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dissertation entitled

LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INFLUENCED BY CHRISTIAN
FAITH: A PORTRAIT OF THREE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
PRESIDENTS

presented by

DOUGLAS RICHARD NEWBERRY, JR.

has been accepted towards fulﬁllment
of the requirements for the

PhD. degree in Educational Administration

 

 

 

 

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LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INFLUENCED BY CHRISTIAN FAITH:
A PORTRAIT OF THREE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE PRESIDENTS

By
Douglas Richard Newberry, Jr.

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
In partial fulﬁllment of the requirements
for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Educational Administration

2005

Abstract

LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INFLUENCED BY CHRISTIAN FAITH:
A PORTRAIT OF THREE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE PRESIDENTS

By

Douglas Richard Newberry, Jr.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the inﬂuence of faith on the leadership
practice of Christian college leaders. Through the examination of three Christian college
presidents, this study creates a portrait of their leadership practice inﬂuenced by faith.
The question that is asked in the research is this: In what ways does Christian faith
inﬂuence the leadership practice of selected Presidents in Christian higher education?

To answer this question the methodology of portraiture was used to paint a
portrait of three different Christian college presidents (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 1997).
Through extensive interviews on the campuses of Bethsaida College, Capcrnaum
University, and Galilee University, individual portraits were created using Kouzes and
Posner’s (2003) ﬁve leadership practices as a framework for viewing leadership.

Christian Colleges have played a signiﬁcant role in higher education over the
years. However, many of these colleges have drifted ﬁom their original faith and historic
church commitment (Marsden, 1994). Today, there is a segment of Christian colleges
that are part of the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities. These colleges are
committed to the systematic model which expresses a speciﬁc faith commitment in their
mission as well as in the hiring of faculty and staff. As these colleges espouse the
importance of the integration of faith and learning, it is assmned that this integration also

takes place in the leadership practice of the presidents, as well as other leaders at the

institution. What resulted from the research are several themes that emerged to create
one portrait of the ways in which faith inﬂuences the leadership practice of three
Christian college presidents.

First, their faith-based leadership practice was seen as a partnership with God.
Secondly, there was a commitment to maintaining, preserving and promoting the mission
of the institution. Each president was involved in the interview process to ensure that the
mission of the college. Third, these presidents conversed with God in their leadership
practice. These conversations occurred in their prayers to God. Fourth, their leadership
practices were shaped by pastoral action and demonstrated a heart of a pastor. They
presidencies could be best described as a “president-as-pastor” leadership model. Fifth,
their leadership rhetoric featured “God-talk” in their conservations with people and with
groups. They often included spiritualized talk and acknowledged God and His work with
others. Sixth, their vision was seen as a joint vision between them and God and focused
on the growth of the college. While not God-given, their visions were ordained and
inspired by Him. Seventh, their leadership practice promoted a spiritual agenda which
was rooted in their commitment to chapel. This emphasis was of primary importance at
these Christian Colleges.

The leadership practices that were most inﬂuenced by the faith of these presidents
were “model the way,” “inspire a shared vision,” and “encourage the heart.” Through
these leadership practices, the three presidents displayed leadership that was highly
symbolic as an expression of their own personal faith as well as the faith commitment of

the college.

Copyright by
DOUGLAS R. NEWBERRY JR.
2005

DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my two sons, Caleb and Benjamin, who I pray
will become men of faith and committed Christian leaders who seek to advance the
Kingdom of God throughout their lives. May they learn from my mistakes and the

lessons I learned along the way and always seek their Heavenly Father for His guidance
and direction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For my research journey and writing, I would like to acknowledge key people
along the way that have provided the needed encouragement and motivation to help me
complete this daunting task.

I would like to thank my parents for supporting me throughout this program and
for raising me in a Christian home. Through the “ups and downs” of life, they have
always been there for me to provide the encouragement needed to make it each step of
the way. They gave me the upbringing I needed to begin my faith journey and to set my
feet on the right spiritual path.

I would like to thank Tom Emigh and Dave Livermore for their friendship
throughout my leadership, educational and life journeys. They were there through the
trials I experienced throughout my professional and personal struggles.

I would like to thank my grandfather for the faith commitment and Godly
example that he gave to me. He was the spiritual model for me throughout my
upbringing.

I would like to thank Randy Bronkema for his “heart” concern for my career and
family as he communicated my position elimination. He prayed that my God would use
this opportunity to “enlarge my territory.”

I would like to thank Rex Rogers for his help in opening doors at other Christian
Colleges for my research and for his continued friendship throughout the years.

I would like to thank Liz Cherry for giving me the encouragement and mapping
out a timeline for me to complete my writing. She helped me to master my future by

planning back from the day of completion of this dissertation. She also became one of

vi

my closest friends dining this time in my life helping me both professionally and
personally.

I would like to thank Samantha Chechele for her help in editing my writing. She
provided me the needed textual changes to better polish my writing. I also want to thank
her for her encouragement and friendship during this time of transition in my life.

I would like to thank Pat McLaughlin for giving me a second chance to serve
Christian organizations. He poured out grace and mercy on my life as Christ has
demonstrated over and over again.

I would also like to thank others along the way that went before me in their
programs to provide the motivation for me to complete my writing: Rick Koole, Jack
Powell and Chris Weber.

I would like to thank my friends and colleagues at my alma mater who helped me
to grow professionally and spiritually through our leadership experiences together.

I would like to thank those who served my regular mocha at Starbucks. They
became like a family to me as I did the bulk of my writing there while consuming lots of
caffeine. My addiction to coffee helped me make it through endless hours of writing.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the God of this universe who gives me the
opportunity each day to serve Him because of the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. May I

live my life and practice leadership that is inﬂuenced by my faith in God.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 — I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME
Introduction and Reﬂections on my Journey
The Problem with Faith and Leadership
Purpose and Signiﬁcance of Study

CHAPTER 2 — LEADERSHIP, FAITH, AND THE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
Introduction
The Popularity of Leadership
Current Understanding of Leadership
Transactional Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Relationship-Centered Leadership
Symbolic Leadership
“Spiritual” Leadership
The Christian College and Faith
An Evangelical Christian Faith
Christian Higher Education and Presidents
Integration of Faith and Learning
Leadership Practice Inﬂuenced by Faith
A Framework for Studying Leadership Practice
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
Encourage the Heart
Moving Forward

CHAPTER 3 — CREATING THE LEADERSHIP PORTRAIT
Introduction
A Life of Stories
The Art of Portraiture
The Voice of the Researcher
The Research Procedure and Process
Selecting the Subjects for the Canvas
Making Contacts
Three Presidents and Three Christian Colleges
Methods of Painting
Interview Protocols
Interview Subjects
Galilee University
Capemaum University
Bethsaida College

Summary

viii

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Categorized by Themes

Observations and Field Notes

Triangulation of Research
Creating the Portrait

The Portrait

Limitations and Advantages

CHAPTER 4 — DR. GILBERT BELDING —- GALILEE UNIVERSITY
Introduction
Galilee University
Foundation of His Faith
Leadership Challenges
Leadership Style
Model the Way
The Mission and the Concept
Faith in Action
Value for People
“God Will Provide”
Inspire a Shared Vision
Vision for Growth
Vision for Faith and Learning
God’s Leader for the Hour (and hopefully longer)
Sharing the Vision
Challenge the Process
First Day on the Job--$l Million in Cuts
Another Financial Crisis
Board Issues
A Principled Hiring Decision
From College to University
Enable Others to Act
Relationships with Vice Presidents
Enabling Others in a Pastoral Role
Encourage the Heart
A Praying President
A Heart of Encouragement
The Inﬂuence of Belding’s Faith on His Leadership Practice

CHAPTER 5 - DR. PETER DEVITTO — CAPERNAUM UNIVERSITY
Introduction
Capernaum University
Foundation of His Faith
Leadership Challenges
Leadership Style
Model the Way
A Leader’s Prayer Life
An Evangelist’s Heart

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“The Only Explanation for Capernaum is God”
“Chapel is the Heartbeat of any Christian College”
“Everything Done in the Name of Christ Ought to Have Quality”
Inspire a Shared Vision
Mission and Vision
A Vision to Build
A Vision for Technology
Challenge the Process
Academic Leadership at a Crossroads
Innovation in Technology and Engineering
From the “Old” System to the “New”
A Disgruntled Denomination and the Relationship with a New One
Enable Others to Act
Working with his Vice Presidents
Working with Faculty and Staff
Encourage the Heart
A Pastor of the People
Dealing with Death
Building up the Community in Chapel
“Call me Collect”
The Inﬂuence of Faith on Devitto’s Leadership Practice

CHAPTER 6 — DR. NATHAN BUNTON - BETHSAIDA COLLEGE
Introduction
Bethsaida College
The Formative Years of Nathan Bunton
Leaving Bethsaida and Going to a Bible College
Back to His Alma Mater
Quiet Man of Faith
Model the Way
A Spiritual Agenda
Modeling Redemption and the Gift of Second Chances
Accepting Responsibility for Mistakes
Protecting the Mission and Values of the College
Inspire a Shared Vision
A Vision for the Spiritual and Revival
A Vision for Transformation and Growth
Challenge the Process
“Bloody Monday”
Money Issues and a $1,000,000 Mistake
The Health of a Trusted Vice President
Enable Others to Act
Establishing a Team
Enabling Leadership
Trusted by the People
Encourage the Heart

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A Praying Leader
A Pastor’s Heart
The Inﬂuence of Bunton’s Faith on His Leadership Practice

CHAPTER 7 — A PORTRAIT OF LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INFLUENCED
BY FAITH
Three Christian College Presidents
Toward a Portrait of the Inﬂuence of Faith on Leadership Practice
Faith-Based Leadership as a Partnership with God
The Five Leadership Practices
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
Encourage the Heart
Christian Reﬂections on The Leadership Challenge
A F aith-Based Mission
Conversations with God through Prayer
The Heart and Action of a Pastor
Commitment to Spiritual Development
Spiritual Gathering of the Community
Prayer
Care for the “Flock” in Times of Need
Spiritual Direction
VP’s as Disciples
“God-Talk”
God’s Vision and an Emphasis on Growth
A Spiritual Agenda and an Emphasis on Chapel
Symbolic Leadership and the Future of the Christian College President
Limitations and Implications for Further Research
Limitations of Research
Lack of Incongruence Expressed
Implications for Future Research
Personal Reﬂections on Faith and My Leadership Journey
My Leadership Journey
Personal Leadership Challenges
More Loss and Another Transition
Closing Reﬂections at this Point in my Leadership J oumey

REFERENCES

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244

CHAPTER ONE

I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME

Introduction and Reﬂections on My J ourngy
I never thought it could happen to me. Aﬁer all, I had worked for twelve and a

half years at my alma mater, a Christian university in the Midwest, and anticipated
leaving to go to another job in the prime of my performance. When you go out on top,
you think that those around you will express their sorrow for losing a valued employee
and colleague—they will wish you the best as you pursue a new opportunity.

This is certainly not how it happened for me. During the month of November, in
the year 2000, the mood of the president changed. He had come to realize that the
university, even though it had grown rapidly and accomplished much in the last ten years,
was on the edge of a ﬁnancial crisis. Because money had not come in as expected in the
ﬁrst multi-million dollar capital campaign and the leadership had overextended its
ﬁnancial commitments, drastic cuts in expenses needed to take place.

At a meeting with the university personnel in November, the president announced
that some cuts would be made in the upcoming months and referenced the possibility that
this might include positions. Obviously, this created concern, however no one really
knew the extent to which the cuts would come and how deep they would go.

I remember sitting among the personnel never thinking that my position could be
in jeopardy. I thought I was “safe” and ‘ﬁmtouchable” at the university because of my
longevity and performance. My experience had been one that demonstrated regular

promotions to the next level rising from staff level to executive director levels in the

university. In each position, I demonstrated the competency to lead and to be a catalyst
in the president’s efforts to advance the university to the next level. Every performance
evaluation 1 had was a positive reﬂection of the contributions 1 had made. I just did not

think it could happen to me.

When I was born in 1966 my father was in Vietnam ﬁghting in a war for our
country. This was a difﬁcult time for my mother not knowing if my father would return
from the war. My father had left when my mom was three months pregnant. Even
though this time was challenging, she had the support of her parents who also lived in the
same town. My mom lived with her parents while her husband (my father) was gone.

I remember my father telling the story of how he heard about my birth. While he
was at the base, he received a message that his wife had given birth to a baby boy and had
named him after his father. I can’t imagine being miles away in a strange land ﬁghting a
war as your wife gives birth to your ﬁrstborn son.

Dm'ing this time while my father was in Vietnam, I lived with my mom and her
parents. My grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher. Throughout his lifetime, he
led thirteen different churches as their pastor. My mom took me to my grandfather’s
church just after I was born. In many ways, my grandfather was a father to me during
this time. It must have been difﬁcult on my mother. However, she had faith in God and
believed that He would take care of her husband, and now her newborn son.

From that point forward, church would become an integral part of my life. I grew
up in the chmch and became a product of my grandfather’s faith. At the age of ten, I

decided to accept this faith in God through my own personal decision. It was a

commitment that I made based on my belief that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this
world to provide forgiveness for sins and the gift of eternal life. I remember praying the
prayer of salvation in my pastor’s ofﬁce one Sunday morning in May in a suburban
church.

As I reﬂect back on this decision, I believe that this inﬂuence was an integral part
of my faith development as well as the result of growing up in a Christian home. I had
come to a greater understanding and level of commitment in my faith. However, I still
had a long way to go. I still remember my pastor saying that I was a changed person and
that my faith would inﬂuence all of my life. Little did I know what this actually meant at

the time nor the journey I would take in my life.

In the middle of December 2000, two close colleagues told me that my name was
“on the list” for potential position elimination. At ﬁrst, I did not believe them. When
they said that their positions were also on the list, I could not believe that this was
possible. Both of these individuals were “in the know” because they served as vice
presidents at the university. I trusted them. They were part of the process along with the
president until he decided that both of their positions would be eliminated. As my
ﬁ'iends, they were the ﬁrst to give me a “heads up” on this situation. I appreciated this
inside information; nevertheless I experienced great anxiety in not knowing what would
happen.

The next day I discussed what I knew with two other colleagues who were part of
the leadership team making the decision along with the president. Both were good

friends and I knew that they would ﬁll me in on my potential fate. For the next two

weeks, my name was on the list, off the list, and back on the list. It almost seemed to
change daily as the administrative team bantered and bartered for which positions to
eliminate until it came their ﬁnal meeting and decision on January 3, 2001. After their
meeting, I talked to my two colleagues and they told me that the decisions had been

ﬁnalized and I would be formally told my fate in a meeting the next morning.

Growing up as an evangelical Christian was not always easy. I remember my
junior high years as being very difﬁcult. While we went to church most every Sunday,
my family seemed to stray from our commitment. We lived our lives during the week
never allowing our faith to affect how we lived. Part of the problem for our family was
that our church was about a half an hour away. This made it difficult to get involved.
However, this was no excuse for our lack of commitment.

It wasn’t until we moved to a new house and town that my family was able to ﬁnd
a church that was about ﬁve minutes away. This was a good thing. My family became
very involved in this church—going every time the door was open. I enjoyed it because I
was able to connect with the youth group. My close friends were those I found at the
church. We did it all together—all-nighters, bowling parties, and youth group meetings.
This was my social connection. This also became the place and the context for where my
faith would develop.

During my junior year of high school, on a winter retreat, I believe that God was
calling me to ministry. Don’t ask me how I knew this, but I just felt convicted that God

wanted me to use my life for service to Him. At the time, I thought this meant doing

what my grandfather did—pastor a church. I did not realize that this “calling” could be
broader than this.

Because of this conviction, my college focus shifted from studying business at a
local university to pursuing a Christian education at a Christian college a few hours away.
It was the only Christian college I really knew. My church youth group had gone over to
visit on a couple of occasions and my best friend, who was a year older than me, had

decided to go to college there as well. It seemed like a good choice for me at the time.

It was very difﬁcult to sleep that night. I wrestled with feelings of anger,
disappointment, and depression. What had I done, or not done, to get my name on the list
for position elimination? Was it merely a matter of my salary level and the need to
eliminate signiﬁcant dollars that my position was chosen? What would I do?

This is not something I planned for, dreamed of, or even considered. I even began
to question my faith in God. God, why are you doing this to me? This isn’t the way I’m
supposed to leave this place? How will I care for my family and pay my bills? And God,
what type of job will I get now?

The questions were difﬁcult. Just the day before, a friend had given me a copy of
the book, The Prayer of Jabez, to read. He told me that this book would change my life if
I prayed the same prayer that Jabez prayed. I read the short book that night—the night
before I was told that my position would be eliminated.

I had never heard of Jabez before, yet I had read the Bible through a couple of

times and had studied it quite extensively in seminary. Jabez was just a “blip” in the

Bible—barely mentioned in the middle of a geneology. It was amazingly simple and
encompassed two short verses. These verses focused on the prayer that he prayed.

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I
gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless
me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I
will be free from pain." And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:9-10, The Bible,
New International Version)

God granted his request. If God could grant Jabez his request by blessing him and
enlarging his territory, He could do the same for me. That is, if I had the same type of
faith that Jabez had then God would lead me the next step of the way. I began to pray
that prayer that night, knowing that the next day would be the beginning of a joumey—a

journey of faith.

I woke up early on the morning of January 4, 2001. I dressed in my usual
professional attire with a nice dark blue suit. That morning I had scheduled a meeting
with a close friend at a coffee shop near the university. He was the youth pastor at a large
church in the area and had been a mentor to me for several years in my faith as it related
to ministry and leadership. Steve had just recently left the university to pursue this
church ministry Opportunity.

I admired his passion for God and ministry. He was one who always wanted to
do what was right and to reach out to other people. Steve was a dreamer and I worked
well with him as the irnplementer. That morning, I told Steve what was about to happen

when I got into the ofﬁce. He encouraged me, prayed with me, and even dreamed about

working together at his church (he was trying to create a job for me). He also challenged
me that God was in control and that my faith in Him would be strengthened as I

depended upon Him for the upcoming journey.

I really enjoyed going to a Christian college. Having attended public schools all
of my life, I did not know what it meant to experience a Christian education. I knew that
I would be with other students and faculty who held the same Christian faith. However, I
did not know much about what it meant to integrate a Christian worldview in my classes.
It was more than just beginning class with prayer or studying the Bible in class; the
Christian college experience was the commitment of the professor to share a biblical
perspective and to integrate faith with the content area that she or he had mastered.

This is where I really began to think about my faith and leadership and where I
ﬁrst began to develop as a leader. At the end of my freshman year I decided to run for
the position of vice president for the next year. I vaguely remember using some
gimmicky rhyme in my campaign speech—Vote for Rick . . . I won’t lay around like a
brick because I’m quick to do the trick—or something like that. I guess it must have
worked since I was elected by my classmates. Certainly, my understanding of leadership
at that time was based on election to a formal position. However, through this
opportunity I was able to begin to learn about leadership—that it was much more about
the practice rather than position.

During my junior and senior years I was elected as the student body president.
Leadership became an act of service to my peers. At this stage in my faith and leadership

development, my leadership practice focused on working to improve the college through

the involvement of my classmates. We chose the theme of “Catch the Action” to rally
the student body. One of the highlights of this leadership experience was leading the
students to plan a children’s carnival as an outreach into the community. We called this
event “Spring Splash” since it was held in April. The students rallied around this
initiative and, as an act of service, provided a great opportunity for children to enjoy fun
and games on a Saturday aftemoon.

My leadership perspective grew to focus on service. As an expression of my
faith, I believed that Jesus Christ came to serve, rather than to be served. He served the
needs of those around Him. For me, I believed that my faith was integrally linked to
leadership through this service. Certainly, I could say that leadership includes service—
service to the needs of an organization or group of people. However, this service is

deeper than this—it is the attempt to follow the leadership model of Jesus Christ.

At 9:30 am. on Thursday morning I met with the Executive Vice President, the
Director of Human Resources and the Executive Director of Advancement (my direct
supervisor). This was one of the most difﬁth meetings I had ever anticipated. I knew
what I would be told in the meeting; however the ﬁnality of it all raised my anxiety level
to new heights.

The three of them met with me but my direct supervisor did the talking. He
seemed nervous and anxious himself. I am sure that this was very difficult for him to go
through, especially since his department was the hardest hit with four position

eliminations. I was the third one that they met with that morning.

He began by saying that he had a printed letter for me to read. Apparently,
because of the nature of the position elirninations, he needed to follow a prescribed
procedure that was being carried out on “Black Thursday,” (at least that is what I called
it) throughout the university.

The letter was written from the President of the University and it said as follows:
“This letter is to inform you that effective today, Thursday, January 4, 2001 , your
position has been eliminated at the University. Because of the need to ‘right-size’ the
university, I have had to take these necessary measures. Thank you for your service to
the university.”

According to procedure, he then asked me for my cell phone, university credit
card, and ofﬁce keys. He informed me that I would have until 5:00 pm. the next day to
move out of my ofﬁce.

The ﬁnality of it all hit me. I cried. The emotions were overwhelming. The
difﬁculty for me was the letter. It seemed so cold. Here were three men meeting with me
to communicate the bad news. What frustrated me the most was when I asked who made
this decision? The executive vice president responded that the president had been the one
to make the ﬁnal decision.

Where was the president? Why wasn’t he the one to tell me the decision he had
made instead of sending his messengers to read a letter? How could a person committed
to living the Christian faith lead in such a way? Why wasn’t be willing to meet with me
to express his sorrow over the decision he had to make? I felt as if he was hiding in his

ofﬁce.

The incongruence of his faith and leadership practice hit me. I wrestled with the
idea of how faith should inﬂuence his leadership practice during this situation. It seemed
inconsistent. The President described himself as a man committed to his Christian faith
and yet the way he practiced his leadership in this situation seemed disconnected with
this belief. Where was the compassion of his faith in this leadership moment? Where
was the love that a Christian leader should display to his employees? Where was the
authenticity of his struggle to be responsible for both the organization and the people? If
it was there, I certainly did not see it at the time. I struggled with seeing how his
Christian faith inﬂuenced his leadership. From my perspective, his faith seemed

disconnected from his leadership practice.

I had never been on such an extensive job search until this time since I had never
been unemployed—that is such a difﬁcult word to say. And yet, this was a journey of a
lifetime. The University gave me a nice severance package paying me for the next 16
weeks while I searched for employment. Because of my service to the miiversity, I
received the most weeks of severance as compared to the others who lost their job.

My job search included looking for positions of leadership in higher education,
secondary education, church ministry, and para-church ministry. I was wide open to the
opportunities and looked at many job possibilities.

The one that caught my attention was a leadership position as Headmaster of a
large Christian school in the South. I went through the in-depth interview process and

was offered the position. From that point forward, I would now be in the position where

10

others would closely watch how my faith would inﬂuence my leadership practice in

greater ways than I had ever experienced before.

After leaving my alma mater and my friends, I packed up the family and moved
over 1,500 miles away. I soon began the leadership role as headmaster of a private,
Church-related K-12 school. With almost 900 students and over 100 employees, the
challenges and opporttmities for leadership were great.

One of the greatest challenges I faced came in the summer of 2002. Because I
had proposed and the board passed a 15% tuition increase for the 2002-03 school year,
we saw our retention rate slide signiﬁcantly. This created a loss of students and
therefore, a loss of revenue. In order to make the budget balance, I was forced to
eliminate several positions.

Immediately I knew that the inﬂuence of my faith on my leadership practice
would be tested. Since I had gone through my own position elimination, I now had the
opportunity to experience it from the other side—from the perspective of the one making
the decisions for the eliminations.

While I struggled through the decisions of who would lose their position, I was
committed to allow my faith in God guide my leadership responsibility. First, I
committed the decisions to prayer asking God to give me wisdom in my search. While
God never sent me a telegram with his explicit direction, I believed that I was following
Him through the decisions I made. I sought the counsel of others in these decisions. My

faith was rooted in the reality that God sovereignly directs His people. While God was

11

directing me, He was also working in the lives of those individuals whose positions I
eliminated to lead them to another opportunity.

Secondly, it was very important for me to communicate my decision to those it
would impact. Even though this was difﬁcult to communicate, I believed that the way
God had worked in my own life could be used as an encouragement to them. I was able
to communicate my love for them, the difﬁcultly of this decision, and the reality that God
was in control of their life as a person committed to their faith.

My faith and leadership was certainly stretched during this challenge and crisis
event. I never thought that 1 would go through this myself let alone from both sides of
the equation. However, the preparation had begun just a year earlier when I lost my
position. Having been on this side, I knew better how to handle this situation as a leader.
While I would not say that I handled this situation ﬂawlessly, my faith and own personal

experience pmfomdly inﬂuenced my leadership practice.

The Problem with Faith and Leadership

And now, my quest continues in my leadership joumey——to understand how faith
inﬂuences leadership practice, not only in my own life but in the lives of those around
me. I recognized the tension and inherent disconnection between faith and leadership
practice. This provided the personal catalyst to invest my time and energy into a study
that would be of signiﬁcance to me as well as to other leaders.

During my four years at a Christian college, I gained valuable education through
the inﬂuence of the faith throughout all of my subject areas. Before I attended college, I

assumed that this inﬂuence would include prayer at the beginning of class and courses

12

taught by Christian faculty. However, the inﬂuence of faith was much broader than this
early conception.

While I certainly had many courses in biblical and theological studies, this college
had a core curriculum in the liberal arts. These core classes included the integration of
faith with each discipline. For the ﬁrst time in my educational experience I learned what
it meant to integrate faith with learning. As a student this integration meant that my
Christian faith helped to shape my understanding of the world and the knowledge I
gained in the classroom. I realized that my faith was relevant and integral to studies in
science, math, history, English, as well as other areas. This integration of faith and
learning was certainly dependent upon the teaching of the faculty—faculty who were
committed to their faith, the mission of the college, and knowledge of their respective
discipline.

