying to weigh the collateral damage to innocent people that would be inevitable if every article of dirty laundry — mine included — was put out for the world to see. I wince when I read about the situation at Bellevue, because there seems something unholy going on there. Then I realize that some people read my blog in the same way, and I grow cautious about the tragectory we have set for San Antonio.

If a state of war justifies the use of any means to achieve victory, then I’m holding off on a declaration of denominational war. During the resurgence/takeover, some pretty ugly things got thrown around. People were accused without cause. Rumors were touted as truth, and sufficient time has not elapsed for the healthy and necessary critique of the conservative movement from within its own ranks. Old scars haven’t healed. Which is, of course, why I’ve tried to be meticulous with the facts. The other day I got an email from a higher-up in the SBC who — while he couldn’t approve of the tone I employ — willingly recognized the veracity of my claims.

“It’s not that you are telling lies,” he told me. “It’s that your telling truth that doesn’t need told.”

From where I sit, it looks like the SBC needs to deal with a rogue dictator or two rather than invade a whole country. Think Castro and Kim Jong Il, not Hussein and Mohammed Omar. Fighting communism requires a Cold War. Fighting terrorism requires ground troops.

Perhaps detente is close at hand.

To be continued…

Hollywood Bob, Booze, and the Red Bishop…

A comment I provided to a reporter today. I’m proud of this one:

“The reason some fundamentalist leaders have been trying to draw attention to the glass of wine they see sitting on my table is to distract Southern Baptists from seeing the kickbacks and payoffs they’ve been passing around under theirs.”

Another letter…and one more on the way!

January 24, 2007

Dr. Belle Wheelan, President
Commission on Colleges
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, GA 30033

Dear Dr. Wheelan:

Congratulations on your election to the presidency of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and especially for becoming the first African-American woman to rise to such an esteemed office of higher education. As a graduate of two institutions accredited by SACS, a former student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctoral candidate at another SACS-accredited university, I am especially grateful for the diligence with which the commission undertakes its responsibility to ensure the integrity of accredited institutions of higher learning. The process of accreditation and review is surely cumbersome, but the benefit of having an accrediting agency such as the one over which you currently preside far outweighs the burden upon college administrators to maintain the respectability of our country’s institutions of higher education.

I submit to you this letter of official complaint against one of the member institutions accredited by the Commission on Colleges. I am copying this letter of complaint to each member of the Texas Delegation to the Commission on Colleges for their review. I am requesting that you investigate what appears to be a serious breach of the accreditation guidelines for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. Should the commission determine that such a breach has occurred, I hereby request that you undertake any and all necessary means to bring Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary back in line with the accreditation guidelines of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Below are the facts that warrant investigation by the Commission on Colleges:

During the April 8-10, 2002, Trustee Meeting of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX, seminary trustees approved the election of Dr. Sheri Klouda as a tenure-track professor to teach biblical languages in the seminary’s theology school. Dr. Klouda is a graduate of the Criswell College in Dallas, TX, holding both the B.A. and the M.A. with honors. She received her Ph.D. in Old Testament from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary later that Spring. I have attached to this letter Dr. Klouda’s Curriculum Vitae as Appendix A.
Dr. Klouda was elected with the status of assistant professor.The Policy Manual of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Section VII, page 30, defines an assistant professor as “a teacher who holds a doctor’s degree or its equivalent in professional experience in the field of instruction and who has shown evidence of special ability as a teacher and scholar.”I have attached to this letter the entirety of Section VII as Appendix B.
As a tenure-track professor in the school of theology, Dr. Klouda was guaranteed a clearly-defined process of tenure review. Section Ten of the seminary’s Policy Manual defines the process of tenure review, which I have attached to this letter as Appendix C.
All pronominal language in the Policy Manual is careful to reflect the gender diversity of faculty status and the equity of tenure review for both male and female professors at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Policy Manual makes no gender distinction between the various schools of music, evangelism, theology, and educational ministries relevant to the selection of tenure-track faculty.
Dr. Sheri Klouda, subsequent to her election as a tenure-track assistant professor, was informed by the seminary administration that she would be ineligible for tenure review because of her gender. I have attached as Appendix Dseveral news articles substantiating this claim, including statement from both Dr. Klouda and the trustee chairman, Dr. Van McClain.
Considerable evidence exists that Dr. Sheri Klouda was denied the process of tenure review outlined in the Policy Manual, and that she was denied the process on the basis of unenumerated criteria and gender bias, which constitutes a violation of the tenure policy guidelines adopted by the seminary trustees and governing the institution.

Thank you for your diligence. The solvency of accrediting agencies such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is further assured by your expedience and thoroughness in this matter.

Sincerely,

BSC

Enclosures

CC: Elva Concha LeBlanc, President
Tarrant County College – Northwest Campus

John R. Brazil, President
Trinity University

Blandina Cardenas, President
The University of Texas – Pan American

William R. Crowe, President
Tyler Junior College

Martha Ellis, President
Lee College

Robert I. Fernandez, President
Fernandez & Company

Royce L. Money, President
Abilene Christian University

Jesse W. Rogers, President
Midwestern State University

Denise M. Trauth, President
Texas State University – San Marcos

George C.Wright, President
Prairie View A&M University