LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: GOD'S PREPARATION AND SELECTION OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION'S CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE PRESIDENCIES A thesis project submitted to Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF MINISTRY By Darrell P. Onnan Stuart, Florida May 2006 Copyright @ 2006 - Darrell P. Onnan All rights reserved 11 LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THESIS PROJECT APPROV AL SHEET MENTOR, Dr. Frank Schmitt Professor of Educational Studies Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary REJ\DER, Dr. Daooy l.,~vett President, Tennessee/lmple University L/ 111 ABSTRACT INSIGHTS ON LEADERSHIP: GOD'S PREPARATION AND SELECTION OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION'S CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE PRESIDENCIES Darrell P. Orman Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006 Mentor: Dr. Frank Schmitt A review of current literature indicates that very little material analyzes the processes God used to prepare and then select the unique leadership group, within Evangelical Christianity, known as the Conservative Resurgence Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention. Many writings have covered the history of the resurgence and some writings have analyzed the biographical history ofthese men. But none to date have integrated these two elements into a specific study of the leadership preparation of this group of leaders along with the office of the president. The primary source of gaining insights into their leadership preparation and abilities shall be through individual personal interviews. Practical leadership suggestions for future presidents and leaders shall be gleaned from this study. The office and function of the office of the president of the Southern Baptist Convention shall also be examined. Possible suggestions to improve the function of the office shall be examined. Abstract length: 150 words. IV - DEDICATION I'm so grateful to God for my lovely wife, Kim. She has been a constant source of encouragement and cheer in writing this dissertation. I'm forever thankful to our Lord for giving me such a great partner in ministry and such a splendid woman of God as my bride. I would also like to dedicate this work to Dr. Adrian Rogers, my spiritual father. He has truly passed through this life as a prince among men. His consistent dignity and character in Christ have been an inspiration to all who knew and loved him. He invoked everyone he encountered to "come to Jesus." I'm also grateful to Dr. Frank Schmitt and Dr. Elmer Towns for their wise guidance and patience in my life, not only through this project but in my ministry life for the past thirty years. And last but not least was the daily diligence and motherly patience exhibited by my typist, Evelyn Jarvis. She has been a faithful conscience in keeping deadlines and typing voluminous pages for this work. May God richly bless her dedicated effort. v -- CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1 Statement of Purpose ............................................... 2 Statement of Limitations ............................................ 3 Statement of Methodology .......................................... 5 Review of Literature. .. 7 2. THE PREPARATION OF THE CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE PRESIDENTS Their Educational Preparation ....................................... 12 Their Ecclesiastical Preparation. .. 13 Their Denominational Preparation . .. 16 3. THE SELECTION OF THE CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE PRESIDENTS BASED UPON THEIR INFLUENCE The Anticipation the Presidents Held for the Office ..................... 27 The Influence of the Positions They Held At The Time of Their Election ..... 33 The Influences of Their Relationships To Other Pastors and Conservative Leaders ........................................................ 37 4. THE LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF THE CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE PRESIDENTS Their Leadership Traits Defined By Their Definition of Success. .. 42 Their Leadership Traits Illustrated by the Intentionality of Their Goals. .. 44 Vi Their Leadership Traits Demonstrated by Their Ministry Accomplishments ... 51 Their Leadership Traits Demonstrated by Their Presidential Accomplishments. .. 63 5. THE ABILITIES AND LEADERSHIP TRAITS THAT ARE NECESSARY TO EFFECTIVELY SERVE AS PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION Personal Convictions. .. 78 Relationship Networks ............................................ 84 Communication Skills. .. .. 87 Financial Resources. .. 93 Administrative Abilities ........................................... 96 6. THE FUTURE OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION Can any Southern Baptist serve as president of the S.B.C.? .............. 100 Should the office of the president of the S.B.C. be changed? If so, how? . .. 102 7. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTS AND PASTORS. .. 109 8. CONCLUSIONS .................................................. 126 APPENDIXES ....................................................... 139 A. Chronological List of the Conservative Resurgence Presidents. .. 140 B. Election Results of the Presidents of the Conservative Resurgence Presidents . .. 141 C. Educational background of the Conservative Resurgence Presidents . .. 144 D. Cover letter to the past presidents ................................... 145 E. Presidential Questionnaire ........................................ 146 Vll F. Interviews in their entirety without editing .......................... 147 BIBLIOGRAPHY. .. 322 VITA ............................................................. 327 V1l1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The world in which we live, the world of the twenty-first century, is said to be in a crisis caused by a deficiency of strong moral leaders. We need look no further than the moral leadership collapse of the United Nations Security Counsel as they were bribed by the Iraqi Dictator Sadaam Hussein with the millions of dollars of oil for food subsidies. The moral leadership shortage has also invaded religious institutions such as the wholesale cover-up of clergy sexual abuses within the Roman Catholic Church. Within this same time frame, the evangelical denomination known as the Southern Baptist Convention experienced a moral/spiritual regeneration attributed to the election of a string of conservative presidents who have demonstrated a clear courageous moral beacon to the nation, and especially, the denomination. Collectively, these thirteen men have been a scandal free, spiritual light to their denomination, nation and world. They have demonstrated deep time-honored convictions and have not compromised the truth of doctrine or scripture. The study of the characteristics of their lives and their development as leaders is of vital importance to the world in which we live. This writer has chosen this group of religious leaders to glean time-tested principles of leadership from their lives. They will be individually interviewed to determine how God developed their leadership skills and elevated them to the most influential evangelical leadership position in the world, president of the Southern Baptist Convention. 1 ., 2 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to document the process God used in preparing, selecting, and using the recent past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention to establish and maintain its current Conservative Resurgence. This paper will provide insights into the leadership style and development of this exclusive leadership group within evangelical Christianity, the past thirteen presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention. This topic was chosen through consultation with one of the project readers, Dr. Elmer Towns, based upon the writer's personal knowledge of most of the Conservative Resurgence presidents and his election to various positions within the convention. l The driving force of purpose for this project is to glean the leadership factors from the study group's lives, organize these factors and make them applicable for future leading pastors and officers of the convention. Although this group has been studied and papers published regarding their sennons and their various roles in the history of the Conservative Resurgence, the corporate gleanings oftheir leadership preparation abilities and their accomplishments have not been dealt with as of this date. This writer will attempt to document some of the major characteristics of these men's lives leading up to their elections as presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention. Throughout this paper the Southern Baptist Convention will be referred to as the S.B.C., the Presidential Questionnaire will be designated as the P.Q., and all references to the past presidents will refer to them by their first and last names, no degrees or surnames will be used. I The author has held office and served on several levels of the Southern Baptist Convention and Florida Baptist Convention. First Vice President, Florida Baptist Convention, 1990, S.B.e. Nominating Connnittee, 1993. President, Florida Baptist Pastor's Conference, 1996. Vice Chairman, Florida Baptist Convention Nominating Connnittee, 2000. Vice President, S.B.e. Pastor's Conference, 2001. Member, Florida Baptist Convention Nominating Connnittee, 2001, 2005. Member, Teller Connnittee, 2003. Member, S.B.C. Executive Connnittee, 2004-2009. These positions of service have enabled him to understand the interworkings of the office of the President and to develop relationships with most of these leaders. 3 STATEMENT OF LIMITATIONS This paper will not purport to be history of the Conservative