I often wondered, though, what this integration of faith and learning looked like in
other contexts. For instance, at this Christian college they claimed to integrate faith with
all of life. This certainly included the administrative leadership of college. Little did I
know at that time, while as a college student, I would graduate and then work as an
administrative leader in the same college. As a leader, I was certainly expected to
integrate my faith with my work and my leadership.

However, my experiences in this setting of a Christian university did not equate to
a clear understanding of this integration and inﬂuence. This integration was often
assumed and rarely discussed. I looked to others to model this integration in their own

leadership practice. I saw it modeled in many different ways and at different levels of

13

intensity. In some cases, the inﬂuence was obvious. In others, it seemed to be non-
existent.

I wrestled with questions about this inﬂuence. How should my faith affect my
leadership practice? What does this inﬂuence actually look like in other leaders and in
my own practice? Do the espoused values of faith integration at a Christian college work
itself out in actual leadership practice? How is the leadership practice of Christian
leaders inﬂuenced by their faith? It is from this personal backdrop that I seek to create a

portrait of the influence of faith on leadership practice.

Fume and Sggp' iﬁcance of Stug
The purpose of this study is to investigate the inﬂuence of faith on the leadership

practice of Christian college leaders. Through the examination of three Christian college
presidents, this study will create a portrait of their leadership inﬂuenced by faith. The
question that will guide my research is this: In what ways does Christian faith inﬂuence
the leadership practice of selected Presidents in Christian higher education? In addition,
I will seek to answer the following subquestions:
o How does Christian faith inﬂuence the ﬁve exemplary leadership practices as
described by Kouzes and Posner (2003) in The Leadership Challenge?
0 What themes emerge that depict leadership practice inﬂuenced by Christian
faith for the Christian college president?
The underlying assumption to this study is that leadership practice inﬂuenced by
Christian faith can be described and that it can be differentiated in some way from that

which is written about in the leadership literature.

14

In order to understand the educational signiﬁcance of this proposed study it is
important to realize that many colleges and universities in the United States were founded
by a church (Noll, 1984). Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale are all examples of
private colleges that were founded by a church (Ringenberg, 1984). Although these
colleges have separated from their founding church relationship (Marsden, 1994), many
colleges today are related to a church and are committed to the integration of faith and
learning.

The historic purpose of the church-related college was to integrate faith and
learning (De Jong, 1990). N011 says, “Commitment to a Christian worldview is the
academic raison d’etre of the evangelical colleges” (1984, p. 92). Essentially, this
Christian worldview is the effective integration of faith and learning. Therefore, this was
and still is the chief mission of the Church-related and Christian college.

Just as faculty are expected to integrate faith with their discipline in the
classroom, administrative leaders are expected to do the same. The President, as the
chief executive ofﬁcer, must preserve and protect this mission. He or she also has a
responsibility to provide leadership inﬂuenced by faith.

Kingsley says that “this moral imperative is part of the leadership vision in the
church-related college, and again the primacy of that vision becomes evident. It shapes
all acts of leadership, all plans and strategies, all hiring and ﬁring, all time management,
all budgeting, all the assorted elements of ‘administrivia’ that gulp our days and ways”
(1992, p. 70). He further states, “This vision is similar to that in any good college in its
emphasis on quality but distinctive in its moral afﬁrmation and its ability to be values-

driven rather than values-neutral” (p. 70).

15

Today it is as important as it has ever been for presidents of Christian colleges
and universities to understand this mission. “The president must articulate this mission to
all constituencies of the university and to the general public. The president is in the
pivotal position internally and externally with regard to the mission of the college. This
is one of the most important tasks of the president to which the trustees must hold him
accountable” (De Jong, 1990 p. 92). Not only must the president understand and
articulate this mission, she or he must understand the integration of faith with leadership
practice since this is tightly aligned to the core of the college.

Therefore, it is essential to know how presidents understand the inﬂuence of faith
on leadership. While there has been literature written to describe this integration of faith
and learning in the classroom, no research has been conducted to examine how
presidents, or other leaders, of Christian universities display this inﬂuence. This research
will help to build a beginning framework for understanding the inﬂuence of faith on the

practice of leadership.

16

CHAPTER TWO

LEADERSHIP, FAITH, AND THE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Introduction

Bolman and Deal tell a story about Steve, a leader in search of something more in
his career, and Maria, his mentor and spiritual advisor. Through this contemporary
parable, they stress that the “heart of leadership is in the hearts of leaders” (Bolman &
Deal, 2001). It is where the spirit and the soul connect. This connection is what they
describe as where leaders reach deep within to know themselves and the faith in which
they believe. Furthermore, they suggest that soul, spirit, and faith belong at the heart, or
the very core, of leadership. While not tied to any one faith or religious tradition,
Bolman and Deal suggest that the message of their book is simple: “Your life journey is
a continuing opportunity to deepen your faith, develop your gifts, and enhance your
contribution to what the world becomes” (p. 236).

For the spiritual leader, the actual intersection of one’s beliefs about leadership
and faith is at the individual’s core. From this core, what results is the outflow into the
journey of experience and the actual practice of leadership. As one practices leadership,
the inﬂuence of faith takes place.

In order to explore this concept and attempt to better understand the inﬂuence of
faith on the leadership practice of selected presidents in Christian higher education, it is
important to consider the leadership literature. While there are volumes of writing on the
subject of leadership both from a practitioner or research-based perspective, it is

important to discuss the literature that is relevant to this study. In all, my goal as the

17

researcher is to lend additional insight and understanding into this emerging conceptual

understanding of the practice of “spiritual” or faith-based leadership.

The Popularity of Leadership

The topic of leadership has become very popular in recent years. Leaders of
business, education, and non-proﬁt organizations want to discover any way that they can
improve—taking initiative, casting vision, motivating employees, creating change,
empowering others. These are just some of the t0pics of interest in the leadership
literature.

A quick glance in any major bookstore will reveal numerous books, most of
which were printed in the past year, concerning leadership in the for-proﬁt and not-for-
proﬁt world. From the political leader, Rudolph Giuliani, capitalizing on his presence in
the media after 9/11 by writing a book simply called Leadership (2002), to the third
edition of Kouzes and Posner’s book, The Leadership Challenge (2003), books and
resomces on leadership abound. “Leaders appear and recede, rise and fall. At different
moments, we are enthralled or intimidated by, even contemptuous of, particular leaders,
but we remain hooked on the idea of leadership” @ipman-Blumen, 1996, p. 44).

Why are we so “hooked” on leadership? Why is leadership such an intriguing
topic? It seems that organizations and individuals are “hungry” to know the latest
leadership methods, practices, and “secrets.” They believe that this will help them gain
an advantage personally and/or professionally in their sphere of inﬂuence. The literature

is based on the idea that I can learn ﬁ'om the success of someone else and this can be

18

directly applied to my own experience. We have become enamored with leadership and
what it means to be successful.

Bennis and Nanus (1985), well-respected writers in this ﬁeld, believe that
“leadership is the pivotal force behind successful organizations” (p. 2). In other words,
successful organizations require successful leaders. Organizations get from “A” to “Z”
because leaders chart the course and steer the ship. As Graham (1991) states, “the ideal
leader is one who knows where to go, how to get there, and can motivate others to make
the trip” (p. 105). However, we often focus on the study of “the” leader making it all
about the position and its power. We look to presidents and CEOs as the one who make
things happen and attempt to do it “Jack Welch’s way” while always looking to the
bottom line of proﬁtability to measure the organization’s success.

The leadership literature is largely represented by that which is practitioner-
oriented as compared to that which is research-based, although this has grown
signiﬁcantly in the last few decades. However, even with the volumes of writing,
Bolman and Deal (2003) suggest that “though the call for leadership is universal, there is
much less clarity about what the term means” (p. 92). Rost quotes Stogdill, a “guru” of
leadership writing, “the endless accumulation of empirical data has not produced an
integrated understanding of leadership” (1993 p. vii). Rost further accentuates this point
in his own writing:

On the surface, this view of the leadership literature—that it is in disarray—is

perfectly accurate. The words that scholars have used to deﬁne leadership are

contradictory. The models that leadership scholars have developed are discrepant.

The emphasis on periphery and content, as opposed to the essential nature of

leadership, does make for highly personalistic and unidisciplinary views of

leadership that do not cross over to other persons and disciplines. The confusion

of leadership with management and the equation of leaders with leadership do
cause serious conceptual problems that are hard to reconcile in the real world.

19

And ﬁnally, the exploitation of the concept of leadership in terms of symbolic
mythmaking (for instance, as the savior of organizations, communities, and
societies that have somehow lost ‘it’) and in terms of the almost sexual appeal that
has been attached to the word by some advertisers, trainers, program developers,
and authors has clearly indicated that the concept has lost its moorings, if not its
essential character. (Rost, 1993, p. 92)

It is with this backdrop that we proceed to gain a current understanding of leadership as

an important component to this research project.

Current Understanding of Leadership

Leadership has been difficult to deﬁne in a way that transcends into a universal
conceptualization. The deﬁnitions that have resulted have focused in several different
areas depending on the vantage point that one is examining the subject. In their
comprehensive literature review, Yukl and Van Fleet state that “leadership has been
deﬁned in terms of individual traits, leader behavior, interaction patterns, role
relationships, follower perceptions, inﬂuence over followers, inﬂuence on task goals, and
inﬂuence on organizational culture” (1990, p. 148). This quagmire has clouded and
compounded our understanding.

The most common theme in the deﬁnitions on leadership focuses on the process
of inﬂuence and is usually geared to the inﬂuence that a leader has on some group of
people. Yukl and Van Fleet deﬁne leadership as “a process that includes inﬂuencing the
task objectives and strategies of a group or organization, inﬂuencing people in the
organization to implement the strategies and achieve the objectives, inﬂuencing group
maintenance and identiﬁcation, and inﬂuencing the culture of the organization” (1990, p.
149). Furthermore, Northouse echoes this deﬁnition by saying that “leadership is a

process whereby an individual inﬂuences a group of individuals to achieve a common

20

goal” (Northouse, 2001, p. 3). Leadership is about an individual or a group moving
another individual or group toward a desired result.

From this, it can be assumed that the inﬂuence of followers in an organization is
speciﬁcally linked to leadership. This is similar to Gardner’s concept that leadership is a
process of persuasion or example by which an individual motivates a group to pursue
objectives held by the leader (Gardner, 1990). Bolman and Deal further add the concept
of “mutual” inﬂuence to the deﬁnition. This inﬂuence goes both ways—from the leader
to the follower and back to the leader. It is two-directional between a leader and a
follower. Because of this, leadership is seen as being cooperative in an effort to serve the
purposes of both the leader and the follower for the sake of the organization.

However, even with this basic concept, Rost identiﬁes some problems to
understanding leadership. The ﬁrst problem is based on the notion that authors have
focused on the “peripheral elements and content rather than with the essential nature of
leadership as relationship” (1993, p. 5). This relationship of a leader to a follower or
group of followers is certainly related to inﬂuence and will be discussed later. In fact,
Rost and others will go on to suggest that leadership is about this relationship. Secondly,
Rost says that no one has been able to deﬁne leadership so that they can describe it when
it is happening. Finally, he states that no one has been able to develop a school of
leadership that integrates our understanding of research from both research and
practitioner literature. Although, in recent years, this school of leadership literature has
been growing and developing.

One attempt to develop schools of leadership literature has been the recent

writings on transactional and transformational leadership. This topic has been

21

represented frequently and thoroughly in recent literature (B. B. Bass & Avolio, 1993;
Bycio, Hacketter, & Allen, 1995; Den Hartog, Van Muijen, & Koopman, 1997; Edwin P.
Hollander, 1992; Howell & Avolio, 1993; Yammarino, Spangler, & Bass, 1993; G. Yukl
& Van Fleet, 1990; G. A. Yukl, 1989). “According to this new genre of leadership
theory, such leaders transform the needs, values, preferences, and aspirations of followers
from self-interests to collective interests” (House & Sharnir, 1993, p. 82).
Transformational leadership, as a current theory of leadership, is also discussed
alongside of and contrasted with transactional leadership. In order to understand the

leadership literature, these topics will be discussed in the following sections.

Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership is signiﬁcantly different from transformational
leadership and is presented to provide the necessary contrast as conceptualized initially
by Burns. Burns (1978), while writing about the transformational political leader,
distinguished this concept of leadership from the transactional leader. He was the ﬁrst to
make this distinction (see also Yammarino et al., 1993). Burns argued that transactional
leadership occurs “when one person takes the initiative in making contact with others for
the purpose of an exchange of valued things” (p. 19). This leadership type is about the
“transaction” that takes place between two individuals or groups. It is more about
making things work in an organization rather than taking the organization to a heightened
or greater level. Burns explains the difference in transformational leadership “occurs

when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers

22

raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality” (p. 20). It is in these
higher levels of motivation that transformation takes place.

Bass (1985) elaborates on the idea of transactional leadership by suggesting that
Burns’ “transactional political leader motivated followers by exchanging with them
rewards for services rendered” (p. 11). Simply stated, if a follower does “x” then he or
she will be rewarded “y.” Or, perhaps a more crass way to say it is this: “If you do this
for me (or the organization), then I will do this for you.” Interestingly enough, this
exchange is very important in organizations. Every organization, including colleges and
universities, needs people to do what is expected in their job and to perform their duties.
It’s the reason why jobs and positions exist—40 fulﬁll tasks that are essential to the
operations of an organization.

Bass goes on to extend Bums’ deﬁnition to supervisor-subordinate relations in
that the transactional leader places value on a reward system for work performance. In
other words, this leader recognizes the needs of the subordinates by providing rewards for
their effort. This is the “transactional” exchange that the leader gives for the reward of
the subordinate’s performance. “The transactional leader pursues a cost-beneﬁt,
economic exchange to meet subordinates’ current material and psychic needs in return for
‘contracted’ services rendered by the subordinate” (p. 14). Conger and Kanungo (1988)
suggest that this relationship is indeﬁnite, lasting only as long as both parties are satisﬁed
from this exchange.

The concept of transactional leadership is further described by Bass and Avolio
(1993) . They suggest two factors for transactional leadership: “contingent-reward” and

“management-by-exception.” The contingent-reward “involves a positively reinforcing

23

interaction between leader and follower that emphasizes an exchange” (B. B. Bass &
Avolio, 1993, p. 51). In other words, the follower receives a “reward,” typically pay and
promotion that is contingent upon the employee’ 5 performance. Management-by-
exception is used by the leader to make a correction “when things go wrong” or are
against the direction of the supervisor (p. 52). At this time, a leader will step in, take
over, and make things right through corrective action.

Transactional leadership is often viewed by some as a less signiﬁcant leadership
style. One of the main reasons for this perception is that this type of leadership is seen as
less glamorous than transformational leadership. The transactional leader will keep the
organization operational by managing objectives while the transformational leader will
often take the spotlight in an organization by pushing an agenda and vision for the
organization to move to the next level as it is often deﬁned. After all, a transformational
leader is the one who is able to “transform” the organization by inﬂuencing and
motivating followers to new levels of performance. Let’s now examine the concept of

transformational leadership.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is often discussed in contrast to transactional
leadership. The transactional leader attempts to work within the organizational culture to
get things accomplished whereas the transformational leader works to change and
transform the culture. “While the transactional leader motivates subordinates to perform
as expected, the transformational leader typically inspires followers to do more than

originally expec ” (Den Hartog et al., 1997, p. 20). It is the performance level from the

24

individual within the organization that makes the difference. Doing more than expected
enables the organization to move forward toward greater possibilities. And when this
occurs, Bass argues that “the transformational leader changes the social warp and woof of
reality” (B. M. Bass, 1985, p. 24).

As mentioned earlier, Burns was the ﬁrst to develop the concept of
n‘ansformational leadership (1978) ﬁ'om descriptive research on political leaders. The
key issue for Burns in his description of the transformational leader is motivation—the
motivation of followers to reach higher levels of performance. This is supported by
Bennis and Nanus (1985) in their work when they describe this new leader as an agent of
change who commits others to action. Yammarino, Spangler and Bass (1993), argue that
these leaders “attempt to raise the needs of followers and promote dramatic changes of
individuals, groups, and organizations” (Y arnmarino etal., 1993, p. 82). These dramatic
changes come as a result of individuals working within an organization to bring it to
greater levels of growth and prosperity. Bass (1985) describes Burns’ transformational
leader as one who “tends to go further, seeking to arouse and satisfy higher needs, to
engage the full person of the follower” (p. 14). For Bass, this type of leadership can
make signiﬁcant changes or transformations in an organization by motivating personnel
to do more than originally expected.

We certainly hear a lot about transformational leaders and the need to transform
organizations today. In some ways, this topic has become the “ uzz” of the leadership
literature. Vision appears to be a signiﬁcant attribute of the transformational leader.
Vision portrays a view of the future that is better than what exists today and it inspires

those within the organization to action (Bennis & Nanus, 1985). Vision is always

25

forward-looking and seeks to move an individual, group or organization to a better state.
It is the description of tomorrow that ignites the excitement to move people from the
past-based paradigm from which they are operating. This is the compelling reason for its
essential link to the transformational leader as he or she envisions the future.

This discussion is relevant for our understanding of leadership in the context of
higher education. Birnbaum (1992) conducted a signiﬁcant study of 32 presidents in the
late 19808. During this research, Birnbaum focused on the transformational and
transactional leadership theories as it was applied to presidential leadership. He
concluded that leaders, such as the presidents of colleges he studied, can make a
difference. However, this difference occurs only under certain conditions and is not
applicable to other campuses or in other times. Birnbaum believes that the
transformational leader in the presidency often leads to disruption and failtu'e rather than
the desired change at the institution.

However, Fisher and Koch (2004) argue that Birnbaurn’s conclusions are often
inconsistent with what is found in the research. The main criticism that they levy against
Birnbaum is that “interviews and observers may tend to hear and see what they expect (or
want) to hear and see” (p. 21). Furthermore, they suggest that speciﬁc hypotheses need
to be tested and the study should be replicable and have a scientiﬁc, empirical base.
While this argument is signiﬁcant, qualitative research does have a place in giving a
“thick” description to speciﬁc cases of presidential leaders that can provide the basis for
hypotheses to be derived for further quantitative research.

Through their research on college presidents, they found that there is signiﬁcant

overlap between the effective president and entrepreneurial presidents. While not exactly

26

the same, presidents who act entrepreneurial utilize transformational leadership in their
practice. They describe entrepreneurial presidents as being “prudent risk takers who
seldom, if ever, make truly important decisions without analysis and forethought” (p. 33).
It is certainly a calculated and well-thought out risk. To the personnel, the risk may seem
to be prompt and decisive. However, to the entrepreneurial president, the risk is well
thought out and necessary to lead the transformation of an institution.

This current understanding of the entrepreneurial, transformational, or
transactional leader is foundational to our discussion on the emerging focus on
relationship-centered leadership. For any leader, relationships become critical to

achieving the vision.

Relationship-gentered Leadership

In the decade of the 1990s, several practitioners and scholars began to write about
a new paradigm of leadership (Block, 1993; Bogue, 1994; Bolman & Deal, 1997;
DePree, 1989, 1992, 1997; Gardner, 1990; Graham, 1991; Greenleaf, 1991, 1998;
Heifetz, 1994; E. P. Hollander, 1993; Edwin P. Hollander & Offermann, 1990; Senge,
1990; Wheatley, 1994). The writing in the literature has identiﬁed the essence of
leadership at all levels as a relationship with the people of the organization and it is
focused on the actual practice of leadership as it relates to people within the organization.

Kouzes and Posner (2003) suggest that “leadership is not about position or title.
It’s about caring, about relationships, and about what you do” (p. 1). In the case of the
transactional or transformational leader, the deﬁnition often centers around the person

involved. Bolman and Deal support this perspective by saying that “the heroic image of

27

leadership conveys the notion that leadership is largely a one-way process: leaders lead
and followers follow. Such a view blinds us to the reality that leadership fundamentally
involves a relationship between leaders and their constituents” (Bolman & Deal). This
relationship is critical to leadership since it can be deﬁned by what occurs between the
one who aspires to lead and those who choose to follow.

Through his analysis of leadership writing and studies throughout the 19003, Rost
(1993) suggests that the let century will bring a leadership shift from an industrial
paradigm to a post-industrial paradigm . The industrial paradigm asserts that leadership
concerns what “great individuals do” through a position and its respective power.
However, the post-industrial paradigm suggests that leadership is a relationship existing
between leaders and collaborators. Rost chooses to use the word “collaborator” instead
of follower to describe the activeness to the relationship. The emphasis is on this
relationship that exhibits a sharing of purpose and inﬂuence. The key difference between
these paradigms is that there is a shift from the individual in the industrial paradigm to an
emphasis on the relationship between individuals in the post-industrial paradigm.

This new paradigm of leadership is similar to the concept that Robert Greenleaf
coined in the 19705 of “servant leadership” (Greenleaf, 1977, 1991). Whereas Rost has
identiﬁed this as “collaborative leadership,” Greenleaf chose the imagery of a servant in
his conceptualization of leadership. Until recently, little attention has been given to this
concept. Greenleaf s writings were rooted in his experience in the corporate world and
often depicted his reﬂective thoughts of a leadership ideal and what works best in

organizations. The servant leader seeks to serve the needs of the organization and the

28

people ﬁrst rather than serving himself or herself. In some regard, the concept of servant

leadership is linked to the idea of symbolic leadership.

Mboﬁc Leadership
Through this understanding of the leadership literature, higher education is

experiencing change and transformation in the 21 st century and, as a result, there is a call
for a new form of leadership. Bensimon, Neumann, and Birnbaum (1989) write that
there is the perception of a leadership crisis in higher education that calls for a better,
stronger, visionary, and bolder leader. Because of this, much of the focus on leadership
has been on the style and personality of the leader. Thus, trait theories have dominated
the discussion (Trow, 1994) and much attention has been given to transformational
leadership that was developed by Burns (Burns, 1978) and later extended by Bass (1985;
B. M. Bass; B. M. Bass).

Bensimon, Neumann, and Birnbaum suggest that we are experiencing a shift in
our tmderstanding of leadership in higher education ﬂour a rational perspective toward a
more cultural and symbolic perspective. This is more of a focus on what the leader
actually does than the position. They see this as being highly compatible with higher
education. The symbolic leader helps to cast the vision and provide meaning to events in
the organization by using symbolic action and rhetoric to enact their leadership. It’s
more of the stories and the rituals that are performed that make the difference in the
organization.

Bolman and Deal discuss the symbolic leader in their work on Reframing

Organizations (1997). It is one of their organizational frames from which leaders lead

29

and see a particular problem or dilemma. They suggest that a symbolic leader uses
symbols to capture attention, tell stories, frame experience, and discover and
communicate a vision. They equate this symbolic frame with the transformational leader
since they are visionary leaders and they suggest that visionary leadership is symbolic.

In some ways, this symbolic shift is similar to the developing understanding of
leadership that is collaborative, person-centered, servant-focused, and transformational.
The essence of the connection lies in the relationship that exists between the leader and
follower—a relationship that is built on the symbolism used in rhetoric and action.

As a part of this symbolic and collaborative shift, there is an emphasis on teams
and teamwork in higher education. In another work by two of these authors, Bensimon
and Neumann (1993) call for a commitment to teams in higher education as an alternative
to individual-centered leadership. This corresponds to the paradigm shift that Rost has
discussed in his work and the emphasis that Plas (1996) gives in his writings on “person-
centered” leadership. Teams focus on the relationship of its members working together
through mutual inﬂuence to accomplish a shared vision and, thus, shared responsibility.
It is this type of leadership that may very well be needed for the challenges of change and

transformation in higher education during the beginning of this new century.

“Spiritual” Leadership

Closely related to this discussion is the emerging focus on spiritual leadership.
The spiritual leader, as the example given from Bolman and Deal’s writing in the

introduction, is paramount to the discussion at hand, especially as it relates to the study to

30

identify the ways in which the faith of Christian college presidents inﬂuences their
leadership practice.

In Bolman and Deal’s modern day parable, they lead us to the concept of a
spiritual leader through which he or she offers four gifts to the organization—authorship,
love, power, and signiﬁcance (Bolman & Deal, 2001). The gift of authorship empowers
the employee to think creatively and innovatively while not being told exactly what to do
in the organization. Love is the gift in which the leader expresses care and concern for
others. For the gift of power, the spiritual leader gives away the power to empower
others. Finally, through the gift of signiﬁcance, the leader places the most importance on
the mission of the organization rather than on the bottom-line. This spiritual leader is one
who has an inner connection with who he or she is and the beliefs that are at the core.
Then, from within, this passion of belief inﬂuences every aspect of the leader’s practice
in the organization.

In a similar tone, Moxley writes about spiritual leadership in his work (2000).
The leader uncovers the spirit as something “other” than who they normally are in life. It
is where the leader connects with what is at the core as well as the connection that takes
place with others. While not connected to any one particular faith or religious movement,
it is more about the intersection with another dimension in the leader’s life. However,
this view of spiritual leadership lacks any type of an understanding of a transcendent
sense of spirit.

For the Christian, this concept of spiritual leader is deeply integrated with a belief
in God. To be a spiritual leader is to emulate the example of Jesus Christ in the Bible.

For example, Wilkes wrote a book entitled Jesus on Leadership (1998). In it, he looks at

31

the leadership practice of Jesus and provides this model for the Christian, or spiritual,
leader to follow. Other approaches discussing this concept use examples from leaders in
the Bible to discuss how the Christian leader should lead.

A Christian classic on the discussion of spiritual leadership is Sander’s work
(1967). In his book he illustrates spiritual leadership principles ﬁ'om the lives of several
important Biblical leaders including Moses, Nehemiah, Paul and David. The essence of
his description of spiritual leadership is rooted in a relationship with God. He uses the
examples of these leaders to show how they led according to God’s will.

