“But if the watchman
see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if
the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians
6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
----
A year ago, after
conversations with President Rob Gustafson and others to whom I turn for
counsel, I put ARPTalk into hibernation. The new administration at Erskine
needed the time and an opportunity to put together a plan. Indeed, with the
hiring of Dr. Rob Gustafson as President, Dr. John Basie as Provost of the
college, and Dr. Leslie Holmes as Provost of the seminary, a new day was upon
us — or so we hoped. With hope abounding, many of us asked, “After so many
years of missional betrayal, theological deviation, internecine conflict with
the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, squandering of a lauded academic
reputation, and mishandling of financial resources, are we witnessing the
rising of the Erskine Phoenix from the ashes of disappointment?” Alas! No! The
Phoenix story is a cruel delusion!
Football Ain’t Jesus!
When the Erskine board met in
Due West on Thursday, August 23, board members were greeted with a dark cloud
of disheartening news. (1) Provost John Basie resigned after a short tenure and
returned to his job and home in Georgia. (2) Former board member (and former
Vice Moderator and former Moderator of General Synod) Steve Maye, who was
re-elected to the board this past June at Synod (but after meeting with
President Gustafson and others), resigned before the August meeting of the
board, conceding Erskine is a hopeless cause. (3) Dr. Ashley Woodiwiss resigned
from the college faculty in order to take a position at Lander University, thus
dismantling the political science program and finally nailing shut the casket
on the hoped-for Drummond Center. (4) A financial hurricane is rapidly closing
on Due West and has grown from a category bad to a category awful.
In recent memory, Dr. Randy
Ruble is the first Erskine president to broach the idea of resurrecting
football at Erskine. Why did he do that? Simple! The recruiting of more
students! Potential students were not buying what Erskine was selling
academically and Christianly! Money to pay salaries and other expenses was
need. Revenue from football players was the way of financial salvation.
Ruble’s idea was castigated
as ludicrous — an abomination to Erskine’s mission as a Christian liberal arts
college. The response was, “For a mess of athletic and financial pottage, Ruble
is prepared to abandon both Erskine’s storied academic reputation as a liberal
arts college and her cherished heritage as a Christian college. If Ruble leads
the board to do football, Scienta cum Moribus Conjuncta (“Knowledge joined with
Morals”) is lost forever. Football will lead Erskine into the abyss of academic
insignificance, athletic ineptitude, and religious irrelevance.”
Under President David Norman
football was a taboo subject. While there were other issues, football was the
undoing of both Acting President Brad Christie and President Paul Kooistra.
This was the attitude: “We will not go there! We will not abandon Erskine as a
Christian liberal arts college. Football is not a savior but a devil. Before we
do football, we will shutdown Erskine!” Right now, Christie and Kooistra must
be laughing themselves silly! I would be!
Well, if football were not a
good idea for the administrations of Ruble, Norman, Christie, and Kooistra, why
is it now a good idea for the administration of Rob Gustafson? Indeed, I asked
this question of various individuals. I asked, “What has changed? How has
football now become the the athletic-Jesus who will save Erskine from all her
financial sins?”
Here is a collage of the
answers I received: “Well, Chuck, you just don’t understand. We trust Rob
Gustafson. He’s truly a good man. Unlike Ruble, Norman, Christie, and Kooistra,
we can trust him to do the right thing. He will use football to get us
financially stable, then we can return Erskine to her roots Christianly and
academically. We can also use football as an evangelistic tool. Yes, let us all
rise and cheer: FOOTBALL FOR JESUS! Besides, we are out of options. We don’t
know what to do. We are a failure as a Christian liberal arts college and are unable
to sell our present product. There is noting left to do but close if football
can’t save us. May the football-Jesus save us!”
Well, these people to whom I
have spoken are right that Erskine is a failure as a Christian liberal art
college. They are also right that they cannot sell Erskine academically (for
they can only recruit about 40 to 60 non-athletes a year). Now, all their
former tough-talk about how they had rather close Erskine before embracing
football is meaningless bluster and all the pitiful “Jesus-Jesus” talk about
evangelism-through-football is nonsensical blithering.
