Faith on View

I have to confess that when I left Louisiana I had a real distrust of SBC Pastors and Theologians. I felt betrayed by some. I saw the true lack of character in others. And, in others still, I saw them stay quiet in the face of evil, seemingly for their own personal benefit and self-preservation. I always thought it was odd that “The Art Guy” was the one standing against the blatant wrong-doings while those with seminary degrees stayed quiet or even helped the institution take Christ’s name in vain. One person who has done a great deal to restore my faith in ministers and theologians is Jay Adkins. Jay serves on the Board of Trustees for Louisiana College and has been willing to speak truth while still honoring his duty to the school. His latest blog post, On Power and Protection, shed’s a great deal of light on the situation in the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

David Hankins laying handson Joe Aguillard — David Hankins laying hands on Joe Aguillard

I heard this from several sources last week but Chairman of the Louisiana College Board of Trustees Tommy French spoke directly to the Town Talk on the issue of Aguillard’s contract. According to French the Executive Commitee is looking to extend Aguillard’s contract. When commenting about the committee’s discussions French said, ““But I saw no opposition. There were not any negative points there to say we would not renew because we think he’s done a good job.” French also did not expect money to be an issue. Saying of Aguillard, “He doesn’t work for money, he works for the Lord.” That said, in 2012 (the most recent numbers available) Aguillard was paid $216,556. According to Chris Gherz, Chair of the History Department at Bethel University, on his blog the Pietist Schoolman Aguillard’s pay was 7th highest among Council of Christian Colleges and University schools and 79th highest among the 500 schools in the study, when compared against the schools budget.