Blackaby suggests that spiritual leadership is “moving people to God’s agenda”
(2001, p. 20). In his book he suggests that there are several things that the spiritual leader
does. First, the spiritual leader is tasked with moving people to where God wants them to
be. It is about God’s will, rather than the will of the leader. Secondly, he suggests that
the spiritual leader depends upon the Holy Spirit. For the Christian, he believes that
God’s Spirit provides guidance, direction, and conviction as one seeks to live. Leaders
depend upon the Spirit for direction in their leadership practice. Third, spiritual leaders
are accountable to God. While they certainly have a human boss, their ultimate boss is
God. Fourth, spiritual leaders inﬂuence people toward God. Finally, spiritual leaders
work from a higher agenda——God’s agenda——rather than their own.

Beckett shares his personal legacy in his journey of faith. In his observations, he
has seen that those who have been effective leaders have been those who have developed
a “sturdy faith” (2002, p. 41). This sturdy faith is rooted in understanding who God is

and who we are. A faith in God then seeks to motivate one to follow God’s will and

32

direction in this life. For him, “faith becomes an active ingredient of the capacity to lead”
(p. 52).

There is certainly a wide range of understanding for this emerging concept of
spiritual leadership. To the evangelical Christian it means one thing and to another
person it may mean something else. The essence, however, is that this leadership
practice is tied inextricably with one’s belief system. It pushes down to the core of one’s
soul and works itself back out through its inﬂuence in life and leadership practice.
Certainly these approaches are helpful to attempt to understand this emerging concept.
However, they are not based upon a research-based approach. It is critical to gain this

understanding, especially as it relates to leadership practice in the Christian College.

The Christian Collgge and Faith
Our discussion of the leadership literature, speciﬁcally that of spiritual leadership,

goes hand-in-hand with what some authors have been writing on Christian leadership.
While the literature is certainly not as broad and lacks a research base, several
practitioners have written books as an attempt to describe leadership inﬂuenced by faith.
Julian (2001) compiles a series of articles on various aspects of leadership from a
Christian perspective in his book, God is my CEO. Graves and Addington (2002) provide
a similar work in their book, Life@ Work on Leadership: Enduring Insights for Men and
Women of Faith. Briner and Pritchard (1998) provide lessons on leadership from the
leadership practice of Jesus Christ (1998). Most of the work has been practitioner
oriented, often using biblical examples of men and women and how they provided

leadership in the context of their faith commitment in God. I believe the essential issue

33

that a person of faith has to wrestle with is the integration of his or her beliefs with

leadership practice.

An Evangelical Christian Faith
Broadly deﬁned, faith represents the value and belief systems of an individual.

People can have faith in anything or anyone. Typically, this faith when related to
spirituality is focused on some kind of a higher power or Supreme Being. Throughout
our world, people have faith whether it is in Allah, Buddha, Muhammed, or Jesus Christ.
However, the faith we are discussing here is the Christian belief system in the God of the
Bible. It is a speciﬁc faith that centers one’s worldview on the reality of God’s existence
and His involvement in the lives of those who choose to follow His son, Jesus Christ. It
is meted in the belief that the Bible is God’s word and gives direction for how those who
believe in Him should live out their lives.

Elwell, in his Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, deﬁnes faith this way: “The
term regularly used to denote the many-sided religious relationship into which the gospel
calls men and women—that of trust in God through Christ” (Elwell, 1984, p.). He further
suggests that understanding the biblical idea of faith necessitates three things: (1) Faith
in God involves right belief about God; (2) Faith rests on divine testimony; and (3) Faith
is a supernatural divine gift.

These “right beliefs” about God, according to the Evangelical Christian tradition,
include the belief in one eternal God who created everything that exists. Through this
creation, He chose to create all of humanity. This humanity was created in His image as

a ﬁnite replica of the inﬁnite God. The right relationship with the God of the universe for

34

humanity involves obedience. Through obedience, the ﬁnite creation mirrors the inﬁnite
God.

However, because the ﬁrst man and woman of his creation chose to disobey God,
they were separated from a right relationship with Him. Thus, the Bible is the narrative
story of God pursuing a restored relationship with His creation. By sending his son,
Jesus Christ, to live in his full humanity and deity, He provided a way to restore this
relationship. Christ’s sinless life, ultimate sacriﬁce on the cross, and triumph over death
in the resurrection, provides an opportunity for all to repent and believe in Him. Through
Jesus Christ and belief in him and his work, a right relationship is restored to the
individual. The individual then, seeks to live in a right relationship with God by faith and
obedience.

For the evangelical Christian, she or he seeks to follow the principles and
commands of the Bible. The Bible becomes the spiritual grid through which all of life is
sifted. It is the lens through which all of life is viewed. Faith, then, is the belief system
in the truth of the Scripture presenting God and His son, Jesus Christ. It is a faith that is

to be integrated with all of life.

Chr'utian H_rgp' er Education and Presidents

Historically, colleges and universities were traditionally founded by churches, as
has already been discussed brieﬂy. In the early 16003 the colonial colleges were founded
which included Harvard, William and Mary, Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton. DeJong
suggests that “a religious impulse lay behind the founding of most of the colonial

colleges; even when the college was not directly affiliated with a denomination, the

35

intentions of the formders was to enrich the moral and spiritual growth of the students
along with their intellectual and cultural growth” (De Jong, 1990, p. 42).

Operated as Christian colleges and universities, Noll says that “all sought to
answer the Protestant need for a literate laity and a learned clergy and the democratic
need for informed citizens” (Noll, 1984, p. 5). Marsden (1994), in his monumental work,
traces the disconnection of the American university from the church—from “Protestant
establishment to established non-belief.” Therefore, there is no need to retrace his steps
in this discussion. Poe suggests, however, that there has been so much attention on this
area that we have neglected to focus our attention on why institutions remain Christian
( 1999).

It is interesting for the sake of our discussion to consider the fact that the
president of the colonial college was typically trained in theology and a practicing
minister. This “pastor-as-president” model existed for the earliest colleges in America.
Noll says that usually presidents were selected for their achievements, intellectual ability,
and ministry leadership in the denomination. These presidents sought to create an
environment in which the Christian faith inﬂuenced every aspect of the collegiate
experience (Noll, 1984). The president also taught a senior level capstone course to
provide ﬁnal Christian integration for the college career and ﬁnal exhortations
concerning the kind of citizenship good Christians should practice.

The president operated as the one who provided spiritual direction, as well as
directing the educational focus, to those at the university. The beliefs of the church were
expected to be carried out by the president and the faculty through their commitment to

educating the next generation of leaders—leaders who also serve the church as well as

36

society. Nearly twenty years ago Dagley suggested that the president of the church-
related college should be a spiritual director (1988). He said that the ﬁrst task of the
spiritual director is to articulate and embody the college’s mission statement Secondly, a
president looks for opportunities to move the college forward even in an adverse
environment. The commitment of the president of the Christian college as the spiritual

director must be to protect the college mission to integrate faith with all of learning.

Intgggtion of Faith and Learning

While many of these colleges and universities have separated from their religious
roots and presidents are no longer teaching a senior level capstone course, the Christian
college is “alive and well” in the 2lst Century. In 1958, the Commission of Higher
Education of the National Council of Churches deﬁned a Christian college as one that
attempts to develop the whole personality of every student in accordance with the life and
teachings of Jesus Christ (Noll, 1984).

In her book, God on the Quad, Riley takes a look at the “missionary generation”
(Riley, 2005). This is the generation of young people who are currently studying at
Christian colleges throughout the United States. In her study, she believes that this group
of colleges will be a “vital component in this country’s future” (p. 262). One of the main
reasons for this is the intellectual challenge that students receive ﬁom a faith-based
perspective. It is the commitment and belief in this underlying philosophy that is an
essential component to the Christian college education and makes it unique and sustains
interest among those in our world. She believes that these colleges will be a vital

component in our country’s future.

37

Litﬁn describes two models of Christian Colleges (Litﬁn, 2004). The ﬁrst is the
umbrella model in which the Christian college provides a “canopy” over which many
different Christian voices can exist. At the same time its sponsoring religious perspective
is not sacriﬁced. Christian thinking is open in this environment but is not expected of
everyone. The second approach is the Systematic Model. Christian thinking is
systematic throughout the institution from faculty and staff rooted in a similar branch of
faith, typically the sponsoring denomination or religious afﬁliation.

The Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) include institutions
that are described by this systematic model. Christian colleges belonging to this group
must ascribe to a mission statement that is both Christ-centered and seeks to integrate
faith into all learning. Also, full-time faculty and administrators must have a personal
faith in Christ. This group has just over 100 colleges in its membership.

Some of these Christian colleges are affiliated with churches and others describe
themselves as being non-denominational, not committed to any one church body but
committed to the same mission as the church-related college. DeJong uses the phrase
“‘church-related’ in referring to the colleges afﬁliated with the mainline Protestant
denominations. This is simply because this phrase historically was used by these
denominations for their colleges and by these colleges to refer to themselves” (De Jong,
1990, p. xii). Typically, a college is described as being church-related if it has some tie
to a particular church or church organizing body. This tie is most often manifested in a
governing or controlling relationship which continues today. In some cases, church-

related is used synonymously with Christian colleges. However, it is not necessary for a

38

Christian college to be church-related. The core mission of these two are typically the
same in that they promote the integration of faith and learning.

Mission is critical for the Christian college. It must actively describe the heart
and soul of the institution. Moseley suggests that the mission statement “sets forth the
college’s frame of reference: the underlying values of the college’s program and
operation; religious concepts that are basic to the college—concepts and ideas about the
nature of the world, God, and humankind in relation to God; and the global perspective
with which the college goes about its task of education” (1988 p. 22). This is the
distinguishing factor as compared to non-sectarian colleges. The president is the one who
provides leadership and a continued commitment to this mission.

For the evangelical Christian, all of life is shaped by a biblical or Christian
worldview. A worldview is a perspective from which all of life is based, lived, viewed,
and evaluated. Worldviews are foundationally based upon a speciﬁc set of
presuppositions and may be deﬁned as “the comprehensive framework of one’s basic
beliefs about things” (Taylor, 1986). At the heart of every individual is a worldview that
formulates and evaluates every aspect of life. Every person has a worldview whether
they realize it or not. Individuals are conditioned by their environmental upbringing in
the formation of their worldview.

The integration of faith, which is typically the focus of the mission statement of
the Christian college, is described by Arthur Holmes in the Church-related college
(Holmes, 1991). He says that “the Christian college does not simply add biblical studies
to a broader range of subjects. Nor does the Christian college merely provide a pious and

spiritually supportive environment for learning.” He goes on to say that “the real

39

distinctive is a holistic integration of faith and learning, an active penetration of all the
disciplines and all life’s callings with the beliefs and values that make up a Christian
worldview” (p. 4). This “active penetration of all the disciplines” is the essence of faith
integration—integrating a belief system with the educational experience. Students must
not be offered faith and learning side-by-side, rather “students should observe how faith
gives direction and meaning to learning and see how learning enriches and enlarges faith”
(De Jong, 1990, p. 133).

Every person has a worldview. Arthur Holmes argues that the human need for a
worldview is fourfold: “the need to unify thought and life; the need to deﬁne the good
life and ﬁnd hope and meaning in life; the need to guide thought; [and] the need to guide
action” (A. F. Holmes, 1983, p. 5). Just as we need food and water for survival, we also
need to live by a system. Albert Wolters suggests that a worldview is more basic to life
than food and sex because we need some kind of creed to live by or some map by which
to chart our course (Wolters, 1985). A worldview provides this map for our lives. It
functions as a compass to point us in a particular direction to attempt to answer life’s
questions. A worldview provides the basic form which all of life is lived in a consistent
pattern of being, knowing, and doing.

The essence of the Christian faith, and the Christian worldview, is the reality of its
connection and inﬂuence to all of life. The Christian worldview is meted in the reality of
God’s existence. God’s existence is centered around a relationship with His creation.
Through faith in God, the Christian chooses to live according to this worldview. And for
the Christian College, this worldview permeates its mission. In his work on Christian

Colleges, Ringenberg (1984) said it well:

40

If an institution wishes to be recognized as a Christian college, it should proclaim
that fact openly and boldly. A college which becomes timid and apologetic about
its traditional Christian orientation is usually moving in a secular direction. Its
reticence may represent the uncertainty of its leaders about what it should hold as
its primary mission. A college cannot long remain thus divided; usually it
becomes increasingly less Christian in its orientation. The college which wishes
to remain Christian must go beyond a mere statement of that fact. It is not enough
to publish doctrinal statements, hold chapel services, and require Bible courses;
rather, the whole program must radiate the Christian faith (1984 p. 145).

As a Christian College “radiates” this faith, it ﬂows throughout everything that occurs in

the institution. Whether it is the academic teaching in the classroom, the residence hall

life, or the leadership practice of the president, this faith should be evident throughout

these functions.

Leadership Practice Influenced p! Faith
The leadership practice that takes place on a Christian College campus should

look different according to this Christian worldview. However, in my attempt to connect
this faith commitment to leadership practice, I have found very little literature on this
subject. Most of what exists has been written from a practitioner perspective rather then
being research based, as discussed earlier. Typically, the writing refers to spiritual
leadership in the church. Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church in
Atlanta, writes a prime example of the Christian leadership literature. In his book, The
Next Generation Leader, Stanley examines ﬁve concepts in leadership: competence,
courage, clarity, coaching, and character (Stanley, 2003). Through his discussion of each
concept, he discusses what he has learned in ministry leadership.

Wilkes (1998) uses the life and actions of Jesus Christ in his book on leadership—

Jesus on Leadership. Since Jesus is the example whom we are to follow, it makes sense

41

to write a book on His teachings on leadership. Essentially, Wilkes equates Jesus

Christ’s leadership as “servant leadership.” Seven principles of servant leadership from

the life of Christ are then presented:
1. Jesus humbled himself and allowed God to exalt him.
2. Jesus followed his Father’s will rather than sought a position.
3. Jesus deﬁned greatness as being a servant and being ﬁrst as becoming a slave.
4. Jesus risked serving others because he trusted that he was God’s Son.
5. Jesus left the place at the head table to serve the needs of others.
6. Jesus shared responsibility and authority with those he called to lead.
7. Jesus built a team to carry out a worldwide vision. (p. 11-12)

Wilkes believes that “the pendulum has swung from personality-centered leadership to
character-based leadership” (p. 15). This character-based leadership is based on the
example of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible.

In another similar work, Phillips (1999) uses the life of King David ﬁom the
Bible to write his book on leadership lessons from this important biblical ﬁgure. He
discusses David’s faith in God and his role as king of Israel. These two are related by
God’s desire for David to lead the chosen nation of Israel. The successes and failures of
David are discussed as an example of how Christian leaders can learn important
leadership lessons from his life.

Leadership practice that is inﬂuenced by faith has been written about by several
Christian authors as evident in the above discussion. However, this is typically written
from the author’s perspective and experience and has not been based on current research
methodology. Because of this gap in the literature, it is critical to move forward and lay a
foundational framework for this study.

As I pursue this research journey, it is important to use a leadership framework.

There are many different options to consider such as viewing leadership through the

42

Bolman and Deal’s four organizational frames or transformational leadership. However,
since I will be observing leadership practice of three selected presidents of Christian
colleges, I have decided to use Kouzes and Posner’s ﬁve practices of exemplary leaders.
Their research provides a framework for understanding leadership practice and is useful
in this study for examining presidents in higher education.

Ironically, during my research, Kouzes and Posner released a new edited book on
their ﬁve leadership practices (2004). This time, they provided Christian reﬂections on
these practices. This work came as a result of John Maxwell’s request, a prominent
Christian writer on the subject of leadership. His desire was to use the ﬁve practices as
the framework to organize a leadership conference. Then, as a response to the
conference, he “offered to compile a book that would make The Five Practices leadership
framework speak more directly to Christian leaders, weaving together faith and
leadership” (p. 3).

Kouzes and Posner (2004) suggest that ﬁve themes “give us a deeper appreciation
for how faith informs and supports leadership, no matter the context” (p. 119). The ﬁve
themes they discovered are as follows:

Credibility is the foundation of leadership
Leadership is personal
Leaders serve

Leaders sacriﬁce
Leaders keep hope alive

$099!“?

These themes form the conclusion to this brief work. While they do not signiﬁcantly
expormd on any of these themes, they do provide a short description. This will be
discussed further in the concluding chapter as I review my ﬁndings in light of Kouzes

and Posner’s ﬁve leadership practices.

43

A Framework for Stuging Leadership Practice—The Leadership Challenge
The practice of leadership—it’s what a leader does. This is where the rubber

meets the road. It’s not so much about a position as it is the practice of what a leader
does that makes a leader a leader. This is where the action occurs and that which can be
experienced and seen by the others. If all we see is a person in a position or study a
speciﬁc trait theory, then we miss the activity of the actual leader.

This study is about leadership in action. It is also a study about the outworking of
faith and its inﬂuence on leadership. What does this look like? In what ways does faith
inﬂuence leadership practice? In order to answer this question, this study must be
researched through a grid of leadership practice. This necessitates a framework to
rmderstand leadership practice.

In the late 1980’s, Kouzes and Posner released the ﬁrst edition of their study on
leadership practice and have since revised it to its current third edition. As has already
been suggested, these authors have been part of the thrust of the research based
leadership literature. It is interesting to note that on the ﬁrst page of their book they say
that “leadership is not about position or title. It’s about caring, about relationships, and
about what you do” (James M. Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner, 2003, p. 1). Therefore, the
backdrop that I have provided concerning the leadership literature moving to a focus on
relationships corresponds with their research.

I Kouzes and Posner originally studied more than 1,100 managers / leaders to
discover their personal best experiences as a leader. Initially, this research was

developed through case study analyses and then was supplemented with in-depth

interviews. Through this research, they discovered emerging patterns of leadership
actions and behaviors.

And now, with the release of their third edition, they say that “for over two
decades we’ve been conducting research on personal-best leadership experiences, and
we’ve discovered that there are countless examples of how leaders mobilize others to get
extraordinary things done in virtually every arena of organized activity” (James M.
Kouzes & Barry Z. Posner, 2003). Getting extraordinary things requires exemplary
leadership practice.

Kouzes and Posner narrowed their ﬁndings to key areas of leadership practice of
exemplary leaders. They found ﬁve leadership practices of exemplary leaders—these
practices emerged as leaders were at their best. These actions and behaviors were
grouped into ﬁve practices of leaders which forms their model of leadership. The
following is a list of these practices which correspond each to two commitments as
presented in their book:

1. Model the Way
a. Find your voice by clarifying your personal values
b. Set the example by aligning actions with shared values
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
a. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities
b. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations
3. Challenge the Process
a. Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow,
and improve
b. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and
learning from mistakes.
4. Enable others to act
a. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust
b. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion
5. Encourage the Heart
a. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual
excellence
b. Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.

45

Since these leadership practices are commonly found in leaders, these ﬁve areas will be
used as my guiding framework for viewing leadership. This helps to narrow the
understanding of leadership to ﬁve common categories. While these practices are not
suggested or intended to be Christian or non-Christian, I am interested in discovering in
what ways these ﬁve practices are inﬂuenced by Christian faith. Since this framework
will guide my research, I will provide a brief overview of each of these practices as
presented by Kouzes and Posner.

Model the Way. Leaders must establish their values and then choose to practice
them. Words without action can promote disillusionment in the organization. Therefore,
it becomes critical for the leader to “model the way” in order for the people of the
organization to follow the plan. A leader is committed to looking inside to discover one’s
personal values. By clarifying these personal values, Kouzes and Posner believe that the
leader ﬁnds his voice.

In order to be an effective model to the organization, a leader must know who he
or she is—this inner voice—and then seek to live out their values through their actions.
Their actions become a reﬂection of these values. Kouzes and Posner (2003) say that
“leaders deeds are far more important than their words when determining how serious
they really are about what they say” (p. 14).

Credibility and integrity become key components to the practice of leadership.
This is who the leader says he or she is to those within the organization. Kouzes and
Posner suggest that “exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain commitment and
achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behavior they expect of others”

(p. 14). Leaders are examples to others within the organizations. Through their example,

46

they establish a standard of behavior among others. This way in which a leader acts is
based on his or her guiding principles. These guiding principles are the values that a
leader ascribes to and seeks to act on in a leadership position. The leader is also
committed to setting the example by aligning his or her actions with the shared values
within the organization.

Inspire a Shared Vision. Leaders point the people and the organization toward a
new and desired future. Vision is often discussed in the literature as an important
component to leadership practice. This discussion is also rooted in the concept of
transformation. Everyone wants a better organization——whether it is more proﬁts, a
better working environment, or improved quality.

The leader has the opportunity to create a picture of this future. Often this is done
in context with others. It is taking a look at what could be and then inspiring the people
in the organization to work to get there together. “They gaze across the horizon of time,
imagining the attractive opportunities that are in store when they and their constituents
arrive at a distant destination. Leaders have a desire to make something happen, to
change the way things are, to create something that no one else has ever created before”
(2003, p. 15). This “inspiration” is critical for the leader. The leader must have the
ability to “rally the troops” and get everyone excited about the possibilities of tomorrow.
The leader then becomes the catalyst for inspiring this vision.

This brings the leader to another critical part of this concept. The vision must
become shared throughout the organization if it to be successfully achieved. The leader
can’t do it on his or her own and needs the cooperation and ownership of the people. As

they share in the vision, they become part of implementing a better tomorrow.

47

Challenge the Process. Leaders face challenges along the way. The key is what
the leader does to address the challenge that makes him or her exemplary in their
practice. Whether it is a ﬁnancial or personnel challenge, it is critical for the leader to
challenge the process and seek innovation. This is the opportunity for the leader to
change the course for the organization by taking a risk and seeking innovation.

Challenging the process can be viewed in two different ways. The ﬁrst approach
has been suggested in the preceding paragraph as the challenging situation that exists
within the organization. However, the second is where leaders look beyond the familiar
and the current ways of doing business to seek innovation and change. It is a challenge to
doing things differently rather than continuing down the same path that has produced the
same results. Kouzes and Posner (2003) suggest that “leaders are pioneers—people who
are willing to step out into the unknown. They search for opportunities to innovate, grow
and improve” (p. 17).

The process represents the current way of doing things. The leader brings a new
way of thinking and acting that challenges this current way of thinking that opens up new
possibilities within the organization. As the leader moves forward by challenging the
process, he or she seeks small wins along the way and learns from mistakes. Certainly,
by taking risks and seeking innovation, mistakes will be made along the way. An
exemplary leader will not get sidetracked or bogged down in their mistakes. Rather, they
will respond by taking additional opportunities to succeed and generate small wins.

Enable Others to Act. Leadership is not a “one-person” show. Leaders cannot
function on an island nor try to do it all alone, although some try. The people within the

organization are critical to the leader’s success. She or he must work with and through

48

others to accomplish the shared vision through cooperative goals and the desired
transformation. When goals are cooperative, there is shared ownership among the
people. They willingly participate in the desired results by investing their time and
energy in the organization.

The concept of a team is an important parallel in the organization. Just as the
football team has a coach who directs the players, the team members must do their job
and they must excel on the ﬁeld. The exemplary leader, as head coach, provides the tools
and motivation for the personnel to participate at the highest levels. In some cases, this
leader becomes more of a facilitator to enable others to act in their areas. In turn, this
builds trust and respect among the personnel for the leader as they are able to share in the
organizational goals.

Kouzes and Posner suggest that power must be shared by the leader in order to
enable others to act. When leaders wield all the power, the people become powerless to
act on their own. This fosters a negative spirit within the organization. For the
exemplary leader, this power is shared. Authority and power is dispersed and the people
are empowered to act within the organization.

Encourage the Heart. Closely related to enabling others to act, the exemplary
leader is involved in encouraging the hearts of the people. The leader must encourage the
people within the organization to carry out the shared vision. In order to encourage, it
becomes critical for the leader to have a relationship with those in the organization. From
this relationship comes the desire to show appreciation for everyone’s contribution and to

create an atmosphere based in the celebration of success.

49

People are often motivated when they can hear words of a job well down from a
leader. Showing this appreciation can provide the encouragement that people need in
their jobs. There is something very positive about being recognized and appreciated for
what a person accomplishes for the organization. This certainly helps to improve
employee contributions to and longevity in the organization.

Not only does the leader celebrate these individual accomplishments, but he or
she also creates a spirit of community by celebrating the values and victories in the
organization. Whether it is reviewing the mission statement and re-emphasizing the
reason why the organization exists or celebrating a signiﬁcant victory as a community,
the hearts of the people are encouraged. They see results and ﬁnd hope in the future of
the organization which in turn gives them a positive and good experience for their

personal investment.

Thus, the practice of leadership as presented by Kouzes and Posner becomes the
grid through which I will use as my research framework. This has already been utilized
to look at Christian leaders and business leaders. Also, in a recent work Kouzes and
Posner have written the Academic Administrators Guide to Exemplary Leadership (J. M.
Kouzes & B. Z. Posner, 2003). In this book, they use the same ﬁve exemplary practices
of leadership while integrating it with case stories from leaders in colleges and
universities.

Furthermore, they identify that “numerous scholars have applied the Five
Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework to their investigation of leadership in

higher education; several even began with the personal-best leadership case study

50

approach” (p. 4). They sight studies of college coaches (Elliott, 1990; Coffman, 1999) to
presidents (Bauer, 1993), vice presidents (Plowman, 1991), business and ﬁnance officers
(Stephenson, 2002) and deans and department chairs (Xu, 1991).

Coupled with their recent adaptation of the Leadership Practice to include
Christian reﬂections, this framework becomes an obvious option for this study. This
framework has been used as a basis for understanding leadership practice in higher
education and continues to be a well-respected guide for leaders in today’s for-proﬁt and

not-for-proﬁt worlds of leadership.