What is the present condition
of Erskine? Well, Erskine is like a man in the Intensive Care Unit of a
hospital who is on life-support and the family is unwilling to pull-the-plug.
The signs of impending death cover him. He is jaundice because his liver has
failed; his neural oscillations (brainwaves) are flat; his skin is covered with
necrotizing lesions; his heart relies on a LAVD; he breathes on a ventilator;
and he has black patches of uremic frost because of kidney failure. Whatever
the heroic measures taken, this man cannot be saved from death. He is dead! The
only things left to do are pull-the-plug and give the corpse a decent burial.
In spite of all the arguments otherwise, the Erskine patient is dead! The
heroic measure of football is no savior!
No question, President
Gustafson is a good man. I like him. I respect how he stood up to Paul Kooistra
and told him football and the sports model would not save Erskine. However, he
has been given an impossible hand to play. Even now, he agrees that football is
no savior — a pathetic “Hail Mary pass” in the last two seconds of a lost game.
So, why is he turning to football? The answer: DESPERATION! Desperation drives
men to do desperate things. Money is needed to pay salaries and other expenses.
Erskine is broke! It is so hard to pull-the plug on a dream when it dies! And
who wants to be the president who closes Erskine?
Yippie Ki-Yay, Buckaroos!
Presently, Erskine College is
a failure. In spite of President Gustafson’s longings for something different,
Erskine is nothing more than a very expensive Sports Camp, providing a 13th
year of high school sports (and nothing else) for a few naive athletes who have
limited athletic ability and meager understanding of what the burden of $20,000
in tuition debt will do to their future; a debt which (as many of you are
aware) will haunt a person to the grave. And, sadly, these young people will
walk away from Due West with nothing to show for their Erskine experience but
debt.
As of the August board meeting, here are the board-approved athletic offerings:
baseball, softbalL, basketball for men and women, E-Sports, golf for men and
women, CROSS COUNTRY for women, soccer for men and women, tennis for men and
women, track and field for men and women, LACROSSE for women, volleyball for
men and women, acrobatics for women, football, and RODEO.
As of this writing, according
to the Erskine directory, the number of academic faculty (both full-time and adjuncts)
is forty-nine. The number of athletic staff is nineteen, but this number does
not include the coaches needed for football and the other programs added (nor
does it include part-time athletic staff). At this writing, the ratio of
athletic staff to academic faculty is twenty-nine percent, and, of course, this
does not take into account athletic staff to be hired for new sports programs
(and with an anticipated 150 football players, as a friend and former football
coach says, “It will take at least five grown men just to keep them from
killing and pillaging!”). With new coaches for football and other new sports
programs (acrobatics, E-Sports, lacrosse, track and field, and rodeo), the
ratio of coaches to academic faculty will be much higher. Indeed, the academic
nature of Erskine is fading faster than Alice’s Cheshire Cat. Indeed, Erskine
is a Sports Camp with a want-to-be college! By the way, if it helps in finding
a head football coach, I understand Urban Meyer may be available.
In more than one way, Erskine
has become a rodeo, even with clowns. It is amazing the dumb things people say
when they are desperate. According to Athletic Director Mark Peeler,
. .
. The critical next step is to identify a head coach who will be thoroughly
committed to our mission.
Unfortunately, there is not
enough sugar and mayonnaise in South Carolina to turn Peeler’s words into
chicken salad. Well, Athletic Director Peeler, let me ask you a question: is
that what Erskine is doing now with the athletic programs you oversee? Do not
bother to reply. No! is the answer. Your pronouncement is clown-like. Yippie
Ki-yay! Go Fleet!