Moving Forward

As I consider my own leadership journey and what I have evidenced in others, I
believe that the Christian faith inﬂuences a leader in several ways. First, the Christian
leader is motivated by his faith in God to provide leadership. This motivation does not
place emphasis on oneself through personal gain. Rather, the motivation is focused on
doing everything to honor and glorify God in the organization. The Christian leader
leads to please God, rather than people. Secondly, the Christian leader inspires people to
do their best in the organization in order to bring honor and glory to the God they serve.
There is a higher purpose to their work and the Christian leader brings the focus to this
area as a servant to his/her people and the needs of the organization. Third, the inﬂuence
of the Christian leader is not based on the improper use of power. With the responsibility
of leadership, comes the responsibility to lead with non-coercive power. Power is not
used to get what you want; rather, it becomes the goal of the Christian leader to empower

others and thus share the responsibility. Finally, the Christian leader places great

51

emphasis on prayer as a way to receive direction from God to provide the leadership
needed to the organization. For the Christian leader, there is a great dependence on God
for guidance in a leadership role. This faith relationship is critical for the Christian
leader.

There certainly is a need in the leadership literature to understand the ways in
which faith inﬂuences the leadership practices. By examining the leadership practices of
three select presidents of Christian colleges, this research will provide the foundation to

future research in this area.

52

CHAPTER THREE

CREATING THE LEADERSHIP PORTRAIT

Introduction

Much of the leadership literature today is written by practitioners—~leaders who
write about their own personal experiences. These works are readily available at any
local bookstore. In recent years, there has been a signiﬁcant inﬂux of research-based
literature written on the subject. As researchers have probed this area of study, they have
attempted to apply different methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, to
understand this important subject that spans the for-proﬁt and not-for-proﬁt world.

The use of a qualitative methodology provides a much deeper description for the
researcher, especially for the study of leadership. In 1990, Yukl said that “it is rare to
ﬁnd observational studies in leadership that include supplementary methods, such as
interviews with key ﬁgures, to discover the context and meaning of events” (1990, p.
183). However, since Yukl’s writing, many researchers have focused on the use of
qualitative methodology because it provides the “thick description” needed to understand
leadership (Geertz, 1973a). Qualitative research gives the substance and the opportunity
to observe and dialogue with the leaders and followers which, in turn, provides more
insight into the subject.

As we have discussed in the literature review, there is a gap in the current
research concerning the inﬂuence of faith on leadership practice. This suggests the need
to use a research tool that will function inductively. Through qualitative research, ideas

and emerging themes can be generated to aid in further research. These qualitative

53

methods are at their best when they are being used in an exploratory fashion for
generating many concepts and ideas. These concepts and ideas can then form the basis
for additional research as a foundational inquiry is established.

In qualitative research, Creswell (1998) says that “the researcher builds a
complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports detailed views of informants, and
conducts the study in a natural setting” (p. 15). By talking to the leader and followers in
their natural setting, important concepts and insights can be gleaned. Therefore, this
study of leadership practice calls for use of a qualitative methodology.

In some ways, what I will be attempting to do is similar to what Denzin and
Lincoln described as making a quilt (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). This “maker of quilts”
uses “the aesthetic and material tools of his or her craft, deploying whatever strategies,
methods, or empirical materials are at hand (p. 6).” As another metaphor, they suggest
that qualitative researchers also use montage as in the method of editing cinematic
images. “In montage, several different images are superimposed onto one another to
create a picture” (p. 6). The qualitative researcher who uses montage is like a quilt maker
who cuts, stitches, and makes the pieces into an entire interpretive whole.

These pieces, while just pieces in and of themselves, will be sewn together by the
researcher to create a new and more complete work. As a quilt maker, this researcher
will attempt to piece together stories to create a portrait that depicts the inﬂuence of faith

on the leadership practice of three Christian College presidents.

54

A Life of Stories

Stories captivate the imagination and the mind. Stories provide the intrigue to
ignite a deep search for meaning in life. Our lives are shaped and bound by our stories.
These stories provide a tapestry through which meaning and understanding can be woven
for one to discover. In order to research a life, we must seek out the stories from a
person’s life. These stories then become part of the larger narrative.

The use of stories is common to our experiences. We tell stories about what
happened at work. We pass down stories to our children of what it was like for us
growing up. We hear stories in the news and read about them in magazines. Stories are a
regular part of our lives. It’s how we speak and communicate. It’s also how we
understand life. Stories communicate experience and through this we learn, grow, and
change.

Researchers have recently latched onto storytelling as an appropriate
methodology in the ﬁeld of qualitative inquiry (Merriam, 1998). Clandinin and
Connelly (2000) suggest that “narrative and story-telling, two intimately related terms,
are increasingly evident in the literature that swirls around these compelling scientiﬁc-
humanistic modes of inquiry” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). The use of stories are often
found in qualitative methodologies such as ethnography, life history, biographies, and
case studies. While qualitative research privileges no single methodology (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2000), the use of stories is a compelling tool.

Life is composed of stories. “N arrativists believe that human experience is
basically storied experience: that humans live out stories and are story-telling organisms”

(Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p. 77). They believe that one of the best ways to study

55

“human beings is to come to grips with the storied quality of human experience, to record
stories of educational experience, and to write still other interpretative stories of
educational experience” (p. 77). These written stories are called narratives.

The use of stories will be the primary methodology conducted in this research.
These stories are told within the context of a plot—this plot represents the movement of a
person’s life. The plot creates the order of a person’s life, or a periodof a person’s
experience, and therefore takes the reader and the researcher on the journey to discover
meaning. The meaning is uncovered through the work of the artist and the portrait that is

painted.

The Art of Portraiture

This journey has been developed in a new form of qualitative inquiry called
“portraiture” (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997). Like an artist painting on a canvas,
the researcher paints an artistic expression through the narrative of life stories. “The
portrait, then, creates a narrative that is at once complex, provocative, and inviting, that
attempts to be holistic, revealing the dynamic interaction of values, personality, structure,
and history” (p. 11). The narrative documents human behavior and experience in
context——the context of the subject’s life and experience. Lawrence-Lightfoot calls this
research methodology a blend of the “curiosity and detective work of a biographer, the
literary aesthetic of a novelist, and the systematic scrutiny of a researcher” (p. 15).

English (2000) writes that “Lawrence-Lightfoot broke new ground in performing
research in educational leadership with the release of her 1983 book, The Good High

School: Portraits of Character and Culture” (English, 2000). This new ground enabled

56

her to display her methodology of portraiture. Lawrence-Lightfoot suggests that the
portraitist is interested in “searching for the central story, [and] developing a convincing
and authentic narrative” (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 12). This narrative
provides the flow for understanding the story at hand.

Furthermore, she says that “this requires careful, systematic, and detailed
description developed through watching, listening to, and interacting with the actors over
a sustained period of time, the tracing and interpretation of emergent themes, and the
piercing together of these themes into an aesthetic whole” (p. 12). With the emergence of
themes, the researcher is able to paint the portrait.

English suggests that “it is in the notion of ‘voice’ that Lawrence-Lightfoot and
Hoffmann—Davis stake their claim to the difference in research method” (English, 2000).
In most cases, the voice of the researcher is silent. Lawrence-Lightfoot says that the
person of the researcher is “more evident and more visible than in any other research
form” (p. 13). Just as the artist creates a sketch of the portrait through his or her eyes, the
researcher does the same in portraiture while the voice of the researcher comes through
loud and clear. The portrait tells the story of the researcher and the researched. “In
portraiture, the voice of the researcher is everywhere: in the assumptions,
preoccupations, and framework she brings to the inquiry; in the questions she asks; in the
data she gathers; in the choice of stories she tells; in the language, cadence, and rhythm of
her narrative” (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997, p. 85).

Lawrence-Lightfoot expresses voice in the form of autobiography. English (2000)
writes that:

In voice as autobiography, the portraitist “reﬂects the life story of the portraitist”
(1997, p. 95). Here the portraitist/researcher brings her own life story, her familial,

57

cultural, ideological, and educational experiences, to the research project. In the
matter of discerning other voices, the voice of the portraitist/researcher differentiates
between listening to a story and listening for a story. The latter implies a much more
active role for the researcher, for it means that the portraitist is creating and molding a
story instead of merely searching for one. Portraiture is thus a constructivist activity
involving intervention instead of a passive observation of life in context. (p. 22)

It is very clear that the voice of the researcher is to be seen and heard, while being written

into part of the story. She describes this simply: “from where I sit, this is what I see;

these are the perspectives and biases I bring; this is the scene I select; this is how people

seem to be responding to my presence” (p. 50).

Ijhe Voice of the Researcher

My voice is clear in this study. As an evangelical Christian, I believe in my faith
in God. I was raised in a Christian home and was involved in church throughout my life.
I have always been part of a religious community of faith. I believe in the God of the
Bible and have faith that He sent His Son to provide salvation to any that call on His
name. Furthermore, I believe that through salvation we enter into a relationship with
God. Through this relationship, I seek to integrate my faith into every area of my life. It
is a transformative process. The three leaders in this study have very similar
backgrounds to mine. We have all been inﬂuenced by the beliefs of the Protestant
Church and a theology that is conservative and evangelical.

I am also an aspiring and experienced leader. While I have not served as
president of a Christian College, I have been involved in several upper level
administrative positions in a Christian College and have also provided leadership to a
private Christian K-l2 school. These leadership experiences have given me the

opportunity to probe into my faith and leadership practice and to discover my voice. This

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is all part of this research journey. Not only am I searching for meaning in the lives of
others, I am also looking for meaning and understanding in my own personal and
professional life. This is an ongoing quest with which I am vitally concerned. As an
artist in the process of painting this portrait it is impossible to separate my own journey
from those that I paint. My experiences and beliefs, along with that of those researched,

help to paint this portrait.

The Research Procedure and Process
The research process began with the selection of the presidents and colleges for
study. It was critical to consider the best possible subjects and their availability for the
research while realizing that this study should be replicated in a variety of contexts to

provide deeper meaning and a greater opportunity for more broad-based conclusions.

Selecting the Subjects for the Canvas
The scope of this study focuses on Christian College presidents and their

individual stories of leadership practice and the inﬂuence of their faith. This is the heart
and soul of qualitative researcher, and that of portraiture. This allowed me, as the
researcher, to spend considerable time with the interview subjects in their speciﬁc
context. Lawrence-Lightfoot suggests that the single case is the best approach for one
using the methodology of portraiture. She says that “the more speciﬁc, the more subtle
the description, the more likely it is to evoke identiﬁcation” (p. 14).

In order to paint the picture of the connection between faith and leadership, this

study is focused on three Christian college presidents at three different colleges. As I

59

examined my subject possibilities for study, there were several guiding values that
provided direction to me.

First, I believed it was important to select leaders from Christian Colleges that are
part of a national organization adhering to the same set of core beliefs. All of these
leaders are involved in a Christian university belonging to the Coalition of Christian
Colleges and Universities (CCCU). With just over 100 institutional members, the CCCU
is the recognized group of Christian colleges committed to the mission of advancing “the
cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help institutions transform lives by
faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical tru ” (CCCU website). Their
members must espouse a strong commitment to Christ-centered higher education and
Christians must be hired for all full-time faculty and administrative positions. Therefore,
the context for this study provides an explicit context for faith expression.

Secondly, as the researcher, I spent 12 years of employment at another CCCU
school in which I graduated. While there are certainly variations within the CCCU
among its membership, the core faith beliefs are clear and all are integrally committed to
provide an education that is fully integrated with biblical principles. The similarities
were apparent between the colleges as well as in my own experience. I was also familiar
with this group which gave me additional insight into the study.

Thirdly, I had previously been on all three of the selected campuses and even had
some connections with former colleagues. This familiarity and connection provided the
advanced insight needed to launch my research. This, I believe, helped to provide open

doors to my study.

60

Fourth, it was important to select colleges that were in close proximity to one
another. This would help in travel time as well as provide a similar geographical context
for the study. Just over 200 miles separate these three campuses which resulted in case of
travel between the three sites while doing my ﬁeld study.

Finally, I believe that I could study any evangelical Christian leader at a college
or university in this process, whether at a Christian college or a state university.
However, because the scope of this research is not to study every leader, it was necessary
to narrow the pool of potential candidates for several reasons. I considered studying
several Christian presidents at different types of colleges. This could certainly be a
possibility for a future study. While this would result in a rich study, I believe it is
important to study leaders in a similar context and who had leadership challenges along
the way.

Furthermore, I believe it is important for this initial study to lay a foundation by
researching presidents who work for institutions in which the mission supports the
integration of faith into all of life. Because of the prominence of the Coalition of
Christian Colleges and Universities as well as my experience at a member school, I chose
three colleges and their presidents from this membership that were similar in context and

location.

Making Contacts
Knowing that my pool of potential subjects would come from the CCCU’s

membership of about 100 Christian Colleges, I began looking at speciﬁc geographic

61

regions. Because of the signiﬁcant population of Christian colleges and my familiarity
with this area, I chose the Midwest region.

Next, I reviewed the list of colleges in this region to identify any potential inside
connections or relationships that I might have. I also sought the recommendations of a
few other key individuals within Christian higher education. These recommendations
centered around the leaders who might be considered as “exemplary leaders” as deﬁned
by Kouzes and Posner. This was based on the insights of a few key informants along the
way. I knew that while the leader may not be classiﬁed as “exemplary” at all times, that I
would likely ﬁnd stories that emulated these ﬁve leadership practices.

Two Christian Colleges and their presidents initially stood out to me. I was very
familiar with their colleges and in one case, had met the president. Both colleges had
also gone through signiﬁcant growth and transformation. Knowing this, I drafted a letter
of introduction for my study and sent it to the respective presidents asking for their
participation in the study.

In order to prepare them for my letter, I asked two individuals who knew these
presidents to make preliminary introductory contacts for me. It was important that they
would hear from someone they respected and trusted about this research proposal. One
individual worked as a vice president at one of the selected Christian colleges. I had
developed a peer relationship with him when I worked in Christian higher education. In
the other case, a former colleague I worked with contacted this president. He had a long-
term relationship with him. Both of these contacts occurred in September, 2003, and
opened a door to pursue this research at these colleges and with these presidents. These

sites visits were planned for November and December, 2003.

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The ﬁnal president and Christian college selection was more difﬁcult. I had
identiﬁed ﬁve other potential colleges to study and began the process of making contact
with them. However, this time I did not have anyone to help me gain access. Because of
a number of reasons ranging ﬁ'orn busy schedules to disinterest, I was denied the
opportunity to conduct my study with these presidents.

However, in networking once again with one of my contacts, he suggested that I
study the president of Bethsaida College. He knew Dr. Bunton and he offered to make an
initial contact with him. I immediately followed-up with a letter of introduction and then
contacted him to ask his permission to be involved in the study. He agreed and I then

conducted my interviews in April, 2004.

Three Presidents and Three Christian Collges
In order to be a member college of the Coalition for Christian Colleges and

Universities (CCCU), all three colleges selected in this study must have “a public mission
based upon the centrality of Jesus Christ and evidence of how faith is integrated with the
institution’s academic and student life programs” (CCCU website).

Capemaum University was established in 1887 while affiliated with the Reformed
Presbyterian Church. Because of hard times that the college faced, it was confronted
with a decision of closing its doors or ﬁnding another church group to assume its
operation. In 1953, the trustees of a Bible institute in the area assumed ownership of the
college. Dr. Woods became the president of the college and led the school to record
enrollment during his 25 years of leadership. In 1978, Dr. Peter Devitto became the next

president of the college, leading it to enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, more than 100

63

programs of study, and a campus ﬁlled with new facilities. Dr. Peter Devitto now serves
as the chancellor.

Galilee University has been educating students for over 130 years. It was founded
by church leaders from a protestant denominational group and was open for students of
all ages regardless of their religious convictions or beliefs. In the 19605, this institution
began to offer four-year programs of study. It has now grown to an enrollment of 4,000
students offering a wide-range of undergraduate and graduate programs. The university
board of trustees selected the current president, Dr. Gilbert Belding in 1999. Even
though he has only been in this position for a few years, he has faced some signiﬁcant
challenges while at the same time gaining the respect and trust of the faculty and staff.

Bethsaida College was founded in 1947 as a church-sponsored Christian college.
This college was the liberal arts arm of this small Protestant church group. During the
1980s, this college nearly faced closure because of declining enrollment and ﬁnancial
pressures. In 1989, the college board of trustees selected Dr. Nathan Bunton to guide the
college out from these difﬁcult times. During his 15 year tenure, he provided leadership
that would triple the enrollment and expand the facilities and programs. He certainly
faced challenges along the way but through his leadership this college experienced a
transformation.

All three of these Christian colleges have a strong heritage and are considered to
be leaders in the CCCU. These presidents have had vast experience in their leadership
role at these institutions as well as other colleges. Two presidents were able to look back

on their presidential tenure as one had retired and the other was just three months away,

the other president could look forward to his presidency and career. Therefore, these

leaders bring great experience and insight to this study.

Methods of Painting

Lawrence-Lightfoot says that “a sure intention in the methodology of portraiture
is capturing—from an outsider’s purview—an insider’s understanding of the scene” (p.
25). As an outsider, I was able to gain access to each of these three colleges, the
presidents and some key personnel who had worked closely with them.

Merriam (1998) suggests that a major source of obtaining data in qualitative research is
the interview. The primary method of research I used in my research is the interview.
These interviews and additional observations brought a “thick description” to the
research (Geertz, 1973b).

I spent three days on each campus. During this time I was able to tour the campus
and observe campus life. However, the focus of my time was on the interviews. For all
of three of the colleges, I scheduled my days with between eight and nine interviews.
The interviews began at 8:00 am. and lasted until 5:00 pm. They were scheduled every
hour on the hour. Most of the interviews lasted 45 minutes in length which allowed for
some time in-between for reﬂection and joumaling.

I spent considerable time with each of the three presidents in extensive and
multiple interviews. In order to best deal with their schedules at two colleges, 1 divided
out my time with the presidents by spending an hour on each day of the three-day site
visit. This provided an opportunity to reﬂect on the previous interviews and to further

engage some of the issues that I was hearing in the other interviews. In one case, the

65

president had already retired from his position as president and he was unavailable on
campus during my visit. Therefore, I spent an afternoon with him in his home after I had
conducted the interviews with the personnel on campus. By interviewing him after the
interviews of the faculty and staff at his college, it had the same effect as I went in to the
interview informed on the challenges and perspectives of those who had worked closely
with him.

As a way to gain further insight into my research and the leadership practices of
these presidents, I interviewed approximately 20 faculty and staff from each college.
These interviews were focused on key subordinates to gain a picture of how they
experienced and saw the president’s inﬂuence of faith and leadership practice. I worked
with the president’s assistant at each of the colleges to identify the personnel for
interviews. The main criteria I used to select from both faculty and staff was to focus on
those who had had a long-term working relationship with each the presidents. This long-
term relationship is deﬁned as those who worked with the president throughout his tenure
or who had been faculty and staff members of the university for over 10 years. In
addition, this also included those who either reported directly to the president or who had
close working relationships on committees within the administrative structure. This did
include interviewing every vice president at each of the colleges since they worked
directly for the president. A cross-section of faculty and staff who had direct or indirect
reporting relationships with the presidents were interviewed. These faculty and staff
members were also typically long-term employees of the college and could provide a

greater historical perspective.

66

During each interview, extensive notes were taken by the researcher. The
interviews were also tape recorded as a way to ensure the accuracy of the interview in
case the notes were not legible. This provided a reference to go back to and review the

details of the interviews.

Interview Protocols
In order to guide the open-ended interviews, the following interview questions
were used as starting points for the conversations. These questions provided a lead into
the topic and allowed for a free-ﬂowing conversation on the subject at hand. The
following questions were used with each of the presidents:
0 Please express for me the essence of your faith. What does your faith mean to
you?
0 As you reﬂect back over your tenure as president, undoubtedly you have faced
several critical leadership challenges.

0 Describe a few critical challenges in your leadership practice as
president that demonstrated your faith and discuss any ways in which
your faith played a role in that experience.

0 Describe a few critical challenges in your leadership practice as
president in which your actions and experiences did not seem
congruent with your faith.

0 How do you believe those who work at the university might describe the

inﬂuence of your faith on your leadership practice?

67

o How would you distinguish your leadership practice hour that of a president
who has a different or non-faith perspective?
The following interview protocol was used to guide in the questioning of the subordinates
that worked closely with the respective president:
0 Describe the president’s leadership style and your relationship with him.
0 I’m interested in understanding how presidents live out their faith in their
leadership practice.

0 Please describe a few critical leadership acts, situations, or special
challenges in which his/her faith was well exempliﬁed in his/her
leadership practice.

0 Describe a few critical leadership acts, situations, or special challenges
in his/her leadership practice that, in your view, did not match or
seemed inconsistent with his/her faith.

0 You may have had direct personal contact with your president in your
situation through a meeting, job duty, reporting-relationship or other way.
How have you personally experienced your president’s leadership practice
and the inﬂuence or lack of inﬂuence of his faith on it?

o How would you compare the leadership practices of your president with those

of other leaders you have worked with/for?

Interview Subjects

Based on the interaction with the assistants of each of the presidents, the subjects

were interviewed during each site visit. In order to allow for freedom of expression,

68

pseudonyms were given for the colleges, presidents, and the personnel interviewed.

After the visit a chart for each of the subjects was developed and pseudonyms were

selected. The following three charts, one for each college, represent a brief description

for each subject. Each chart lists the pseudonyms of the persons employed at the college,

position level or category, years of employment at the respective college, gender, and

reporting relationship to the president.

Galilee University. A total number of 19 faculty and staff were interviewed at

Galilee University. Of the 19 interviewed, six were faculty members, one of which was

female. The faculty averaged 17 years of tenure at the university. Thirteen staff

members were interviewed, six of which were on the vice president level. Of these

thirteen staff members, three were female. Five of these staff members served on the

vice president level, one of which was female. The staff members averaged 14.5 years of

service at the university while the vice president averaged 5 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudoym Position Gender Years at University Reporting Status
Belding, Gilbert President Male 4 years Board of
Trustees
Bond, Henry Director Level Male 40 years Direct
Donovan, Wayne Director Level Male 7 years Indirect
Davis, Marsha Faculty Female 26 years Indirect
Homan, Richard Dean; Faculty Male 16 years Indirect
Hunter, Department Male 13 years Indirect
Christopher Chair; Faculty
Hewitt, Karen Director Level Female 16 years Indirect
Hilbum, Joyce Director Level Female 14 years Indirect
J ette, Drake Faculty Male 39 years Indirect
Jensen, Thomas Vice President Male 12 years Direct
Jamison, Derek Vice President Male 4 years Direct
Megﬁlohn Vice President Male 2 years Direct
Mandel, Richard Faculty Male 2 years Indirect
Nichols, Peter Faculty Male 2 years Indirect
(ﬁle, Mark Vice President Male 5 years Direct
O’Conner, Vice President Female 2 years Direct
Brittany

 

69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raymond, Scott Director Level Male 1 year Direct
Salas, Brent Staff Level Male 4 years Direct
Williams, Rodney Dean; Faculty Male 13 years Indirect
Worden, Faculty Male 20 years Indirect
Christian

 

 

 

 

 

Capernaum University. A total of 22 faculty and staff were interviewed at
Capernaum University. From this group, six were on the staff level, eight were vice
presidents, and six were on the faculty. However, of the eight on the staff, three served
as deans in an academic area and were considered faculty. Therefore, they could be
included in either group. Since they have academic rank and serve this function, they
have been included as faculty in this discussion.

Eight of the faculty interviewed had served Capernaum an average of 29 years.
Only one of these faculty members was female. Of the six staff interviewed, they had
worked at the university for an average of 24 years. Two of these staff members were
female. Eight vice presidents were interviewed, three of which had recently retired from
their positions. All of these vice presidents were male and averaged 23 years of service

at the university.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudonym Position Gender Years at Univ. Reporting Status
Anderson, Mark Dean; Faculty Male 39 years Indirect
Ashman, Ida Department Chair; Female 22 years Indirect
Faculty
Austin, Jason Vice President Male 15 years Direct
Bacon, William Faculty Male 26 years Indirect
Barto, James Director Level Male 15 years Indirect
Blackwell, Les Director Level Male 34 years Indirect
Campbell, Dean; Faculty Male 43 years Indirect
Denis
Cobb, Matt Vice President Male 29 years Direct
Devitto, Peter President Male 25 years
Dockett, Sam Faculty Male 6 years Indirect
Fuller, Sara Director Level Female 19 years Indirect
Gaines, Peter Director Level Male 41 years Direct

 

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Goodman, F orrner Vice Male 33 years Direct

Hank President, Retired

Jones, Cecil Former Vice Male 41 years Direct
President, Retired

Meyers, Department Chair; Male 38 years Indirect

Maddox Faculty

O’Brien, Daryl Vice President Male 24 years Direct

Reeves, Devon Former Vice Male 33 years Direct
President, Retired

Rhode, Jim Dean; Faculty Male 36 years Indirect

Rosen, Derek Faculty Male 22 years Indirect

Rudlow, Laura Staff Female 16 years Direct

Rinker, Ryan Vice President Male 17 years Direct

Reves, Caleb Vice President Male 20 years Direct

Schroeder, Jake Faculty Male 24 years Indirect

Simon, Roger Director Level Male 17 years Indirect

Walker, Donald Vice President Male 16 years Direct

 

Bethsaida Collgge. At Bethsaida College, I interviewed one president and 21

faculty and staff. From the 21 interviews with faculty and staff, 10 were with faculty. Of

the 10 faculty interviewed, three were female and seven were males. Four of these

faculty members also served as department chairs. The length of service for these ten

faculty members averaged just under ten years at the college.

On the staff side, 11 staff members were interviewed. All of the interview

subjects were male. Of the 11 staff members, four served as vice presidents. These vice

presidents reported directly to the president and had served an average of 14 years at the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

college.

Pseudonym Position Gender Years at College Reporting Status
Aristolli, Jack Director level Male 8 years Indirect

Bunton, Nathan President Male 15 years Indirect

Clark, Sara Faculty Female 7 years Indirect
Cornwell, Greg Department Male 14 years Indirect

Chair, Faculty
Coyle, Sam Vice President Male 20 years Direct
Elliot, Dillon Vice President Male 18 years Direct

 

 

 

 

 

 

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emerson, Travis Faculty Male 10 years Indirect
Evans, Jackie Faculty Female 14 years Indirect
Foster, J erod Director level Male 9 years Indirect
Frank, Gary Director level Male 17 years Indirect
Graves, Vanessa Faculty Female 13 years Indirect
Harrington, Faculty Male 15 years Indirect
Brandon
Hewitt, Elaine Department Female 28 years Indirect
Chair; Faculty
Moon, Samuel Dean Male 15 years Indirect
Morgan, Joseph Vice President Male 12 years Direct
Pyles, Joshua Department Male 6 years Indirect
Chair; Faculty
Renter, Cole Director level Male 15 years Indirect
Samon, Douglas Faculty Male 7 years Indirect
Slanski, Bailey Department Male 13 years Indirect
Chair, Faculty
Spellman, Justin Vice President Male 6 years Direct
Wagner, Beth Dean Female 13 years Indirect
Young, Shane Director level Male 16 years Indirect

 

 

Summary. Besides the three presidents interviewed, a total of 63 faculty, staff
and vice presidents were interviewed. Of the 63 interviewed, 25 were on the faculty, 20
on the staff, and 18 served as vice presidents. Ten of those interviewed were female with
ﬁve on faculty, four on staff, and one as a vice president. The faculty averaged 18 years

of service, the staff 17 years, and the vice presidents 16 years.

Catggorized by Themes

Once the interviews were completed, the notes were typed and ﬁled according to
each interviewee and college. The notes were then reviewed and coded by emerging
themes as they related to the leadership framework. Every recorded story was identiﬁed
and categorized according to Kouzes and Posner’s ﬁve leadership practices that they

identiﬁed in their research. These selections were made according to essence of the

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story that was best represented or depicted in these leadership practices. Miles and
Huberman (1994) refer to this as “coding” as a way to group the ﬁndings in similar
themes together.

After the stories had been coded according to emerging themes, the stories were
sorted. This sorting process took place by “cutting and pasting” each story by each
leadership practice. These stories were then given a title that was recorded on the page
and a yellow sticky note. These notes were then placed on a large piece of paper and
then were grouped by speciﬁc themes and similar stories by each leadership practice.
This was a critical step for this researcher to visually identify the themes that emerged as

well as the overlap in stories that were told throughout the interview process.

Observations and Field Notes

Observations were made but were limited to the time that I was on each campus.
These observations focused on the campus, the offices, and the people that I spent time
with in the interview process. These observations were secondary to the primary method
of interviewing that was used. However, they did play a role in the research.

In addition, ﬁeld notes were taken to help my thinking in the process. Journaling
provided the tools to help my role as the researcher to begin to paint the portrait of the
leader. Lawrence-Lightfoot suggests that “once in the ﬁeld, the portraitist engages in an
iterative process of data collection, interpretation, and analysis. Each day in the ﬁeld is
followed by reﬂection and critique as the researcher works to reconcile what she is
observing and documenting with her anticipatory framework” (p. 214). She calls this an

“impressionistic record” in which the researcher interacts with the research. As the

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researcher these thoughts, such as new questions or emerging themes and hypotheses,

were recorded in order to continually guide and reﬁne the research effort.

Triangulation of Research

The use of multiple interviews as the primary methodology provided an
opportunity for a cross-check to my ﬁndings—a process that Denzin (1989) discussed as
“triangulation.” Merriam says that the use of multiple methods enhance the validity of
the ﬁnding (1998). Denzin and Lincoln (2003) state that “triangulation is the display of
multiple, reﬁacted realities simultaneously. Each of the metaphors ‘works’ to create
simultaneity rather than the sequential or linear” (p. 8). Through the use of multiple
interviews with a wide variety of subjects, the data were triangulated and cross-

referenced for accuracy.

Creating the Portrait
Merriam (1998) says that “data analysis is simultaneous with data collection” (p.

14). This allows for adjustments to be made in the research along the way rather than
waiting until the end. She also says that “to wait until all data are collected is to lose the
opportunity to gather more reliable and valid data” (p. 14).

During the research, the ﬁndings were categorized by emerging themes.
Lawrence-Lightfoot says “the development of emergent themes reﬂects the portraitist’s
ﬁrst eﬁ‘orts to bring interpretive insight, analytic scrutiny, and aesthetic order to the
collection of data. This is an iterative and generative process; the themes emerge from

the data and they give the data shape and form” (p. 185). The data was continually sorted

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and dissected in an effort to organize the material in these emerging themes. “The
emergent themes grow out of data gathering and synthesis, accompanied by generative
reﬂection and interpretive insights” (p. 188).

The portraitist develops emergent themes using “ﬁve modes of synthesis,
convergence, and contrast” according to Lawrence-Lightfoot (p. 193). First, the
portraitist looks and listens for “repetitive reﬁains.” These are words or stories that are
frequently spoken. Secondly, in the analysis of the stories, the researcher listens for
“resonant metaphors.” These metaphors are ways that the subject reveal the way they
share and experience their reality. Third, the researcher seeks to identify themes that
occur and are important to the organizational culture. Fourth, as already mentioned,
triangulation helps to provide validation to the emerging themes. Finally, the researcher

looks for themes and patterns that are contrasting and dissonant by the subjects.

The Portrait

My goal as the portraitist then was to develop the central story by writing a
narrative that is both convincing and authentic, comprehensive and insightful. Lawrence-
Lightfoot echoes an earlier discussion that “the process of creating a whole often feels
like weaving a tapestry or piecing together a quilt.” (p. 12). When the quilt is ﬁnally
pieced together, it becomes whole. It looks different from the individual pieces on the
table as the quilt-maker has made what was envisioned—“the aesthetic whole.”

Therefore, as the researcher my goal is to produce this aesthetic whole by creating
a portrait expressing the inﬂuence of faith on leadership practice of three Christian

college presidents. Just as Lawrence-Lightfoot reminds us of the “dual motivations

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guiding portraiture: to inform and inspire, to document and transform, to speak to the
head and to the heart” (p. 243). My desire is to do the same by creating a portrait of

leadership practice inﬂuenced by faith in the context of Christian higher education.

Limitations and Advantages

There are several limitations to this study. First, because of the small sample size
of three presidents, generalization is only possible to these three subjects. The ﬁndings
cannot be generalized to other leaders in Christian higher education or the larger higher
educational context. Generalization is sacriﬁced for a more detailed and thick description
of the subjects studied.

Secondly, the subjects were relegated to one speciﬁc religious segment of
Christian higher education. It does not include leaders from a more liberal theological
bent nor does it include leaders of other faith perspectives. To widen the scope of this
project, consideration could be made for leaders of other faiths including, but not limited
to, Jewish, Catholic, or Muslim populations.

Third, this study was limited to three leaders serving in the position of president.
The academy is made up of many leaders who serve in a variety of positions. Additional
research should be conducted to examine this question at all levels throughout the
institution.

Finally, this study did not consider leaders or presidents who are Christian in their
faith commitment but serve in a university that is not faith-based or church-related. It
would be interesting to consider how their faith expression is ﬁltered or enabled based on

the college context.

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This research method does have its advantages. Because of the focus on
individual cases—three different presidents and the colleges they serve, the depth of
research provides a thick description of each voice. In turn, the inductive approach is

used to glean insights and understanding into their lives and the question at hand.

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CHAPTER FOUR

DR. GILBERT BELDING - GALILEE UNIVERSITY

Introduction

It was one of those rainy and dreary Midwest December days as I drove down a
two-lane road out into the country towards this small university town. There are so many
college towns like this that dot our country. This one was just a few minutes away from a
neighboring city and acted as a bedroom community.

The ﬁrst building I came upon was a large church. As a denominationally
supported university, many colleges have a church on or near their campus. I could see
some newer buildings out toward the road. However, I did not see a “grand” entrance to
the campus. It was like I just arrived and the university was there. As I looked around, I
could see several buildings from different eras. The university had the look and feel of
one undergoing growth and change.

I arrived in the president’s office and was greeted by his assistant. For the next
three days I would spend all of my time on this campus learning everything I could about

this president, his leadership, and his faith.

Galilee University

For over 130 years, this university has been educating students. It was founded
by church leaders ﬂour a protestant denominational group and was open to students of all
ages regardless of their religious convictions or beliefs. Its original aim was to “urge

holiness of life and thorough Christian training, together with the highest type of mental

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culture.” For the ﬁrst 50 years, it trained students at the primary, intermediate, and
secondary levels—quite a different focus from the university it has become today.

Then, in the early 205, the board voted to add a junior college to the academy. As
the focus moved towards higher education, the primary and intermediate programs were
dropped. This would become a deﬁning moment for this small church-related institution
as it now pursued a higher level of education. It wasn’t until the 60’s that this institution
shifted to add a four-year program and received its degree-granting accreditation.

Continuing its expansion, the college began offering more degrees and expanded
its off-site locations throughout the state. With the boom of adult degree completion
programs, the university leadership had the vision to get out in front of this curve. As the
expansion continued, the college added several master’s level programs.

Most recently, as many other colleges were moving to call themselves a
university, this college also chose this path. Because of its growth in enrollment and
academic programs, and its presence throughout the state, the leadership made this
signiﬁcant change. While some may view this as a marketing move and as a decision to
keep up with other colleges making the same change, the board felt justiﬁed in its
decision.

As a Christian university, Galilee “has distinguished itself as the place where faith
and learning meet” (website). This university has remained true to its desire to educate
students from the liberal arts tradition while at the same time integrating Biblical and
spiritual principles into every aspect of the student academic and co-curricular life. With
so many colleges beginning in our country with this commitment and then choosing to

veer from this path, this college has kept its faith as a priority in its educational pursuits.

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The next step for this Christian college to continue to advance its mission was to select a

president that could embody and articulate its mission.

Foundation of His Faith

Belding grew up in a Christian home and a Bible-focused church that was more
on the conservative spectrum in lifestyle and theology. His father was a public school
superintendent. From this man, Belding learned to love education and leadership.
Belding reﬂected on this. He said, “My father would often involve his family in daily
conversations at dinner time that centered around their lives, jobs, and relationship with
God.” His father had a dramatic impact on his formative years.

His parents were committed to and involved the family in church. Through the
centrality of church in his life, he discovered the value of all people regardless of social
status. Also, the inﬂuence of his faith was apparent. “My dad was very optimistic. He
had the view that all things worked out positively and he also had a deep respect for
people.” This gave him a great love and heart for people much like that of a pastor which
reached an important point in high school. “In high school I experienced a spiritual
renewal in my life and a calling to serve God. This was a signiﬁcant time for me to direct
his life towards service to God”

His leadership experience included a couple of years as a pastor of adult
ministries. This pastoral position helped continued to fuel his passion for people. After
this role, he knew, however, that the academic world was where his giftedness could be
best utilized. He accepted a role as an academic dean in theology at a large Christian

university and served in this position for many years. This position gave him the

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administrative leadership experiences he needed to prepare him for the next level of
university leadership.

Belding’s educational achievements include a master’s degree in business
administration and a Ph.D. in philosophy. He was educated in the business principles of
administrating a college as well as the philosophical depth of leading the academic rigors
required of the presidency.

Just two years prior to the Galilee search, Belding was in a presidential search for
a college that was connected to his church background. Belding said, “I ﬁnished second
in this presidential search because he did not have development or marketing experience
that the other candidate had.” He continued in his dean position knowing that there might
be another opportunity.

During that same time period, Galilee University was led by a man who came out
of retirement to serve as interim president for one year. Because they could not ﬁnd the
right leader in the search, he remained at the university for several years. The previous
president did some good things yet seemed to leave the college in a difﬁcult ﬁnancial
position. Yet, his interim period stretched for ﬁve years and gave some stability to the
university.

In 1999, the college conducted a search for a new president. Aﬁer a national
search, the board chose Dr. Gilbert Belding. The Board knew that they needed a new
leader who had the ability and passion to move Galilee forward. With the educational,
pastoral, and leadership background, Belding had the preparation and the experience

necessary to provide vision, presidential stability, and growth to Galilee University.

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Donovan, a faculty member, remembers that Belding “did his research on whether
he wanted to take the job. The reason he came is that he felt connected to the mission
and saw the college as a ‘sleeping giant’ .” One of his VP’s, Jamison, described him as
“the complete package. He is a people person because of his pastoral background and
has great administrative skills. He is a breath of fresh air.”

Galilee University was ready for a new leadership and new opportunities. Little
did Belding know the immediate leadership challenges that would be upon him and the
role that his faith and upbringing would play in his new position. The last decade of his
leadership and pastoral experiences had prepared him so well for the challenges that were

ahead.

Leadership Challenges
On the day the movers came to load his furniture in the truck, Belding received a

call from the chairman of the board. Instead of wishing him a good trip, he instead told
him of a board directive—to cut the current budget by one million dollars. Can you
imagine the feelings that must have rushed through his mind? Questions like: “Why
didn’t anyone tell me this when I was going through the interview process? Did they not
know there were ﬁnancial issues that needed to be addressed? Were they hiding this
from me? One million dollars in cuts, how am I going to do that? Why do I have to be
the ‘bad’ guy? God, what are you trying to tell me?”

Yet, he knew that he was in it for the long haul. Literally, by moving across the
country, he had time to think, talk to key people, and pray. In his prayers, he knew that

God had called him to this new leadership responsibility and that He would be with him

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each step of the way. It wouldn’t be easy, but God gave him the conﬁdence that He was
there and would not leave him on his own.

In the four ﬁrst short years of his presidency, he would face several difficulties
that revolved around ﬁnancial issues. Initially, he would have to work through the issue
of budget cuts in order to reduce spending by one million dollars. This also included
carefully dealing with some issues on the board, including speciﬁc board members.
Some of them wanted him to slow down his vision for growth and presented themselves
as obstacles to his aggressive goals. Just recently, the state decided to cutback its
ﬁnancial aid budget for students at private schools. This would present additional
ﬁnancial challenges and pressures to meet the needs of students and to adjust budgets
accordingly.

Other challenges would come his way. However in his short time as president,
Belding would be able to set the direction and move the University forward on an

aggressive path of growth.

Leadershi S le
This new president was prepared and ready for these leadership challenges and

others that would come his way. Hilbum, a faculty member, described his presence as
“infusing new life and vision” into the college. Another faculty member likened him to
Collins level 5 leader (Collins, 2002). Jensen said, “He has the integrity and the vision
and allows people to do their thing by not micro-managing.” He is a collaborator and a
visionary, a good people person and participatory leader, decisive yet open to the ideas of

others, committed to both excellence and mission, enthusiastic and focused, ambitious

83

and conﬁdent. Salas, a staff member, said, “He gives you a stir as you see something
‘go’” (Salas).

One faculty member tells a story of Belding’s college days. Belding had been
recruited to a large state university to play quarterback. However, he decided to go a
small Christian college that was sponsored by his church denomination. Since the
college did not have a football program, he decided to play catcher for the baseball team.
Worden said, “Whether it is the quarterback or the catcher, both positions control the
game. He is used to being the guy in control. Because of the way he is wired, he ﬁts
perfectly as presiden .” Even in athletics, Belding’s leadership style was apparent and the
position he played was indicative of his presidential role at Galilee.

While he is certainly the man in control, his leadership style emanates as one who
is deeply passionate about his faith and the pursuit of knowledge. He is both a pastor and
a philosopher at heart. As a pastor, he cares for the faculty, staff, and students. As a
philosopher, he is committed to discovering the truth and applying it to life. As a leader,

he demonstrates both in his practice as president.

Model the W

Kouzes and Posner suggest that “exemplary leaders know that if they want to gain
commitment and achieve the highest standards, they must be models of the behavior they
expect of others” (p. 14). leaders are examples to others within the organizations.
Through their example, they establish a standard of behavior within the organization.

This way in which a leader acts is based on his or her guiding principles. These guiding

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principles are the values that a leader ascribes to and seeks to act on in a leadership
position.

To model the way, a leader is committed to looking inside to discover one’s
personal values. By clarifying these personal values, Kouzes and Posner believe that the
leader ﬁnds his voice. Also, the leader is committed to setting the example by aligning
his actions with the shared values within the organization.

Sitting in the president’s office can often be intimidating. Sometimes I feel the
power and control and it is the feeling that I am lower on the “food chain.” And yet, in
this president’s ofﬁce, it is comfortable and personal. Rather than sitting behind a desk to
demonstrate distance and power, he greeted me as another human being with signiﬁcant
value. He sits in a chair with a coffee table in between us just as if we were sitting in his
living room. Immediately, I felt energized talking to him and knew that I could work for
this man. Quickly, I learned more about him, his faith, and the values that drive his
passion to do this job as president.

Modeling the way is important for this president. Sometimes it is what people
see. However, his modeling begins with his own personal time. Belding said, “I begin
every morning at 5:00 am. by reading my Bible, praying, and then reﬂecting on my faith.
I pray for family and the executive team.” He remembers some of the challenges and
pressures they are facing and then asks God for direction and offers up speciﬁc requests.
In the ofﬁce, he quickly rattled off several speciﬁcs situations involving kids of his vice
presidents. He knew them, knew what difﬁculties they were facing, and had been

praying faithfully for them. He said “his care for them is rooted in his prayer for them.”

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Belding also remembers why God brought him to this university and the mission that it

serves.

The Mission and the Concept

The president who led the college in its formative years developed the mission
statement of Galilee. It became the heart and soul of the college. It also became what
attracted this new president to the institution. Davis, a faculty member, said that “he has
picked up on this more than any other president.”

Essentially, the “concept” is the mission statement of the university. It says that
“Galilee University is a community of learners distinguished by our lifelong involvement
in the study and application of the liberal arts, total commitment to Jesus Christ as the
perspective for learning and critical participation in the contemporary world.” It is a
statement that gives the personnel a focal point—a guiding statement that everything
must ﬂow through and from.

Not only is it a statement, it is something by which modeling takes place. Bond
said, “This president lives by the concept. It is on everything. He is a real believer in
it—He lives it, preaches it, and believes it.” This mission statement permeates what this
president does as he leads by example.

O’Conner, a vice president, remembers a speech in which Belding said that
“everything is the mission. Learn it, recite it, We it if you don’t get it.” She then
laughed because this speech was given at a recent leadership retreat. Everyone from the
administrative team was to have had this mission statement memorized and then had to

recite it to the group. When it was her turn to say the mission statement out loud, she got

86

it wrong. Belding then gave the speech and a subsequent ﬁne to the entire team. In a
humorous way to get his point across, the entire group was given a small ﬁne even if one
member of the team failed to get it correct. He was serious about this mission statement
and it guiding concepts. He wanted them to memorize it, but he also wanted them to live
it out in the “everyday” responsibilities.

Davis, a faculty member, said that “he has really done a good job of keeping
people focused on it. He talks about it and writes about it. He believes strongly in it.”
Mandel elaborates further that this “becomes his creed for him and his bully pulpit
wherever he goes.”

For Belding, this mission permeates every aspect of the university and it emanates
ﬁ'om his leadership by example. In order to better understand the mission and to
effectively implement it through all disciplines, the faculty are required to take a special
class in the mission of the university in their second year. From the perspective of a
faculty member, Jette said that “everything is funneled through it.” This includes his
desire for growth at the university. Ogle, a vice president, recalled Belding saying, “If
this is the best thing going on then why wouldn’t you want to see more students?” This
simply ﬂows from his commitment to Christ and his commitment to students—more
students who will be impacted by the mission.

One of the things that Belding realizes is that he has to be the “protector” of this
mission. In this case, Belding tries to interview all potential new hires. Jamison said that
“he meets with most new hires to get an understanding of their passion for the Lord,

school and students.” Salas, a staff member, said that “he wants to know where their

87

faith is at. He does not want to know the credentials as he leaves this up to the director or
department head. What he does want to know if that this person’s faith is clear.”

As an internal candidate for a VP position, Hewitt said that he asked her about her
faith journey. “He wanted to know more than where she was now in her life. He wanted
to know the past, her vision and goals. He asked questions about her relationships with
family. He knew that life outside of the ofﬁce profoundly affects one’s performance.”

Sitting in the president’s office, he told me a story about a compass. A compass is
a tool that points a person in the right direction. For him, it is important to have spiritual
disciplines in place—the disciplines of prayer and Bible reading. These disciplines were
in place in his life long before he came to Galilee. As he reﬂected, he said that ‘Who he
was before he got here works.” This is who he is as a man of faith. Through his daily
focus on the spiritual disciplines, God guides him in the right direction.

The spiritual compass and the mission of the university that is central to his heart
motivate him in his leadership role. Even though he has been here for such a short time,
he has already had the opportunity to consider another presidency. However, he says that
he “has a long term commitment to the university and an ethical obligation not to pursue
other offers. This enables me to be true to myself and to the Lord.” He models his
commitment to his faith and to the university he serves by staying—even when the

challenges get tough and other opportunities are available.

Faith in Action

The way this president shows his faith is through modeling. Some Christian

university presidents place great value on chapel. While Belding is not the charismatic

88

“preacher” that one might ﬁnd at other Christian colleges, he is committed to the
importance of chapel. He models this importance by attending whenever his schedule
will allow as well as speaking once or twice a semester. Jamison, one of his vice
presidents, said that when he speaks, “he never wastes the 40 minutes. He uses the time
as best as he can and gears it to the students. He pulls in references so all different types
of students can relate. Through this time, his faith is ﬁrst and foremost.” When he is
there, he models his faith.

This faith is also put into action as he team teaches a course, which is not typical
of today’s busy college presidents. Mandel said that “this is very symbolic that he wants
to teach.” Most presidents don’t have time to step into the classroom as they are called
on more increasingly to focus on fundraising and external relations. However, Belding
wants to be connected to the students as well as to the academic world. This is so
important to him as a person, as president, and as an academician.

As he works with his leadership team, he also seeks to model his faith. Bond says
that “he always lives out his faith. For example, he took the cabinet to an interfaith
shelter as a way to reach out to the community.” This also helped them to bond together
in their faith as they were able to practice it together.

Belding’s faith in action was apparent on “9/11.” It was such a dark day for
America. Everyone was scrambling to understand what had happened. Belding received
a call from Davis, one of his vice presidents, suggesting that they cancel classes and lead
the campus in prayer. This vice president remembers him saying to the students, “Our
faith in God is bigger than this event. We are not going to let this beat us.” He used this

event as an opportunity to pray with students anytime he could. Instead of canceling

89

classes the next morning, the university kept the regular schedule. They already had a
special convocation for the beginning of the school year planned. The faculty and staff
marched in silence to set the tone for the convocation and to remember those who lost

their lives the day before.

Value for People

One of the values that are clearly evident in this president is his love and respect
for people. This comes ﬁ'om his father’s inﬂuence on him as well as his pastoral
experience. Sometimes, however, this value for people can get “sticky.” Belding told the
story of a vice president who wanted to pursue a presidential search at another college.
He told him to go for it. So, he went through the search and the board offered him the
position. He ﬁrst said “yes” and then changed his mind twice. After he said ‘yes” the
second time he sent Belding a letter of resignation. The next Sunday morning he called
Belding to see if he could get his job back at the university since he was thinking of
changing his mind once again. Belding told him that he had already given away three-
fourths of his salary to fund other positions.

Even though he had high regard for this man, Belding was deﬁnitely frustrated
and let him know that there was not a place here for him at the university anymore. He
was “tick ” and hung up the phone on Belding. He could not power his way back into a
position even though he had close relationships at the university. Belding knew that he
could not tell others what really happened. He could not offer the full explanation as it
appeared to some that he was running off good people. But he wasn’t. This person was

valued. In fact, Belding demonstrated his value of him by not telling others what really

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happened. Belding reﬂects that he “can see the way God worked.” He did not malign
him and attempted to value the person. At the same time, he had to steward the university
and do what seemed best at the time.

Even though this situation was difﬁcult to walk through, Belding remained
committed to his value for people. Typically, his value for people often came out in his
relationships with those around him. Meger, a vice president, called him and said that
“he needed Belding’s help and right now.” He could do this because “Belding is my
ﬁiend. He is the president but he is also Gilbert.” Raymond, a staff member, talked
about the monthly one-on-one meetings that he has with the president. During this time
they would talk more than “just nuts and bolts. There is an opportunity to dialog about
areas of our faith. It has been really unusual from my experience for this to happen as he
is really vulnerable with him.” Because of Belding’s concern for people, he modeled a

heart of a pastor.

“God Will Provide”

Egos and pride can often be part of the image of the presidency—especially when
the leader is successful. Belding feels the pride getting in the way when he is criticized
by the trustees. He wants to come back to them and say, “What do you think you gave
me when I took over. ” Some thought the place would not succeed. He goes on to say
that “pride is short-lived as he tries to be humble year-to-year.” One of his faculty
members validated this. Worden said, “Belding is more pleased with the outcome than

his role in it. It is his faith that keeps him ﬁ'om pride.”

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Some would describe the way this president models his faith is intellectual.
Perhaps this is because of his deep passion for philosophy or his connections to Richard
Foster, a deep Christian thinker and author. Aﬁer all, Pascal is his favorite author. He
gave one of his books to his wife for as an anniversary gift. While he “does not wear his
faith on his sleeve,” according to Mandel, he certainly has a “can-do” faith and one that
believes that God will provide. He further describes him as being pastoral as he works
through issues.