Well, what can we expect for
this year’s Freshman class? As usual! This year’s class will be about 200
students (or 203 as reported on Facebook by a board member). The class is very
athletes-heavy. I understand the number of non-athletes is about fifty. From
multiple sources, I also understand at least forty percent of the class was
accepted probationally. That is, forth percent of the class is academically-at-risk,
so do not expect to see them long. As usual, expect the retention rate from
Freshman to Sophomore to be terrible at sixty percent or less — and look for
less. Historically, from Freshman to graduation in four years, the retention
rate is less than fifty percent, and I predict this class will not improve the
percentage. This is easy to find; all one needs to do is look at the Freshman
class size and compare it to the number of students who graduate four years
later. Well, what do you expect when coaches do the recruiting? Besides,
Erskine College has nothing to offer Christian students who are looking for a
Christian liberal arts educational experience at a distinctively Christian
college.
Now, with regard to the
“Fleet Way” and the “college mission,” Coach Peeler, what percentage of
students fit the college’s mission? Do you have any idea? Is it sixty percent, fifty
percent, forty percent, or lower? As an outsider looking in (but also as a
former board member and one who knows a great deal about things-Erskine), I
would say lower. Let us do a survey and see what we get! As you know,
mission-fit students in Due West are as rare as a Wooly Mammoth. Indeed, this
athletic recruiting emphasis is succeeding in driving away non-athletes and
students who fit the mission.
In conversations with a
number of former board members, when I informed them of football and rodeo,
they said, “Chuck Wilson, you’re making this up!” One even accused me of lying!
When I assured them I was telling the truth, they said, “This is crazy! Why did
we waste our time? Our dream of Erskine being the premier Christian liberal
arts college in the southeast is gone! Erskine is dead! Our dream is dead!”
What Happened?
I think a sign needs to be
erected outside of Due West, reading Dante-like, “Abandon all hope, ye who
enter here!” It is amazing how Erskine sucks all reason and good sense out of
people.
I know Bobby McDonald. We
have been partners in a number of conventicles regarding Erskine where we
dreamed the dream of Erskine being the premier Christian liberal arts college
in the southeast. In my presence, he has ridiculed the idea of football at
Erskine as destructive to Erskine’s mission as a Christian liberal arts
college. So, how did McDonald come to make the motion for football and the
other new sports programs? It is easy. Desperation seduced his reason and
principles and extinguished the fire of courage. He became Mr. Faintheart.
We often hear of the “Erskine
way” in Due West. I suppose the most painful thing for me to learn was the plan
for football was formulated in secret and not distributed to the members of the
board prior to the meeting. And this to the glory of God??
I call this the politics of
disingenuousness. It is the good ol’ Erskine way!
Yes, business as usual!
Football, rodeo, and the
other sports programs were not on the agenda. A large and complicated document
was dropped on the trustees unexpectedly. Then Mr. McDonald said, “Here’s the
plan, let’s adopt it!” When some board members complained they needed time to
read a long and complicated document and asked for the vote to be postponed
until the October meeting of the board, their concerns were brushed aside. Mr.
Faintheart, the Nancy Polosi of Due West, responded that the board members
should adopt the plan and read it when they got home! There is no excuse for
such a maneuver! I have called Mr. McDonald. He did not answer. Well, at this
point, I would not answer a phone call from Chuck Wilson, either.
A Financial Crisis Waiting
The “Trump Run” in the stock
market has been good for Erskine. The Erskine Endowment stands at $41
million-plus. The problem is Erskine also has a debt-load of about $16
million-plus. That means the debt-to-cash ratio is about a whopping forty
percent and growing. And what I pen is actually a sanguine assessment! If I
held the paper on Erskine’s debt, I would be nervous and formulating a plan to
recall the loan. Also, this means the actual monies Erskine has available is
about $25 million. Now, $25 million is not a small sum, but now comes the
pressure of football and other new sports programs (and let us not forget
rodeo). And, yes, unexpected expenses will arise, and they will not be small.
The kicker with the $25 million is that much of it is restricted monies. Here
is the question: what is actually available for use? Three or four million
dollars?