Meger, one of his vice presidents, feels that the president has a huge responsibility
to steward this organization. He hears Belding say that he “wants to stay close to God so
that he is not the one who screws it up.” Homan says that “he is a man of deep integrity
and you never have to worry about him being ‘off-duty’ .” There is a deﬁnite dependence
on God and this brings him back to a position of humility. This value is signiﬁcant for

Belding as he models the way for others at the university to depend upon God for all

things.

Inspire a Shared Vision

An exemplary leader inspires a shared vision. Knowing where the organization is
going is critical to shaping its future. A leader must be able to envision the future of the
organization by creating some excitement and invigorating possibilities. Through this,
the leader is able to encourage others to join the effort by appealing to shared goals and
desires.

It is interesting to consider one’s legacy and what it might be. For this president,

Belding knew right away that he wanted his legacy to be one where he focused on the

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mission and ensured the continuance of the culture of the University. For him, this
means that under his presidency, the university will never leave its faith and Christian
commitment. While many church-related and faith-based colleges have chosen to veer
from this path, this will not occur under his watch.

This certainly takes vision. In fact, the Bible says that “without vision, the people
perish” (Proverbs 29:18). As I sat in his ofﬁce talking to him and others during my three
days on campus, I heard much about his vision—the future path for this university.
Meger, one of his vice presidents said, “A lot of leaders talk but they don’t cast. Belding
talks and he deliver. He takes all of us. He is the energy and the glue.” In other words,
he inspires a vision that is centered on the desire for growth and the integration of faith

and learning.

Visiop for Growth

It seems like most university presidents desire growth. Perhaps it is an ego thing
as they think the bigger the university, the better; the more students, the more revenue.
For Belding, his desire for growth is about becoming “a place of signiﬁcance.” He said
that “he doesn’t think he leads with ego. Raising scholars is deeply satisfying and growth
helps to educate more.” In addition, he said that “you have to stay on a growth plan to
get faculty salaries up.”

Belding’s vision for growth is aggressive. According to one of his vice
presidents, Ogle said that he wants to have an enrollment of over 6,000 students by the
year 2,010. At least 2,000 of these students need to come from the traditional student

population in the undergraduate program. Right now, the total enrollment is approaching

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4,000 students with approximately 1,500 students in the traditional program and 2,500 in
the adult program. “When he ﬁrst came in saying that, I was scared. But then I put
together a plan by telling him what I need .” Belding listened and gave him the
resources he needed to move the vision forward.

Some of the faculty and staff remembered when he ﬁrst came to campus. Hilbum
remembers Belding saying that Wou can curl up and die or you can aggressively grow.”
He believes that Belding has a “real vision for growth and where we need to go.”

When he came he ﬁrst began to share his vision for growth. Meger, a vice
president, remembers him rattling off the things that they were going to accomplish
together by 2,010. He still recalls the words that Belding said, “God has brought us here
for a unique time—this is the time to smile on Galilee.”

Homan said that one of the things he did when he ﬁrst came was to “take the
strategic plan of his predecessor as a starting point. This was his blueprint and template
and then he put his own twist on it. Until Belding came, he did not know what the
previous president wanted. I think the former president was threatened by growth. Now
Belding has come in and given us a clear vision for where the university is headed. He
wants growth but not at any cost.” Belding’s commitment and vision for enrollment
growth is rooted in his value for the mission of the university.

This desire for growth also includes increased academic quality. Davis said that
“there has been a lot of Tier One talk since he came.” Essentially, this is the level of
academic performance as compared to other similar schools. To be in the top tier means

that the university competes with the best academically. However, Davis did not think

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that the focus should be on reaching Tier One status. “We will never be a Wheaton or
Taylor. We can be a good Tier Two, though. This is our niche.”

Not only is his vision for the university focused on growth and academic quality,
it also includes transformation. Homan says that this transformation is focused on the
“change that takes place in the lives of students through the power of Jesus Christ.” This
is rooted in his own personal transformation. Jette suggests that his faith is not static but
it is personal. “Because of what God has done for us, what we do in response is critical.”

Hunter tied this vision to the Bible. “So much of the Old Testament looks at
prophets envisioning the future. The Christian faith is based on hope. A natural leader
can convey this hope and look to the future. Belding came in and cast a vision. Because
a visionary like him came in the university has been able to move forward. I hope he is
here twenty years. In fact, I remember one of our former presidents who handed out 3x5
cards to all of us one afternoon for us to write out a vision for the school. I remember
coming home saying that his presidency ended that day. If the president can’t cast a
vision and has to rely on others to give it, then he should go.”

Belding is committed to this vision for growth, both is enrollment numbers and in
academic quality. This vision is not much without some hard work. Belding’s
perspective on this vision is that he “prays for miracles and then works for results.”
Since he has been president for four years, the university is well on their way to reaching

his goals.

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Vision for Faith and Learning

Growth isn’t the only area of focus in this president’s vision. He is also
committed to the continued integration of faith and learning as part of his vision.
Williams believes that “he is actively interested in the strong integration of faith and
learning.” While Williams has seen “Christianity as a useful prop at other schools,” he
believes that Belding “wants to see the faith as a regular part of the university here.”

As Hewitt reﬂected on Belding’s vision, he said that “he has a good
understanding of the role of higher education and faith. He makes a good argument on
why Christian education is so important. When educating students, he says, how do you
not ask the God question? Belding believes that you cannot be fully educated until you
ask the God question.”

According to David, Belding’s vision for faith and learning isn’t just a simple
attempt to “tag on Jesus to learning.” He wants the university to be a place where faith is
truly integrated throughout the educational experience. This also includes his
administrative leadership. He talks and lives this vision which inspires the faculty and
staff arormd him to carry it out in the classroom. Nichols said, “He is really committed to
this faith and learning and this drew him here.” What drew him here also inspires him to
continue to pursue this integration in a greater way as this becomes the essence of what

makes Galilee a Christian university.

God’s Leader for the Hour (and homuy longer)
Many of the faculty and staff believe that the vision Belding is leading has been

God-given. Jette believes that “the Lord sends the right people to lead the university at

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the right time. We just ﬁnished our accreditation review, we had minimal debt, strong
academics and a good physical plant. We were ready to take off. Belding really grabbed
the reigns and has given us leadership. He sets goals and works toward them. He is the
man for the hour.”

Jamison, one of his vice presidents said that “he has God’s calling on his life to be
here. He has been given a vision for this university and we are seeing the fruits of his
labor after a tough ﬁrst year.” Even when Belding went through the search process, he
committed the decision to God and His leading in His life.

“Belding was here about 20 minutes and he already knew our distinctives. He is
smart, academically prepared, and the Lord’s man for this time—it’s awesome,”
according to Hilbum. While some leaders ﬂounder in this area, Belding has excelled.
One of the reasons he has excelled is his desire for excellence as suggested by Meger.
“He has always been an achiever. He is convinced that God expects the best in each of
us. He expects excellence. People here weren’t thinking big enough. Instead of asking
‘thy?” we should have been asking “why not?” This tipped the scale for me.”

Jensen doesn’t believe this vision is “God-given, but it is God-ordained.” In other
words, God didn’t send Belding a note with the vision all laid out nor did God speak to
him in an audible voice giving him the plan. Rather, God led Belding to Galilee to
breathe vision and a future direction to the university. Through his own personal
relationship with God, he has been led to carry out the vision on his heart. Jensen
believes “God is honoring his leadership and he wants to see the university grow to
impact the Kingdom.” For Belding, his work as president is simply God’s will for His

life right now.

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Sharing the Vision

To inspire the vision ultimately means to share it with others within the
university. In the beginning of the academic year, Belding has a special workshop for
faculty and staff. Donovan said, “Belding plans the topic, selects the speakers, and then
sets the direction for the year.” This is so important to get everyone on the same page at
the beginning of the year.

He also has developed an Institute to train faculty and staff in the mission and
vision. Belding has actually co-taught three rounds in about 11-12 sessions. The key
focus is to use this to transform the culture while inspiring his vision to be shared among
them. This is required for faculty and staff to go through at some point in their career at
the university.

Even with the community of Galilee, he has to inspire them to share his vision.
For example, Bond shared a story of Belding’s work with the township board to build
new tennis courts. Rather than getting angry with them when they said the university
could not do this, some were irate and ready to “go to war.” For Belding, it was not
worth the battle. What Belding wanted was new tennis corn'ts and soccer ﬁelds for the
community and the university. Community battles like this one can be difﬁcult
especially when politics and the needs of a growing and expanding university are on the
table. Sometimes these two can be in conﬂict and opposition to one another.

Belding handled this situation with poise and political diplomacy. He worked
through the obstacles with the township board and helped to inspire a shared vision for
both the community and the university. Bond said, “His faith really came through as he

did not get angry with the group. He compromised and presented a win-win solution that

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made both the university and the township happy. Later, the township supervisor stood
up in a meeting and thanked Galilee to the group. Belding took a difﬁcult situation,
looked into the future and was extremely perceptive.” In the past, the university
president had developed an adversarial relationship with the community leadership.

Now, Belding had turned the tides and the result was a ‘ﬁNin-win” for both.

Challepge the Process

Exemplary leaders challenge the process. They look at the current ways of doing
things and suggest new and innovative approaches. This involves taking risks and
searching for opportunities to move an organization forward rather than leaving it in its
current state to stagnate. As the leader takes these risks, he or she learns from mistakes
and generates small wins along the way.

Challenges come in many shapes and sizes. Some are simple and some are
complex. These challenges can come at you unexpectedly. For Belding, he did not see
some of the challenges coming his way. It can be difficult to know quite what to expect
as you move from the position of dean at one university to president at another.
However, while some challenges come at you unexpectedly, there are some cases where
you challenge what is going on in order to move the organization further along.

Belding faced two ﬁnancial challenges during the ﬁrst four years of his
presidency. In the ﬁrst situation where he had to cut $1 Million dollars from the budget,
he challenged the board and the consultant’s recommendation to create an innovate
solution. In the second situation, where ﬁnancial aid was being cut by the state, he

focused on his commitment to the students by making up the shortfall. Belding also

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faced challenges with some of his board members, he took a risk by hiring a Catholic

Christian at a church-sponsored university connected with a Protestant denomination, and

he led the college through the change to university status.

First Day on the Jop—_—_$l Million in Cuts
How could he have even predicted that he would get a call from the board chair

the day his family’s moving van was being packed for the long trip across the country?
Belding remembers sitting on the front porch talking on the phone watching his furniture
and boxes being loaded on the moving truck. The board member said to him that he
would need to make $1 Million dollars in cuts. He remembers saying to his wife, “Well,
it looks like the honeymoon is over.”

Actually it was probably good timing. He was able to drive across the country,
consider this impending challenge, and how he would handle this difﬁcult situation. He
could think, strategize, talk to board members on the phone, discuss the issues with his
wife, and above all, pray.

Jamison, one of his vice presidents, remembers this issue that he faced. “He had
to cut $1 Million dollars out of a $27 Million dollar budget and he had not even begrm
yet. How do you do this without hurting morale?” What precipitated this need for
ﬁnancial cuts was the result of a study conducted by a consultant. Ogle, one of his vice
presidents spoke negatively about the actual consultant who conducted the study. He
remembers this consultant coming in at another college he used to work for and
essentially concluding the same thing. “He used standard formulas and the same

solutions. Essentially, he said that we needed to let go of some faculty and staff and

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replace them with student workers. He also said that we should eliminate 20% of our
academic programs—to get rid of the dead weight. The board members really grabbed
his recommendations and told the president that he had to make these cuts.”

This would be the most difficult part. Another Vice President summed up the
consultants report, “Cut, cut, cut, cut—it’s the only way.” Budget cuts have a negative
result on the morale of the people. And, with this signiﬁcant amount, this is not
something a new president wants to do as his ﬁrst presidential act. At least he could say
that it wasn’t a mess that he created.

Homan believes that “the board was not fair with him. The board tried to hide
this from him. Some of the leadership knew and did not tell him. This event could have
really jettisoned his presidency. However, he came in here and dealt with it. It did not
ruin his presidency.” He remembers Belding being upfront with the faculty and staﬁ'
saying, “This issue is not of my doing and God will provide.” He had a steady conﬁdent
spirit while he handled a difﬁcult situation.

Williams, one of the long-term faculty members recalled that “this happened so
often with every president. This became the reason why a board changes presidents. The
difference is that Belding dealt with this issue in the appropriate way.” Belding dealt
with this issue head-on by challenging the process. He was not stressed by the situation
because he did not create it. He had to ﬁnd a solution to the problem and he knew he had
to do it in the way that would satisfy the board while minimizing the impact on faculty
and staff. The consultant said that he needed to cut 14 positions. However, Belding
knew that this could be challenged by seeking alternatives. There had to be another way

and Belding would ﬁnd it.

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Based on his value for people, he knew that he could not cut these positions.
Instead, he placed a hiring freeze on any unﬁlled positions and he also ﬁoze the new
capital purchases budget. He froze wage increases and took the cap off on some course
limits. While some were pushing him to make the cuts in other ways, he knew that he did
not want this to be the beginning legacy to his presidency. Belding said, “As Christian
leaders we have to have the guts to turn the knife when needed to make tough decisions.
However, there are always options and choices to make. Because of the life long value of
people that I was taught by my father, I place the highest respect for people and family.
To me, this is an important component to what it means to be a Christian.”

One of the other things that he did was to convince the board to spread these cuts
over a three-year period. This was different from what the consultant had recommended
to the board and was certainly a risk for a new president. However, according to Jette, he
knew that this would be less of a blow to the budget and ultimately to the morale of the
faculty and staff.

Some might have thought that this situation would stress out a new president.
However, Hunter remembers that “as a measure of his integrity and leadership potential,
you never saw him wear that stress. He came in and took the initiative and handled it in
stride and committed to it in prayer. He was able to cast a vision by telling us where we
were at and that we were going to do it right. That’s what he told us on day one. There is
no doubt that he was on his knees and praying to the Lord for direction. This is how he
functions.”

What was a challenging and unexpected situation became an opportunity for him

to challenge the process and to do it a different way. He created some wins and set his

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sites on an aggressive vision for growth. This made a difference early on in Belding’s

presidency and it became the catalyst for change at the institution.

Another Financial Crisis

This would not be the only ﬁnancial crisis at the university in his short four year
tenure. Similar to the ﬁrst ﬁnancial challenge, this next one would be one that was not
created by him. The state in which the university was located created a mess with
ﬁnancial aid which actually resulted in two situations.

Salas, a staff member, said that “the state was supposed to provide money half
way through the year. However, there was some paperwork that was not done and we
ending up not getting $100,000. The president responded that this is one of those things
and no one lost their job or was ‘out the door’ for this mistake.”

Another situation arose when the state decided that there would be reductions to
the state grants for students at private colleges. This amounted to about $300,000 in lost
money for the ﬁnancial aid packages of students. Hunter said, “His integrity came
through to the students and to the faculty. He had to make a tough call. Do you replace
this money with institutional money for the students or do you hire new faculty?” For
Belding, his decision went with the students. He remembers Belding saying, “If you had
to be loyal to someone it was to the students.” The faculty were “kind of miffed at this
because they were placed in overload situations.” However, Belding had been loyal to
faculty by increasing their salaries six times in the last three years as part of his ten year
plan. Essentially, his commitment was to the students and to the faculty who were

already a part of the university family.

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In this meeting the faculty realized that he was committed to them. The
university had just recently been reported as the lowest of all 42 colleges in the state for
salaries. Homan said that “this offended the president and he was not going to balance
the budgets on the backs of our people.” After he shared the full story with the faculty,
they gave him a standing ovation for his commitment. Belding was willing to take a risk
in this situation by focusing on the people of this university.

Ogle, believed that “with Belding, you never got a sense that we were sunk with
this situation. His perspective was always, ‘if we are honoring God it will work out as
long as we work at it. He has a ﬁrm belief that God will see us through because of what
we are about.” Even though these situations were difﬁcult and the ﬁnancial pressures

were great, Belding depended on God, took risks, and generated wins for his leadership.

Board Issues

It seems like working with a board always presents challenges and issues for the
president to deal with. Belding remembers his ﬁrst week on the job when he was asked
by two board members to ﬁre a vice president. He responded to them by saying, “I may
reach the same conclusion but I want to watch him for a year.” He watched him for a
year and saw his strengths. But he also saw that he was not in the right position for his
gifts and strengths to be used in the best way. Instead of ﬁring him like the board
members wanted, he decided to offer him a transition position. The vice president’s ﬁrst
words were, “this is such a relief.” He knew it, the president knew it, but the president

handled it in such a way that brought honor and respect to this employee. Rather than

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ﬁring this person, he challenged the process and sought to do it his way—a way that
valued people.

This helped the vice presidents to know that they would not be immediately ﬁred,
although he did have expectations for them. “I always want to hear the bad news ﬁrst, to
have full disclosure and for there to be no surprises. For the vice presidents it is
important for them to be loyal or leave,” said Belding.

Often he would talk to the vice presidents about his frustration with the board.
Jamison, one of his vice presidents, likened this situation to the old comedy about an
undercover agent called Get Smart. He referred to the “cone of silence.” A cone would
come down over the secret agent when he got a phone call about a top-secret matter. No
one else would hear what was being communicated to him in the “cone of silence.” The
same is true for the executive team meetings. Whatever is said in these meetings would
stay there. “With the board, he was frustrated. But he did not attack. He used the team
to vent and to also gain input. His faith and background kept him from going after
people” and from allowing his frustration to seep out with other people.

“There were about six or so board members who were causing problems. They
were never satisﬁed by saying that we’re moving too fast and wanted to slow it down.
Some board members would rather park a truck in ﬁont of it and evaluate every step.”
Belding wanted to move the university forward and was aggressive about implementing
his vision for growth. Jamison remembers a deﬁning board meeting at the end of
Belding’s second year. A board member raised a trivial issue. Belding responded
passionately that this “issue” really wasn’t an issue. He was able to stand for what he

believed and challenged those for which he worked.

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In another situation with a board member, he told him to stay away from another.
“However, as soon as he had an opportunity, he made friends with him,” according to
Salas. “He and his wife are now building an art gallery in front of the campus. Belding
does not turn away from difﬁcult people. He wants to clear the air since it is a new day.”
Instead of running from or avoiding conﬂict, Belding embraced the person and won him

over.

A Principled Hiring Decision

As discussed earlier, Belding is involved in the hiring process for all employees.
And he is involved in the hiring of his vice presidents. One of his vice presidential hires
was controversial. Belding was in the process of looking for a vice president when he got
wind that a potential candidate was leaving the position where she was employed.
O’Conner remembers getting a call from Belding. He said, “Could we talk?” He drove
to meet her to talk to her about her vision and to express that he was interested in her.
There had never been a female in a vice presidential leadership position at Galilee. Not
only was she a female, but she was also a person of color and she was Catholic.

No one questioned her credentials. Her resume looked great. The main issue was
that she was Catholic. Typically, colleges tied to Protestant denominational groups do
not mesh with Catholics. There are some signiﬁcant differences in beliefs. However,
O’Conner remembers that “he opened up to her and said that there is a place in the
community for people who love the Lord in the evangelical tradition. He opened this

possibility up for me and it was not an easy decision for him.”

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Belding knew that this could be a difﬁcult political issue and he could not afford
to risk the political capital on his own. He ﬂew a board member out to meet her.
Nichols, one of the search committee members, said, “We knew it was his decision. One
day he was speaking out of fear that we could not do this. The next day he made the
decision. He prayed about it and knew this was the right decision for the right time.”
Salas remembers him saying, “I’m clear; all hearts are clear on this one.”

For Belding, there was no reason not to hire her and he stood up to challenge the
process. However, this was certainly a risk for him. He decided that he would act by
principle and challenge the process that a Catholic could not have the same faith as his
university propounded. He made his decision and as a result, little criticism resulted.
Now, Galilee has a minority female in a position of signiﬁcant leadership at the

university in contrast to most other Christian universities.

From Collgge to Universig
One of the changes that Belding made was to aggressively position the college for

continued growth. He felt that the status change from college to university was essential.
Many other private colleges were making this move and he was not about to be left
behind. Some on the board were once again concerned about this change. Ogle said that
“some of the board members were here back when it was a junior college. They felt like
the college shouldn’t change and fought the idea of growth.”

The faculty and vice presidents believed that this change should be made. Rather
than pushing this through the board, he allowed the board to work. This was his way of

seeking small wins and ultimately the innovation that he desired. It went through a

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committee and then through the board. Jensen described this as “a miracle especially
when a two million dollar proposal for marketing was approved to go along with this
name change. We were expecting this huge battle but it moved right through. Prayer
was the key.” In fact, the president suggested that the board have a prayer meeting ﬁrst
in an effort to see if this would be God’s will. This prayer was answered and the decision
moved easily through the process. Sometimes what seems to be a challenge is nothing

other than a perception issue to overcome.

Enable Others to Act

A president can’t do it on his own. He must enable others to act. Kouzes and
Posner suggest that exemplary leaders encourage and stimulate collaboration among the
employees of an organization. They do this through cooperative goals and, in turn, this
build trusts. In order for the leader to do this, he or she must share power and discretion
among the people.

Sometimes this can become difﬁcult when egos are involved, especially for a
university president. However, as Hilbum, a faculty member, described him, Belding
“empowers people.” He is also not the type of president to use intimidation tactics to get
people to do their jobs. Instead, another faculty member said that he is “so
approachable.” Belding is the type of president who enables others at the university to

act in their respective areas of responsibilities.

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Relationships with Vice Presidents

It is essential for the president to work closely with the vice presidents. During
his four years at Galilee, Belding has been building his administrative team. The only VP
to continue on ﬁ'om the previous president is his Vice President for Enrollment. The
others, for one reason or another, have transitioned thus enabling him to select his own
team. At this time, only one Vice Presidential position remained in transition, the Vice
President for Student Development.

Hewitt, 3 staff member and alumnus, said that “he concentrates on relationships
with the VP’s and not a lot of others beyond that.” The administrative team is his focus
as he works through them to accomplish the vision. Meger, one of his vice presidents
commented that “he depends on the executive team for collaboration by asking, ‘What do
you think we should do?”’ This enables the team members to offer their own opinions as
the group decides what is best to do as the leadership team of the university.

He has a close relationship with his vice presidents and will not overstep his
boundaries with them. Jensen, a faculty member, said that “he allows the VP’s to get it
done. He trusts you to get it done.” One of the issues that the executive team recently
dealt with was the proposal to add a $100 technology fee for all students. Ogle said,
“Belding had deﬁnite feelings that this should be a fee. He allowed the discussion to go
on and felt like he was heard.” Even though there was disagreement on this issue,
Belding listened and then made a decision to move forward.

It is important for the vice presidents to come to him when a problem arises. For
example, when Ogle realized that there had been a miscalculation in ﬁnancial aid, he

came to Belding. He said, “Here is what could happen. Belding then asked what are

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some solutions? He was calm and controlled his emotions.” He lets his vice presidents
do their jobs but he expects that they have solutions to the issues in their area.

On another occasion while meeting his vice presidents, they were all discussing
whether or not to add an ROTC program. Belding said this “clashed with his soul
because of his conservative church upbringing.” However, his academic vice president
and vice president for enrollment wanted to do move forward with this program because
of its potential to attract additional students. As an administrative team, they were able to
have a “healthy” discussion on the issue. They decided as a group to add the program
even though he did not want to do it. As they went ﬁom the meeting, Belding was able
to defend and support the decision.

Because Galilee has changed presidents and vice presidents too often in recent
years, it has been difﬁcult to have a stable leadership team in place. This also makes it
difficult to have a consistent strategic plan. Homan said that “this is the ﬁrst time since
1988 that we have had a leader who leads by team.” Belding could have exerted his
authority and the power of his position on some of these issues. However, he knew that it
was important to enable others to act. After all, he was just one man and one voice. He
sought to rely upon others to make critical decisions along the way, especially his

administrative team of vice presidents.

Enabling Others in a Pastoral Role
One of the things that Belding did early on in his presidency was to lead in a

pastoral role. According to Homan, a faculty member, “The former president meant well

but he was nasty and did a lot of damage. Belding spent the ﬁrst year in a pastoral role to

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get beyond the hurt. He said, ‘Come in as often as you want and talk about what
happened’ .” This was the process that he needed to take in order to build trust back into
the culture. Through this rebuilt trust, he would enable others to act.

September 11th was a difficult day for most Americans. With the results of a
terrorist plot carried out before our eyes over and over again on our TV screens, the
nation was gripped in fear of continued violence. Rather than calling classes off, Belding
decided to go about business as normal. However, he did call several campus-wide
events. He also encouraged faculty and staff to work through the crisis with the students.
He knew that the faculty and staff were on the front lines with the students and they
would be the best support to discussing this tragedy. Through this tragedy, Belding
enabled the faculty and staff to act since they had the closest connection with the student
impact and they could make the most impact during this time of crisis.

In another difﬁth time on campus, the Athletic Director remembers an incident
with several soccer players who were caught drinking. It is always difﬁcult when “star”
athletes violate school policies. Typically, these situations receive signiﬁcant attention
ﬁom the University community as they watch to see what the administration will do. In
this case, the student athletes had been drinking during the training camp prior to the
beginning of the academic semester. The students had said that since classes had not
ofﬁcially started, that there were no lifestyle expectations placed on them. The coach had
clearly outlined responsibilities on the ﬁrst day of camp.

Raymond recalled that Belding’s response was that “we had handled it
appropriately.” This was a difﬁcult situation for the president since the parents were

inﬂuential and had signiﬁcant wealth. They came at him directly to get him to overturn

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the decision. However, he allowed the coach and athletic director to act in this situation
and was in support of their decisions. He enabled them to act in their areas of
responsibility and Belding gave full support to them.