The financial news gets
worse. From those who know, there is a $200,000-plus loan coming due this fall.
I understand the “get-out-jail-free” cards whereby payment can be postponed
have been used! Do the members of the board understand the seriousness of this?
If the folks in the administration are unable to get refinancing (and that is
adding more interest debt on interest debt), the board meeting in October will
be a doozy. So, whose worried about the salaries of a of a bushel basket of new
coaches? By the way, the salary of a good high school head coach is about
$100,000, and are the assistant coaches going to be paid? By the way, at the
high school where my son coaches, there are thirteen football coaches (and they
do not deal with 150 players).
And the news gets worse. Do
you remember when Erskine was put on probation by SACS? One of the concerns of
the SACS auditors was the long-term practice of large draws on the Endowment.
The SACS auditors cautioned draws of no more than five percent, and the board
concurred. Then how is it that the last draw was seven percent? And I predict
the draw this year will be ten percent or higher. Alas! where else can the
administration find a money tree apart from the Endowment? Good heavens, what
is going to happen when the SACS-man cometh for an audit?
I asked an old friend to read
my assessment of Erskine’s financial plight. Like me, he is a former board
member, and, like me, he was a member of the board’s finance committee. He
said, “Chuck, it is far worse than what you write! You have painted a rosy
picture!” Well, I suppose I have grown soft! This is the most emotionally
draining ARPTalk I have written. Perhaps I am mellowing in my dotage. This is
for certain, I take no joy in these words.
Something Positive
Well, do I have something
positive to say? Well, yes, I do.
Provost of the Seminary
Leslie Holmes distributed a book of sermons by the seminary’s faculty,
entitled, Celebration. The first chapter is by Dr. Holmes and is a defense of
Six Day Creation. I did not think I would live long enough to see someone write
a defense of Six Day Creation at Erskine Seminary or College.
A Proposal for a New Day
I cannot take claim for the
following proposal as mine. In a conversation with an old friend, he reminded
me of something I had forgotten. He is the inspiration for what follows.
When I found my way into the
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1972, the Dunlap Orphanage was still
active. At the time, Dunlap was the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in
ministry to orphans and other special children.
A few years later we found it
necessary to close Dunlap in 1978. The closure of Dunlap, however, did not mean
the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church had abandoned this ministry of
mercy. The method of ministry changed.
Assets were turned over to
General Synod and invested in order to provide for a new manner of ministry.
Today, Dunlap “provide[s] care, support, maintenance, and education of
orphaned, or fatherless or helpless, or needy children, and to support projects
related to such children” (Dunlap, bylaws).
As I remember, many of us
were disillusioned when we closed Dunlap as an active orphanage. However, the
ministry of Dunlap evolved, continues, and is now greater and farther reaching
than imagined. Last year, Dunlap distributed nearly $166,000 to nine
ministries: three in MS, four in SC, one in Ethiopia, and one in Pakistan.
Dunlap went from a small parochial ministry in Tennessee to an international
ministry; from a failed ministry to an expanding ministry. Dunlap went from helping
forty or fifty children to helping hundreds — or even thousands. In my opinion,
Dunlap is a noble and most effective ministry, far exceeding what was
originally envisioned.
What is my plan?
I advocate the closing of
Erskine in Due West and the selling of the properties before all resources are
expended, attempting to resuscitate that which is failed and dead. Indeed, when
a Christian liberal arts college is turned into a sports camp, it is dead!
However, I am not advocating
for the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church to give up on education; rather,
I am proposing a Dunlap-like solution.
The buildings and land are
worth something to someone. After all debts are settled, a sum of $25 million
remains. After an equitable settlement with the seminary, a sum in excess of
$20 million would probably remain. Turn the assets over to General Synod for
investment and the establishing of an Erskine Scholarship Fund for Associate
Reformed Presbyterian students seeking to attend a Christian liberal arts
college. At present there about forty Associate Reformed Presbyterian students
at Erskine. An Erskine Scholarship Fund has the potential of helping far more
Associate Reformed Presbyterian students and without pilling up a huge load of
loan debt on a student.