However, this support may not always be there even from the faculty and staff
within the institution. One thing every president knows is that there will be faculty
members that are on the edge or may not be liked by others. When Belding arrived, he
recognized Worden, a faculty member who did not walk in the mainstream opinions of
his colleagues. Rather than ignoring him, he took him out to dinner. This faculty
member said that the president believed that “if this guy is going to be a problem then he
will go to the source and see what he is really like. This president would rather deal one-
on-one and work to take a lost canon and tie him down with the ropes of a relationship.”
Belding was allowing this faculty member to act within the bounds of a relationship with
him and the university.

In most situations, Belding seems to be a president that enables others to act. He
hired vice presidents to take responsibility in their areas and to lead. As he empowers his
vice presidents early on in his presidency, he will in turn build a team to move the
university forward. Only time will tell the success or failures and potential longevity of

this team.

Encougge the Heart
Building the community spirit in an organization takes encouragement—
encouragement from the leader. Kouzes and Posner suggest that an exemplary leader

encourages the heart of those within the organization. This occurs in two primary ways.

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First, a leader is able to recognize the contributions of others and shows appreciation to
them for their excellence. Secondly, a leader creates a sense of community by
celebrating the values and victories within the organization.

For Belding, this encouragement takes on many forms. Whether it is through his
focus on prayer and praying for the needs of the people, in the context of chapel, a
Christmas party, one-on-one meetings, or a phone call, Belding encourages the hearts of

the faculty and staff at Galilee.

A Prayr_n' g President

Growing up in a Christian home, Belding was surrounded by praying parents.
Through their example, as well as the example of other Christian leaders in his life, and
his own personal journey, Belding demonstrated a focus on prayer in his leadership
practice.

Jamison, one of his vice presidents talked about how he began meetings in
prayer—even personal meetings. He said that “he likes to start and end meetings in
prayer.” Another vice president remembered an executive team meeting in which
Belding was late. Usually they begin meetings at 2:00 pm. but on this day he came in at
2:20 pm. This was not like him to be this late. He recounts the story of how Belding
came back to campus ﬂour a lunch meeting. Before getting to the building where his
ofﬁce was at, he ran into a student whose mother was dying of cancer. He stopped to
pray with her. This was why he was late. Meger said, “This is our Gilbert Belding.”

Talking to Belding, he remembered a story from the past weekend. One of his

vice presidents called him on the weekend to tell him about his daughter running away

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ﬁom home. He got in his car and drove around for three hours looking and praying for
this girl. He was concerned about her and dropped the demands on his own personal
schedule to care for and pray for one of his team members going through a difﬁcult time.

Sometimes his prayers would be in private one-on-one meetings or in a speciﬁc
situation. At other times, he would pray in public. Ogle, one of the vice presidents,
suggested that his use of public prayer is somewhat related to his being a pastor. “He has
been a pastor before and is used to starting meetings in prayer. However, I don’t get the
feeling that his prayers are rote.” His prayers are a part of who he is and is an expression
of his faith. In fact, sometimes his vulnerabilities come out in his prayers. Hilbum, a
faculty member, remembered when Belding’s mother was dying of cancer. He shared
how he was struggling with this and asked other people to pray for him and his family.

Several others commented on how his decisions were rooted in his prayer. A vice
president sees this ﬁrsthand in the context of executive team meetings. O’Conner said,
“He will say, ‘let’s pray about it together’ when facing a diﬂicult situation. Every
decision comes out of prayerfulness and he is inﬂuenced by what God’s will is for the
institution.”

While faculty members may not see this personal side of him, the assumption is
made that he prays for decisions that are to be made. Williams, a senior level faculty
member, said that “clearly he is a person of prayer.” In meetings with the faculty and
staff he will reference that he has been praying. Another faculty member, Jensen,
suggested that he believes that prayer is involved in every decision that he makes.

One of the unique and close relationships that Belding has is with Worden, a

faculty member. Early on in his presidency they chose to be accountability and prayer

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partners. During their weekly time together, usually while exercising, they talk about
what God is doing, confess sins to each other, analyze things going on at the college, and
pray for one another. Typically, a president may not let a faculty member in this close to
his life. However, this type of relationship is built on trust and respect for one another as
well as the desire to grow in one’s faith.

For this president and man of faith, his prayers come out of his deep relationship
with God. According to Salas, it is not a desire to make a show, but rather it is attitude of
humility and dependence upon God for all things. His prayerfulness deeply impacts his

leadership practice as he seeks to encourage the hearts of others.

A Heart of Encouragement

Many commented about the different ways that Belding encourages the hearts of
the University community. One form of encouragement that the president enacted was
the creation of a motto for the year—“A togetherness thing.” Donovan remembers that
this helped to set the direction for the year. The motto was printed on all of our business
cards. “It was a small cost but it is there. You will see them all taped all over computers
and desks.” While it was a simple step, it helped to provide encouragement that everyone
was united together at this university.

While this was directed at the entire faculty and staff, Belding’s main form of
encouragement is directed at individuals. Davis remembers running into Belding alter a
faculty meeting. He ended up talking with her for about 20 minutes. “He never made me

feel uncomfortable. In fact, he was driving the conversation in theology and he acted like

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we had all the time in the world. It really feels like he is always willing to give people
time.” For Davis, it was the simple gift of time that was such an encouragement to her.

Davis also needed to get a reference that Belding used in a recent meeting for her
sister. Her sister lived in the northeast and was in education. She ﬁrst thought, “I can’t
call him on a Saturday morning to get a reference.” Getting over these initial feelings,
she decided to call him. He answered the phone and said to her, “I’ve got all the time in
the world,” when she told him that she was sorry for calling on a Saturday. Davis said,
“He is so approachable I could talk to him all day.” Sometimes it is the simple phone call
on a Saturday morning to a busy president that encourages the heart.

A couple of staff members talked about encouraging phone calls they had
received ﬁom the president. Nichols ended up in the hospital twice. “Belding was the
ﬁrst one to call me to see how I was doing. He afﬁrms the image of God in others. In
some ways, he is like a ‘pastor’ president.” Meger, a vice president, said that, “He will
just call me to see how I am doing today. The pastor spirit really comes out.” Through
his phone calls, Belding demonstrates the heart of a pastor through his encouragement.

Yet, Belding encourages the heart in other ways at the university. Sometimes, it
is words through a chapel or a small party. Last year, Belding spoke in chapel at the
beginning of the semester. Hewitt remembers that “he started his talk by saying he
wanted to express his heart. He called students by name referencing Heather and the
passing of her mother and Andrew and the career conversation he had had. He was
excited about what God was doing spiritually in their lives as well as on the campus. He
was there for the students.” This president encouraged the students that day as he showed

his love for them and weaved his faith into his talk.

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Christmas parties can be fun and draining at the same time. For a \miversity
president, this time of year can be especially busy. Meger, one of his vice presidents,
remembered the last Christmas party they had. “Belding talked about how much he
appreciated us—his vice presidents. He then broke down and cried. He said that he
prays for us every single morning when he gets up at 5:00 am.” Meger was encouraged
at this president’s heart as he knows he has a disciplined time with God everyday.
“Because of this, I am more inclined to follow his leadership. He has set his compass on
Christ.”

Because of his passion for his faith and his love for people, Belding is well
respected among the faculty, staff and students. This appreciation carried over among the
faculty even though their major complaint is being part of a growing campus where they
are overloaded and overworked. However, Hilburn said that “Belding expresses his
appreciation to the staff for their work.” This is so important and it helps to cushion the
overworked faculty. Ogle sees that “he allows people to feel validated. He thinks the
best of people and this is a reﬂection of his own faith. He realizes that everyone has
spiritual gifts and makes every effort to respect and honor the person.”

The president keeps an open door to the faculty and staff. Students will often stop
by to speak to the president. Salas said that even the janitor can stop in to talk to him.
“He has been such an asset to the campus,” said Hilburn. Most feel comfortable with him
at the helm. They even feel comfortable to tease him every now and then. At a recent
opening faculty/staff retreat, a couple of faculty members sang the song, “I’ve got you
babe.” However, the word “Babe” was replaced with his last name. There is an

atmosphere of love and respect for him and his leadership.

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Raymond remembers when Belding showed up in the middle of baseball batting
practice one day. “He gets out of his car, grabs a bat, and gets in line. He was standing
there with his tie and dress shoes on. He then hits live with the guys. He has no idea
what this does with the guys. At a girl’s soccer game, he comes by to stand and watch.
Students actually root him on. He even wanders into the cafeteria and has lunch with
kids.” Sometimes it is the simple action like this that encourages the hearts of others.

A President has the ability to encourage the heart. At Galilee, this president
demonstrates this in many ways and in many situations because his faith encourages him
to value other people. This makes the difference in his leadership practice. The faculty,

staff, and students see it and are encouraged.

The Inﬂuence of Reign} ’s Faith on His Leadership Practice

One of Belding’s role models is the president of a major public university on the
West Coast of the United States. Belding contacted this president to meet with him. He
wanted to learn more about leadership and believed that he could beneﬁt from the
example of a successful president. However, the major difference between the two
leaders was the faith commitment and mission of Galilee as compared to that of the
public university. Both are successful at their respective universities and Belding wanted
to learn ﬁom someone who had already been down this leadership path.

Exemplary leadership, as described by Kouzes and Posner, is reﬂected of leaders
regardless of their faith perspective. While the leadership practice of both could be
described as exemplary, one of the signiﬁcant differences was the role of Belding’s faith

in his role as president. In reﬂecting on Belding and his presidency at Galilee, there were

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several areas where his faith inﬂuenced his leadership practice in ways that would not be
evidenced in other leaders.

First, Belding’s leadership acts were pastoral in nature. His value and respect for
people as carried out in his leadership practice is driven by his faith commitment and his
pastoral background. He seeks to reach out to those around him and shows a genuine
care and concern for them. This concern emanates ﬁ'om his focus on the spiritual needs
of those around him.

Secondly, Belding placed great emphasis on the role of prayer in his leadership
practice. Prayer is the time when Belding spends talking to God about his life, his
requests, and the challenges before him. Through this personal time in conversation with
God, Belding is able to refocus on his faith and seek guidance from God as he leads this
university. He also uses prayer when he is one-on-one, in small groups, or with the
university community to show his dependence upon God.

Third, as a leader, Belding placed great importance on the pursuit of God’s will as
a joint process between him and God. Leadership challenges that have come his way
have brought him back to the calling and direction of God upon His life to provide
leadership as president. Belding, through his desire to provide vision for the university,
would seek God for the direction of Galilee.

Fourth, the mission of this university, as deﬁned in the Concept, provides the
leadership rhetoric Belding uses to funnel everything that he does at the university. As a
university seeking to integrate faith with learning, this mission is diﬂ‘erent from other

non-church or non-faith based universities. Because of this difference, Belding’s speech

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is focused on “God-talk” whenever he is with a group. This also forms the basis for his
action as he wants all thoughts and activities to ﬂow out of this faith-based mission.
Belding believes that “God brought him to Galilee.” In his presidency, Belding is
committed to living out his faith through his leadership practice. As he looks forward to
the years ahead and the eventual legacy that he will leave behind, Belding hopes that he

will remain true to his faith and the Christian mission of this university.

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CHAPTER FIVE

DR. PETER DEVITTO - CAPERNAUM UNIVERSITY

Introduction

The small rural farming town had not changed much as I remembered it. I had
been to this university campus on several occasions in the past. As I drove down the
familiar roads to the campus, Capernaum University had come a long way in its growth
and campus development since my previous visit. In some ways, the university had
become the town with its new buildings.

Since there were no hotels in this same town, I had made arrangements to stay
with a family that worked at the university who also owned a large farmhouse. They
often rented out their extra rooms as a bed and breakfast for university guests.

The next morning, I woke early and drove over to the university. As I drove on
campus, I could immediately sense the impact of the president’s leadership. He had just
retired from his 25 years as president and this was his ﬁrst fall in his newly created
position of chancellor. I walked past several new buildings on my way to his ofﬁce. One
of the largest buildings was named after this former president and his wife.

While I would not actually spend time with this former president during my three
days of interviews, I actually worked out of his ofﬁce. His ofﬁce was located away ﬁom
the busyness of the administration building. Yet, it was strategically placed in the student
center. His assistant for many years worked closely with me during my stay.

His ofﬁce barely looked used. In fact, he had intentionally chosen to be away from

campus since the new president took over. He had wanted to create the space for the new

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president to exert his leadership style and presence without the pressures of the previous
president looking over his shoulder.

For the next three days, this would become my home as I immersed myself in the
campus interviewing many different faculty and staff who worked closely with him
during Devitto’s tenure. After my visit to this university, I would visit this former

president in his townhouse in Florida where he now lived during the winter months.

Capernaum University
The university has been around since 1887. “Through the vision of ﬁve godly

men who dreamed of a college that would provide Christian young people with an
education that was offered within a spiritual framework” (University Catalog, p. 3). It
was originally associated with another denominational church group for its ﬁrst ﬁfty
years. However, because of difﬁcult times, the trustees were faced with a decision to
either close the college or ﬁnd another group to lead it.

At just about the same time, another Bible institute within the same state was
searching for a campus to move to in order to expand. The trustees of both colleges soon
came to the decision that the Bible institute should assume ownership of the college
campus. This occurred in 1953 and it soon became a Christian college of arts and
sciences. The man who suggested this became the president who preceded Devitto. This
president served for twenty-ﬁve years before Devitto was selected as president. At this
time, the total enrollment had grown to 1,200 students.

For the next twenty-ﬁve years, ﬁ'om 1978 to 2003, Dr. Peter Devitto would

provide leadership to the college. The college would experience rapid growth to nearly

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3,000 students when he left, a transformed campus infrastructure, and more than 100
programs of study.

Over one year prior to his departure, Devitto announced his resignation. He
wanted to ensure that an effective search could take place to ﬁnd his successor. Just as
the previous president led for twenty-ﬁve years, so did Devitto. During this leadership
tenure, Capernaum was transformed to become the university of signiﬁcance that it is

today.

Foundation of His Faith

Devitto grew up in a Christian home. He remembers back to his senior year when
“God changed his life.” He said that he “went from never reading his Bible to wanting to
lead everyone to Christ.” Going to a Christian college in the Bible belt furthered his zeal
for evangelism. “God opened the doors for me to preach ‘everywhere.’ Evangelism
started early for me as I preached and sang in a quartet. I was also involved in radio
ministry and Youth Crusaders. During college I preached in over 100 churches.”

His heart for evangelism shaped his desire to preach after college. In fact, he was
invited to Capernaum by the former president in the mid-19608 to preach in chapel.
Little did he know that he would come back to the college several years later as the
president.

In 1971, his wife was actually hired as an English professor for the college and
they moved to the rural town. While his wife taught at the college, he continued to

preach as an evangelist throughout the nation.

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Then, in 1978, the trustees began a presidential search. He remembers receiving a
call ﬁ'om the president’s ofﬁce asking him for some names of people he could
recommend for the position. Jerome, the president prior to Devitto, then mentioned that
‘your name keeps surfacing.” Devitto knew that he had never led anything except for his
own personal life and family. However, he began to consider this possibility and pray
about the opportunity.

During that time, as part of his own personal spiritual journey, Devitto kept a
special diary. In his diary he began to make a list of things that would be important for
him to do if he was president. He also prayed a lot about it and made a list of reasons
why he should or should not consider the position of president. He remembers thinking
that he “had a heart for college students and discipleship ministries. This was
opportunity to pursue this in a full-time way.” Soon thereafter he walked out of his house
and said to himself, “if there are two negative votes then I will not go.” However, it was
unanimous and decided to give it two years.” He concluded that if it did not work and
the leadership challenges were too great, he could always go back to full-time

evangelism.

Leadership Challenges

Leadership challenges seem to come with the position of president. For Devitto,
he would face one particular deﬁning moment early on in his presidency involving a
leadership struggle between an academic dean and his associate dean. What would result
would be a clear statement of who was in charge during a particularly tenuous time in his

leadership.

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This event would clearly be the biggest hurdle and challenge that he would face.
The others seem unparalleled to this. The challenge of leading a college through the
innovative risk of being on the front-end of the technology wave would become a test of
his relationship with the students. Other challenges he faced include moving the
academic calendar from quarters to semesters and leading the change to university status.
Finally, in his last year of presidency, he would get caught up in the middle of a political
battle between the church group associated with the university and an opportunity to

connect with another like-minded denominational group.

Leadership Style

Sitting on his screened-in back porch, Devitto reﬂected on his own leadership
style. “God made me to be the one in charge—to have vision and to make decisions.
There would come a time when the gavel needed to be dropped. I was a strong leader
and was able to make decisions.” He also described himself as a “pastoral president”
through his development success in relationships with donors and students.

During his presidential tenure, Devitto created a campus culture that demanded
excellence and was led by his authoritative leadership style. His leadership style was
simply described by Barto, a staff member, in this phrase: “I want things done my way.”
Devitto knew what he wanted—he wanted quality and excellence throughout the
institution. Bacon said that “he led by example. He took his own strengths and built
them into how Capernaum operated.” He would spare no expense to reach his goal.
Rinker described Devitto as “a unique blend of CEO and evangelist.” The college did not

get an academic leader, but someone who was used to speaking and inspiring the crowds

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with his Gospel message. He was better in front of the group rather than his one-on-one
relationships with the faculty and staff. Rosen said that a relationship with him is like
“hugging a cactus.”

Through his empowering and inspirational presence, Anderson said that he would
lead from a “top-down approach.” Campbell, a faculty member, described him this way:
“He gave Capernaum strong leadership. Yet, his weakness was that he most often
decided before he asked. He would give you a say but you were not sure if it had an
impact.” Rudlow, another staff member, said that “His spirit is warm and caring. Yet, he
is direct. You know where he stands. He can synthesize quickly and drop the hammer.”
Schroeder, a long term faculty member, said that “Devitto believed that the ﬁnal decision
was his to make.”

“He created an environment that supports a sense of entrepreneurial spirit. He
likes new ideas and supported them,” said Simon. Austin, one of his vice presidents
added, “He is a gifted leader. He could have run any organization.” He inspired and
empowered many.

O’Brien, a vice president, described his leadership style in four ways. “He is
entrepreneurial in that he takes advantages of emerging opportunities. He is a benevolent
dictator. Ultimately, his decisions were his. He is a visionary as he is always seeking the
next thing on the horizon. Finally, he is an inspirational leader. He could read the

cafeteria menu and make it interesting. He has an amazing platform presence.”

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Model the Way
As I walked through the entryway and down the hallway, I could not help but

notice the “Legacies of Leadership” wall display. It was a gift provided by the 1991
graduating class and “displayed any trustee, administrator, faculty, or staff person who
has given twenty ﬁve years or more of his life to service to Capernaum family.” I looked
more closely at the wall and found about 70 women and men on the wall who had
committed their lives to this university for at least 25 years.

It went on to say, “Someone has aptly said ‘Everything rises or falls on
leadership.’ These leaders among us have been ‘patterns of good works.’ They, like
David, the man after God’s own heart, have led Capernaum by the integrity of their
hearts and guided us by the skillfulness of their hands (Ps. 78:72). These men and
women will be remembered for their commitment, ‘For the Word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ,’ has left an indelible impact on the lives of the Capernaum
University Family.” This wall would not only symbolize the legacy of leadership at the
university but also the legacy that this president left behind as he modeled the way.

Modeling the way is an important leadership practice for a president. This begins
ﬁrst with the leader, with his or her values and guiding principles. As Kouzes and Posner
suggest, “People ﬁrst follow the person, then the plan” (p. 15). Leaders model the way
by “setting the example through daily actions that demonstrate they are deeply committed
to their belief’ (p. 14). During this section, we will look at some examples of how

Devitto modeled the way while he was president of Capernaum University.

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A Leader’s Prayer Life

Devitto would not consider himself to be a great prayer warrior. However, he
said that “if you are going to lead, prayer has got to be a cornerstone of your life.” He
kept a special diary which he called his “seven-star diary.” In it, he recorded his prayer
requests and often would call people to encourage them or pray with them about a crisis
going on in their lives. On the ﬁrst day of each month he would pray through the entire
prayer list. One of his long-time staff members, Rudlow said that “he has a time with the
Lord each morning before he comes to campus. I know this from our conversations over
the years as he prays speciﬁcally for university family needs by name.”

His emphasis on prayer came out in two special days of prayer that the university
had for the entire campus community each year. All classes were cancelled ﬁom 9:00
am. to 1:00 pm. and the focus was committed to praying for the needs of student, faculty
and staff. For Devitto, he remembered a special and signiﬁcant day of prayer. An
Australian man came to Capernaum as a result of a team of students that visited his
country. He became a Christian and his wife left him with his daughters. She
disappeared when she left him. Finally, she was found with another man and this went
on for seven years.

Devitto recalls, “On the day of prayer, we claimed his wife for God. This was a
major thrust and focus of our prayers that day. A few days later this man received a call
from his estranged wife. She told him that on this particular day of prayer (she did not
know about this) she came to the conviction of her sin. She is now back with her

husband and they are involved together in full-time ministry.”

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An Evangelist’s Heart

What began early on in his college career as Devitto’s passion for evangelism
continued on in his role as president. He took every opportunity to share the Gospel as he
was “interested in the beneﬁt of a soul,” said DiCuirci. In every contact he would make
his heart as an evangelist would come out. Blackwell said, “He could walk into any
situation and connect with people and turn it into a Gospel connection.” He simply could
not stop being who he was. He was an evangelist ﬁrst and college president second.
Rudlow reﬂected, “There is not a man in the [area] that has not heard the Gospel ﬁom
him. After he would meet someone he would send a Bible to them with their name on
it.”

Gaines commented that it doesn’t matter who he is with, his faith and the Gospel
is something he automatically expresses. In fact, several events were used ﬁrst and
foremost as an opportunity to bring people in to hear the Gospel. The annual golf
tournament is an example of this event. While the golfers certainly had a great time
playing the game, Devitto would always share the Gospel with them and talk to them
about Christ. “He always had a strong connection with those who came and it was all
wrapped up in his evangelistic appeal” (Gaines).

Another event that occurs annually at Capernaum is Grandparents Day. Initially
the students talked about the idea for this day. Students would invite their grandparents
for a special day on campus. They would spend time with their grandchild visiting them
in their dorm, touring campus, and eating meals. However, according to Barto, the
motivation that Devitto saw was for the opportunity to share the Gospel in chapel with

them.

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This driving passion would fuel his leadership at Capernaum. He never stopped
preaching and sharing his heart and the God he served. He had a great platform presence
and he “shin ” in front of a crowd. He was gifted in being up in front of groups sharing
with the crowds. Often, on the platform, he would use this time to share his values that
would drive everything he did while president at Capernaum. His used his rhetoric as a

way to model what he believed and the values that led him.

“The Only Explanation for Capernaum is God”

For twenty-ﬁve years Peter Devitto’s leadership focused on God at Capernaum
University. Simon said, “He lived a holy lifestyle with a clear commitment to the Word
of God. He lived what he believed and this gave him credibility. It is hard for me to
separate Capernaum from Dr. Devitto.”

And it is difﬁcult to separate what happened at Capernaum from God. In fact,
Devitto used a statement over and over again. He said, “The only explanation for
Capernaum is God.” He deﬂected the accomplishments of his leadership to God by
giving God the glory, according to Schroeder. Reeves said, “Devitto had a strong
understanding of who God is and his plan. It was because of his faith in God that he
understood what happened here is because of God. And he was okay with that.”

Many reﬂected on this phrase during the interviews because it was a part of
Devitto’s rhetoric and heart. Barto was in a unique situation as he saw Devitto as
president from the student’s perspective and also from a staff perspective since he went to
college and then worked there following graduation. “Devitto realized that is was not

about him but it was about God. He always gave glory to God. Capernaum is all about

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God.” Devitto was able to attribute what was happening at Capernaum to God rather
than to his own leadership.

Ashman saw this as Devitto’s legacy. While he transformed the campus by
raising over $100 million for the university, Devitto knew that every gift came ﬁom God.
Ashman said, “What we receive comes ﬁom God. Paul was the person here for the
time.”

As I sat with Devitto, he thought about some of the things that were accomplished
that could only be explained by God. He rattled off several things that came to mind. “In
the world of fundraising there were tough times. Humanly speaking I wondered how we
would get it done. I remember praying in the eleventh hour often and then I would get
the call and the commitment we needed to reach our goal.”

“At other times there were changes at the last minute that took us in a new and
better direction. This was because God was leading us. We were ahead of the curve on
so many things, including technology. God led us to take these risks.” The only

explanation for Capernaum was God, and perhaps, the leadership that Devitto modeled.

“Chagl is the heartbeat of any Christian Collgge”
Another important part of Devitto’s rhetoric that he modeled focused on chapel.

He is well remembered for saying that “Chapel is the heartbeat of any Christian College.”
What he meant by this is that you could get an underlying sense of the spiritual focus of a
Christian college by the tone set and spiritual focus established in chapel. Christian

colleges vary on the frequency and requirements for chapel. For some colleges, chapel is

not required. For others, chapel is a requirement for a couple of days a week. For

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Capernaum, chapel attendance was required ﬁve days a week. The students met Monday
through Friday morning from 10:00 am. to 10:50 am.

Devitto put his heart and soul into chapel. In fact, it was so important to him that
he took responsibility for the chapel program out of his ofﬁce. He planned the speakers,
gave direction for the music and provided the overall leadership to the chapel program.
This presidential involvement is unique to the Christian colleges as it most often resides
in the student development division.

During a trip to a Bible Conference to speak, Devitto met a man who led the
worship. Diciurci remembers talking to Devitto about a job opportunity to lead the music
for the chapel program at Capernaum. “Devitto took out a table napkin and wrote out my
resume on it. One thing led to another and it was the right job for the right time. He
brought me here to be the minister of music. I remember him telling me that ‘chapel is
the heartbeat of any Christian college’.”

“Devitto felt so strongly about chapel. He wanted to make sure that speakers
were carefully selected. He wanted a quality experience for them” (Jones). Bacon
believed that this came out of his evangelistic background. “Devitto spoke to the entire
Capernaum family during the Monday chapel. He stressed the importance of community
and family and would use this time to focus on student issues. The culture of Capernaum
revolves around chapel. The spirit of chapel maintains the heart of the campus.”