Rare Relics of Christ's
Passion to be Presented in Lake Charles
Contact: Denise Murphy,
860-496-0648
TORRINGTON, Conn., Sept. 4, 2018 /Christian
Newswire/ -- Eight rare Relics of the Passion, with a unique musical and
meditative program focused on the Passion of Christ, will be presented at
multiple churches in Louisiana from September 12th through September
19th.
The program, entitled "Call from the Crucified Heart," is a unique
one-hour presentation of The Passion that couples holy relics with supporting
meditations and musical pieces that serve as a guide to help you accompany
Jesus through His suffering during the Passion. The program ends with an opportunity
for personal veneration of the relics.
The Apostolate for Holy Relics, guardians for these relics, has toured across
the United States throughout 2016, 2017 and 2018. Having the opportunity to
join in this program while they are here in the Diocese of Lake Charles in
Louisiana is sure to be an experience that will help you connect with the very
roots of your faith.
It's very rare to see a group of related holy relics all in one place as is
presented in this program. Collections such as this are generally seen only in
Rome or the Holy Land and is something that most people only get to see once in
a lifetime. What's significant about this collection is that these relics are
brought into a single venue with a unique narration that brings the story of
the Passion to life.
Documents for these relics have been reviewed and authenticated prior to the
commencement of the first tour in 2007 and have been venerated in events
throughout the world.
The Relics of the Passion collection includes:
- A piece of the True Cross, which was discovered
by St. Helena
- A piece of the Holy Table from the room where the
Last Supper took place
- A piece of the Column of Flagellation
- A piece of The Crown of Thorns
- A replica of the Holy Nail, fashioned using
filings from the true nails
- A relic from the head of St. Longinus, the
centurion who pierced the side of Christ
- A picture of (the effigy of) the Veil of Veronica
touched to the original with a Vatican seal attesting to the fact.
- A piece of the exterior wrapping for the Shroud
of Turin
Additional information
regarding the AHR and their upcoming tour with the Relics of the Passion in
Louisiana, can be found at www.relictour.org.
[I Timothy 4:1-3 – “Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding
to marry…”]
Catholics Demand Release
of Documents on Predatory Priests from Cardinal Dolan
Contact: Michael
Hichborn, Lepanto Institute,
540-847-5501
NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2018 /Christian
Newswire/ -- The Lepanto Institute is continuing its radio ad campaign in
the Archdiocese of New York, asking Cardinal Timothy Dolan to release all of
its files on predatory priests before a formal grand jury investigation is
launched by the attorney general.
The radio ad can be heard at this link: youtu.be/eORyBbreSuw
The Lepanto Institute was formed in 2014 for the purpose of investigating and
exposing threats to the Catholic Church, both from without as from within. The
Fulton Sheen Initiative of the Institute was created specifically for taking
out radio ads addressing the current scandal of homosexual clergy within the
Catholic Church.
"It's perfectly clear that a vast network of sexually deviant priests has
infiltrated the Catholic Church, causing the crisis we now face," said
Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute. "If Cardinal Dolan
wishes to preserve the faith and maintain the trust of the faithful, he will
need to begin by clearing out all priests with a record of sexual
deviancy."
Investors in the Fulton Sheen Initiative have already committed $25,000 to the
radio ads, spurring on support from the faithful.
"Ever since we took out these ads, our office has been swarmed by phone
calls and emails from faithful Catholics supporting our effort and asking us to
keep the pressure up," said Hichborn. "The campaign has been an
overwhelming success in alerting the laity to the problem and giving them a
proper course of action."
The Lepanto Institute for the Restoration of All Things in Christ is a
research and education organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic
Church against assaults from without as well as from within. Founded in 2014,
the Lepanto Institute has exposed several instances of Catholic or
Catholic-affiliated organizations being directly involved in events or other
matters directly contrary to Church teaching. www.LepantoInstitute.org