“I saw him as the pastor here,” said Barto. “He was always the spiritual leader of
Capernaum. He set the tone.” It this tone that he modeled week after week on the
platform—He modeled his faith and his passion for God. He knew that many Christian

colleges had moved away from their faith commitment. He wasn’t about to led it slip

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away at Capernaum. Schroeder said, “So the chapel goes so goes your institution.” For
Devitto, chapel became the vehicle by which he modeled a community-wide commitment

to faith.

“Eve hin done in the name of Christ on t to have uali stem all over it”

Devitto believed in quality. He believed that “everything done in the name of
Christ ought to have quality stamped all over it.” Devitto’s pursuit of quality would
permeate everything that he would do, whether it was his home, his car, or the university
that he led. Some felt that this bordered on materialism, others believed that God expects
excellence.

For Devitto, everything he purchased was of quality. His presented himself with
ﬁne material surroundings. His operational philosophy was that he would rather
purchase something of quality and lasting value than to have something that was cheap.
He took great pride and care in the building of his presidential home. Rosen said, “He
laid out the house and walked through all the details. He had special marble tile laid in
the foyer. The detail in his house is amazing. Yet he was not building a monument to
himself.”

Yet, Schroeder, a faculty member questioned his expensive taste, especially with
his choice to drive a Lexus. He asked, “How do you reconcile this with the need to reach
the poor? I know we are not perfect and Devitto is not some kind of James Bacon nor is
he selﬁsh.” Rinker believed that at times his passion for excellence and quality things

would “border on materialism.”

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Some would view his focus on quality things as inappropriate for a Christian to be
so consmned with “nice” things. Reeves said, “Peter was big on image. He believed
that it was positive for the mission of the institution and was convinced that it was

positive for the mission of the institution. However, this image was given inappropriate
1 weight at the expense of other things.”

The irony was that he saved the renovation of his ofﬁce to the end of his
presidency. His ofﬁce was in the oldest building on campus. Schroeder, a faculty
member, said that “it was so old you could hear the ﬂoor creak. It was in need of a real
face lift.” However, in contrast to his commitment to excellence and having the best
things, he chose to focus his efforts on building the campus rather than renovating his
office. He knew that he could not spend valuable resources for his own ofﬁce. He also
knew that this would be difﬁcult for the next president to accomplish. So, he raised the
money in the last year of his presidency and remodeled it for his successor.

For Devitto, he believes that this is the way God used him. He said, “I still have
the original bedroom suite in our condo. When God created he said that it was good and
excellent. To do something that is good and of quality is a testimony to God. Twenty
ﬁve years ago I made the commitment to quality here at Capernaum. All of the
professionals that came to campus that are unsaved are impressed with the students.”
Any visitors to campus were certainly impressed by his commitment to quality and
excellence.

It was his value for quality that pushed him to pursue excellence things at the

college. For Devitto, he believed that God demands quality through his creation.

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Therefore, Devitto pursued this throughout his entire presidential tenure. Now, as the

campus stands, one can look back to this value that Devitto modeled.

Inspire a Shared Vision

Leaders inspire a shared vision. Kouzes and Posner suggest that “leaders envision
the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities” (2004, p. 14). Not only do
they communicate to others, they also get others onboard. Leaders are able to enlist
others to share in the vision.

Devitto inspired a shared vision at Capernaum. He said that “God used him to be
a visionary and to be a creative thinker. God blessed him this way to come up with ideas
and to be more focused on the big picture.” Devitto certainly believed in God’s
sovereignty and ultimately in His direction at Capernaum. Because of his walk with God,
this gave him faith and insight as a business man.

Chapel was often the place where Devitto shared his vision and inspired the
community. In fact, chapel itself was part of his vision. This is where his heart was at
and where he evangelistic zeal to share with everyone. The chapel hour was so important
that he pushed to have a building where all the students could gather for one hour a day.
This time together set the tone for the campus and enabled the vision to be shared

weekly. And yet, he would often close chapel with the song, “Christ is all I need.”

Mission and Vision

The vision is the future. It is a view of how the mission will be carried out. For

Devitto, he focused annually on the mission of the university. Simon remembers

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cleaning out some of his old ﬁles in his ofﬁce. He found an outline that Devitto had used
eight years earlier at a beginning of the year meeting with faculty and staff. The outline
was the same. In fact, it was the same every year. He would use this time to review the
mission and objectives of the university. Devitto would always keep this in front of the
people. For Barto, who was used to seeing this for the past two decades, it was a surprise
when the Devitto’s successor did not do this.

Dockett, a faculty member, said that “most will remember him for his vision for
the university. He was never satisﬁed with the status quo. God uses people to move a
work to a higher level.”

The mission was something that inﬂuenced the interview process for prospective
employees. As each potential faculty and staff person would sit in Devitto’s ofﬁce, he
would show them a plaque with the Capernaum mission on it according to Schroeder. He
wanted them to be aware of and know the mission of the university. Everything would

ﬂow from and through this mission, including the vision for the university.

A Vision to Build

Devitto’s legacy will be remembered in the amount of money that he raised to
build the campus that exists today. This began early on in his presidency. In his ﬁrst
year as president, the enrollment experienced a drop. This would be the only time during
his presidency that the enrollment would decrease. And yet, it was during this time, that
his vision to build began. He asked the trustees to build a dorm and they followed him
(Campbell). He must have inspired them to believe in the future since it is typically not

prudent for a university to build a new dorm during a time when enrollment was down.

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One staff member remembers this time in 1980-1981. O’Brien said that
“Capernaum did not have a good line of credit and there was no money coming in. We
needed money for the dorms as applications began to come in. Devitto shared his plan
with the board and ﬁnally one member spoke up. The board then got behind him.”

From this project, Devitto inspired the board to consider a campaign for a new
library. Capernaum had never raised signiﬁcant dollars and this would be the ﬁrst major
building and campaign that Devitto would tackle. The library, at a cost of $5 million,
would lay the foundation for future campaigns of $8 million for the engineering/nursing
building, $15 million for the ministry center, $21 million for the student center, and $12.8
million for the ﬁtness/recreation center.

Austin said, “He is the one with the faith that it can be done. Before he stuck a
shovel in the ground, he was the one to say we could do this with God.” During these 25
years of raising money for buildings, Devitto was always able to complete the campaign.
He did not lead Capernaum to any type of ﬁnancial crisis nor did the university acquire
any long-term debt.

The ministry center was one of the most signiﬁcant accomplishments for Devitto.
The administration looked at several options since they had run out of room in the old
chapel. Cobb remembers driving out-of-state on a trip when he received a call ﬁom the
president. Devitto said that he had been praying for a new chapel and music building. In
fact, Cobb was thinking about calling Devitto. One other vice president came to the same
conclusion separate ﬁ'om this conversation. So, the three of them, in a 12-hour period,
came to the same decision by looking at the same data. They would step out in faith to

pursue the largest campaign to date for this signature building in the life of the university.

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It is easy to see how Devitto inspired a shared vision. Devitto was a master
fundraiser. He thrived in relationships with donors. Through these relationships he
shared his vision for the future of Capernaum in a speciﬁc building. The donor then
shared in this vision by giving to the university. Devitto never got discouraged about
raising more money for more buildings. Austin said, “He always trusted God. He prayed
hard and diligently about it. God always provided the piece of the campaign you did not
know where it would come from.” And now, over $100 million dollars later, the campus

enjoys many state-of-the art facilities that make Capernaum the university that it is today.

A Vision for Technolpu

The greatest risk that Devitto took was to anticipate the technological and
computer wave. He began to ask the questions dealing with what information, storage
and retrieval will look like in the future (Cobb). His vision quickly formulated to having
a computer in all the dorm rooms on campus that would be wired to a network. A deal
was reached with IBM to be a showcase campus for this computer network and
innovation in education.

The faculty bought into this vision pretty easily. However, it was the students that
had difﬁcultly with this. The interesting thing about this is that Devitto did not initially
sell the students on this concept. Rather, he let one of his vice presidents present this
plan. Reeves, one of his vice presidents, remembered that this ‘ﬁvasn’t very pretty” with
the students. The administration had failed to involve the students in the process and it

wasn’t a shared vision.

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Devitto was out of town when this took place. The students reacted strongly
against this idea because it would add signiﬁcant cost, at least to them, to their tuition
bill. Rosen remembers an article in the school paper written by a student that played off
of Devitto’s statement that excellence and quality should be stamped all over it. Instead,
the student said that the “computer network had excess written all over i .” Some other
students ﬂoated a sign in the campus lake that said “sell your lexus and get a network.”
Both of these were intentional “slams” against Devitto.

Upon his return to campus, Devitto took the next chapel opportunity to talk to the
students about this uproar. He began by apologizing to them. Reeves said, “This helped
to quall a lot of the heat. He would also say, ‘I blew it’ and was transparent with them.”
He then walked through with the students the reasons why this network would be good
for them. He simply shared his vision and called on them to share in it with him. This is
what he should have done ﬁrst with them. Blackwell said that when Devitto stood up in
chapel to deal with this issue, he talked about strategic plarming and how this would
prepare the students for the future.

At the end of this chapel presentation, Devitto had turned the tide. He had
inspired the student body to share in his vision for this computer network. He received a
standing ovation ﬁom them. Convincingly, the student outrage for paying an extra $700
a year changed to focus on the technological beneﬁt they would receive for their future.
Devitto certainly learned his lesson. The irony is that he did not even know how to use a
computer himself. And yet, he had the vision to lead the drive for technology at
Capernaum. “He was willing to dream big for God and he did not hesitate to give God

the credit,” said Rinker.

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Challenge the Process

Leaders typically face many types of challenges. Challenging the process,
according to Kouzes and Posner, includes two components. First, the leader searches for
“opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve” (p. 17).
Leaders are pioneers; they are out in ﬁont seeking new opportunities. Old processes and
methods are challenged to bring in new ways of doing things. Secondly, the leader
“experiments and takes risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from
mistakes.” Leadership certainly involves risk-taking as one sees to move the vision of
the organization forward.

At Capemaum University, Devitto was described as an entrepreneurial president
by some. It is this idea and concept of entrepreneurial leadership that seems to best ﬁt
this principle whereby innovation takes place. Over the course of his tenure, there were a
few signiﬁcant events and innovations that describe how Devitto challenged the process.
First, the most signiﬁcant challenge that Devitto faced occurred early on in his presidency
with a clash over leadership in the academic area. Secondly, as we have already seen in
his vision for technology, this also demonstrated his willingness to challenge an old way
of thinking. Third, his decision to move from the quarter system to semesters challenged
yet another antiquated way of thinking and organizing the academic calendar. Finally, he
sought innovation by reaching out to a new denominational group that would “rufﬂe the

feathers” of those in their current church association.

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Academic Leadership at a Crossroads
Within the ﬁrst few years of his presidency, in 1982, Devitto faced a challenge

that would set the direction and tone for his tenure. This challenge involved the faculty
and the academic vice president. Interesting enough, most of those interviewed talked
about this challenge.

As members of the faculty, there was a “dynamite couple” who were well-
respected by their peers, according to Devitto. In order to help with some of the
administrative load, she was promoted to an associate dean position by the vice president.

She was doing so well that she was moving past the academic vice president in
ability and leadership. According to Devitto, the major mistake that was made by the
vice president is that he did not do his homework to get everything ready for the
transition. She was not given a speciﬁc job description or parameters of responsibility
for her position. And she saw some of the weaknesses in the academic vice president.
Anderson, a faculty member, recalls that “she assumed more authority than intended.

She was evaluating the chairs.”

According to Devitto, the academic vice president “misjudged her personality.
She wanted to ﬁre two department chairs. She wanted a better title. She wanted to meet
with the trustees. She was young and cutting edge and some faculty were drawn to her.”
However, the problem was not the fault of this dynamic faculty member in this new
leadership position; this was the problem of the academic vice president. Devitto’s
perspective was that the academic vice president is to protect the president and not let it
become a problem for the president. However, it soon became obvious that the academic

vice president could not solve the problem and Devitto would need to intervene.

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Rhode saw the main issue as an administrative one. From his perspective, the
academic vice president hired the associate dean without a job description. She was told
to make it up on her own. She then began to evaluate department chairs on performance
and pushed for high standards. The academic vice president began to lose support for his
newly chosen associate dean.

“Devitto was in a tough situation. He had to support his academic vice
president,” according to Rhode. Jones, the academic vice president, appreciated
Devitto’s support. “Devitto stood by me and he exonerated me. He took a stance that
was unpopular.”

Devitto hired a friend and consultant to conduct a study of the situation. The
results of this study took away some of her authority. However, the faculty wanted to
vent during open meetings. What resulted was a divided faculty. Devitto knew that this
was not good for the university however he was attempting to give his academic vice
president the opportunity to solve the problem.

During one board meeting, a trustee asked Devitto, “Isn’t it time for us to get
involved?” Devitto responded, “Absolutely not. You have to be conﬁdent that I can
solve this.” Devitto knew that he had to be the one to be responsible for the issue and
that he could not let the trustees get involved in an issue that did not involve policy or
strategic planning.

At the next faculty meeting, Mr. Biddle’s husband, who was also a faculty
member, attacked Devitto. Obviously, this was extremely ﬁ'ustrating to Devitto. He

remembers going home and telling his wife that he had dealt with the uncertainty of this

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issue and its lack of resolution from his academic vice president. Devitto told her, “It is
over.”

The next Friday Devitto wore a black suit at the end of the school year to the
faculty meeting. Schroeder remembers this as a “cold faculty meeting and a defensive
young president.” Another faculty member, Rinker, recalled that this was where “Devitto
drew a line in the sand and stopped the discussion on this issue.”

He told the faculty that the issue was over and that Mr. and Mrs. Bixby would not
be returning to Capernaum. Rhode remembers Devitto telling them that “there are things
that I can’t tell you about as an administrator. I understand your point of view but you
have to trust me as an administrator.” He wasn’t going to go into the details for his
decision. It was a top-down decision that Devitto made. He had given them one year’s
leave of absence, thus paying them for a year. They had signed papers of separation from
the college as a condition of their termination.

This challenging time took a toll on Devitto’s leadership, and especially for his
wife. His wife was best friends with Mrs. Biddle. However, as Devitto remembers,
“God gave me the strength to keep going. He gave me the faith and I saw the Lord in all
of it. And, the faculty got the message that they weren’t going to lead.”

Anderson was disappointed in Devitto’s leadership during this time. “He did not
see the faculty perspective. He formed a committee to discuss the issue for about a year.
It did not resolve anything and ended up polarizing the faculty. At the end of the year
Devitto said that he was tired of the tension. And he then went on to blame it on the
faculty by saying we were drastically out of line. He told us that we should move on if

we did not like his decision.” The disappointment came in the view that Devitto always

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bought into the philosophy that everything rises or falls on leadership. To the conﬂict,
his answer was a decree. For Anderson, it was not handled in a biblical way and more of
a dictate from an autocratic spirit.

On the other hand, Reeves watched Devitto process this decision. He saw “the
strength in his commitment to core values and his faith in operation. Devitto knew he
had to act responsibly and that ultimately it was in God’s hands.” Goodman believed that
Devitto “dealt with us as a spiritual matter. This decision was done fairly and he went the
extra mile to make sure they were provided for.”

Other faculty believed that Devitto’s decision was vindicated. Rinker said,
“Devitto was not afraid to make this decision. He was conﬁdent in the sovereignty of
God. He was vindicated over and over again. Several individuals went back to him and
said that he had made the right decision.” Dockett, another faculty member, said that this
couple got a divorce within a year or so of leaving Capernaum. There were major issues
in their lives and “their true medal was revealed.” No one mentioned whether or not their
marital issues were already occurring during this time or if they may have resulted from
this a difficult time of transition. For Bacon, it seems that this situation tarnished
Devitto’s ﬁrture relationships with the faculty. “After that time, Devitto was not willing
to get close to a faculty member.”

This certainly was a signiﬁcant challenge in Devitto’s early days as president. In
some ways, the process of allowing faculty authority and the ability to lead was the
ultimate challenge. Devitto’s style would not allow this. His decision to challenge the

process resulted in a strong autocratic leader for the next two decades.

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Innovation in Technolpn and Engm’ eering

While the decision to bring in a computer network in the dorms inspired a shared
vision, it is also an example of how Devitto challenged the process. O’Brien remembers
that “it was a signiﬁcant step for us promotionally and to better serve our students.” For
Devitto, it was a decision to be innovative and to be on the ﬁont-edge of the technology
curve in education. It was certainly a risk but one that paid off. At that time, it was on
the front-edge of the technology focus for colleges. In fact, IBM used them as a
showcase school for their innovation in this area.

Not only was Devitto innovative in this decision, he also took the same risk with
the nursing and engineering programs. During a time when many colleges were dropping
their expensive nursing programs, Devitto pushed to add this program. Quickly it
became one of the programs that attracted many new students to the university. This was
certainly a risk for the college since nursing programs can be expensive programs to
operate because of the resources needed. However, it was risk that helped to fuel
Capemaum’s growth.

He also brought in a new academic vice president to not only provide needed
leadership but to also begin the engineering program. Walker said, “Devitto was looking
at our market in Christian higher education and its reach. He wanted to see the Christian
inﬂuence in engineering. He saw the need.” There were only a couple of other Christian
colleges that had an engineering program and neither one of them were located in the
same region of the country as Capernaum. Devitto was willing to take the risk. He

sought to be innovative and to be on the front-edge. What resulted were innovations in

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programs that helped to put Capernaum University on the map. These programs fueled

the continued growth and created momentum.

From the “Old” System to the “New”

Most colleges and universities are on the two semester system for the academic
calendar. Not Capernaum University; they were on the “old” quarter system. Campbell
recalls that in the 60’s the university went from semesters to quarters. In fact, most
colleges in the state had the same quarter system. However, during the next 40 years,
many colleges would change to many different structures. Capernaum held on their
quarter system as one of only a few with this system.

Devitto did not want to put this critical change on the plate of the new president.
As he anticipated his retirement, Devitto decided to move forward on this issue. He set
up three different task teams that were involved in various aspect of a study to examine
the pro’s and con’s of this change.

Some faculty did not want to make this change. However, Devitto knew that he
had to challenge this familiar system and move ahead to be on par with other universities.
Walker said that “he did not take a faculty vote and some felt that he should do this.”
However, Devitto never allowed votes to be taken. He was the decision maker and the
leader. He did not want to leave this decision for the new president and had sufficient
information from the study to make the change. “He had to evaluate all of the programs
and he did it well. There was a lot of work and questions. The faculty were split. The

change impacted all aspects of the school,” said Campbell.

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For some, this seemed to be a risk for Devitto. In some ways, it really wasn’t
innovative. It was one of those decisions that had to be made since there were only a few
colleges that still had this academic calendar. The risk focused on the impact that it
would have on faculty and the changes that would need to be made in the academic
schedule. It would involve the expenditure of resources, both time and money, to make

this change. Yet, it would result in little innovation for the university.

A Disgmptled Denomination and the Relationship with a New One

Since its early days, Capernaum had been associated with a conservative,
fundamental church denominational group. While it did not call itself a denomination, it
was more of an association of about 1,600 churches. In the early 19005 a group of
churches separated from a mainline denomination because it felt that it was drifting
toward liberalism and away from the frmdamentals of the faith. This new association had
about ﬁve colleges that were “approved” by the leadership. This approval gave
Capernaum access to the association meetings and acted as an endorsement of the
college.

Devitto was part of this association of churches. In fact, for many years, he
served on their leadership council. He preached in their churches. Their pastors served
on the Capernaum board and spoke in chapel. The university enrolled their students. It
was a good relationship. Capernaum was looked upon as the “favored” liberal arts
college in the association because of Devitto’s relationship with them. For twenty-ﬁve

years, this relationship thrived. That is, until the end of Devitto’s tenure.

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Toward the end of his presidency, Devitto began to develop a relationship with a
mainline denomination that ﬁt the conservative theological and lifestyle positions of the
university. Two board of trustees were pastors in this denomination. Devitto began to
discuss the potential relationship between the university and this denomination in a more
formal way. In fact, they came to Capernaum asking how they could cooperate in a
greater way with the university (Goodman). He believed that their endorsement would
help to attract additional students to the university. This would be seen as a “win-win”
for the university and the denomination since they did not have a college to recommend
in this region of the country.

What Devitto did not realize that this would put his relationship with the
sponsoring association in jeopardy. This became a signiﬁcant issue at their annual
conference. The Cormcil had decided to vote Capernaum out. The reason for this was
their new association with this other denomination. They believed in a rigid view of
separation—a separation from all groups and churches that did not take this same stand.
At the conference, this issue became personal to Devitto. He had poured his life into this
association of churches. He was one of them. Yet, in a moment, they were moving to
separate ﬁ'om him and the university he led.

O’Brien believed that Devitto “hurt because he did not have as much inﬂuence in
the association as he thought he had. He invested time with the leader and thought that
they would follow his lead. However, they did not click on this one. Perhaps this might
have been a signiﬁcant challenge to his faith. The relationship with the new
denomination embraced him.” He further elaborated on this that Devitto had defended

this association for twenty-ﬁve years and now the bottom line for this decision to oust

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them from the association was jealousy. Devitto was deﬁnitely concerned by what result
the cause of Christ would be damaged by this petty bickering. Devitto wanted
Capemaum to withdraw from the association but his board would not allow him to do
this. Instead, they decided to let the association make the decision which was better
politically for the university.

Reﬂecting with Devitto who was still in the midst of this issue in his new role as
chancellor, he felt that they “came unglued about this new relationship. The council
chose to vote us out and it did not go well with the messengers ﬁ'om the churches at the
annual conference. The messengers did not accept it.” It created quite a controversy that
Devitto never expected or anticipated. However, it was a risk worth taking by moving
from a close-minded dying association of churches to a thriving and leading

denominational group.

Enable Others to Act

Enabling others to act is one of the ﬁve practices of exemplary leadership.
Kouzes and Posner believe that is essential. Leaders do this in two ways. First, leaders
foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. In other words,
collaboration is about a team working together to accomplish a shared goal. Secondly,
the leader strengthens others by sharing power and discretion. It is not about “the” leader
possessing all of the power but that it can be dispersed and shared throughout the
organization.

For Devitto, he enabled others to act in several ways but he was always the clear

decision maker. There was a feeling of ownership and shared power, however Devitto

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held the ultimate authority and was not afraid to use it. He describes it this way, “Early
on I was very precipitous; but over time I learned to get more input.”

In the case of the decision to move forward with the engineering program, for
example, he utilized a committee to get faculty input on the program. This planning and
study process took about 18 months. Although the committee took a straw vote, this was
the closest they would come to making a decision. Ultimately, this was Devitto’s
decision to make.

Rudlow summed up Devitto’s leadership in this way. “He leads, not by hiding
information for the employees, but by sharing with them, for example, the budget
process, the strategic plan, where we are going, what it’s going to cost, how we plan to
get there, and what part they each play in the plan. He empowers people by letting them
handle their own areas of oversight without micro-managing.” Through Devitto’s

leadership, he enabled others to act in their area of responsibility.

Woﬂg’ with his Vice Presidents
One of the reasons why Capernaum has been so successful in its growth and

development is the long-term commitment of the administrative team. During his
twenty-ﬁve years as president, Devitto had a strong relationship with his vice presidents
who reciprocated with many years of service in their respective positions. Devitto’s
philosophy with them was, “if you invest your life at Capernaum then we will take care
of you.” At least three of my interviews were with vice presidents who had served for
more than 20 years and retired from this position. Devitto then cared for them by giving

them a part-time position representing the college in some way.

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The vice presidents knew his heart and his commitment to them. However, it
wasn’t always easy. One vice president remembers an administrative council meeting
early on. He moved that we need to vote. However, according to Goodman, Devitto
responded, “you don’t vote, I make the decisions.” This changed over the years
especially when some of the pressures came. Devitto would say to them, “I need to know
what to do. I value your insights.”

Two of the vice presidents had close relationships with Devitto. The vice
president for business and the vice president for advancement would talk to Devitto
almost everyday. Perhaps it was because Devitto was so focused on numbers, budgets,
and capital campaigns that he felt so closely connected to these two men. Austin said
that Devitto “would say things to them that he would never say to others. We were able
to see a more intimate side of him than the others.”

The academic vice president seemed to have much more autonomy in his area.
Devitto was not one who came up through the academic ranks to the position of
president. He knew that leading the academic area was not his specialty. He allowed his
vice president to lead in this area and he was ﬂee to manage the academic division.
Through his leadership, the university added 35 new majors and 203 faculty over 16
years. The academic vice president had a good relationship with Devitto and always kept
him informed. He never wanted Devitto to be surprised, always told him of potential
problems, and gave him solutions.

Another vice president saw it somewhat differently. As a newer member of the
administrative team, Rinker was not sure how to “read” Devitto at times. He felt that he

was one step away ﬁom being ﬁred if he messed up. However, he knew that Devitto’s

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“bark was much worse than his bite.” What helped him most to endure Devitto’s
leadership was a close relationship he had with the other vice presidents. He could get
their support and could “vent” to one another. Devitto enabled him to act in his areas but
he felt that he felt on the edge if something went wrong. It seemed difﬁcult at times to
work for a president who expected perfection, especially since no one was perfect, not
even Devitto.

One of his vice presidents had a close relationship with the president. Devitto
enjoyed numbers and would check in with him every two weeks about the enrollment
numbers. “He would stop in to talk about the numbers. He is a ‘big number’s guy’. This
activates him.” O’Brien enjoyed this close relationship and this motivated him to act in
his area. The trust was there between them. O’Brien had attended Capernaum for his
undergraduate degree and then began working at Capernaum in the admissions office.
He would continue to grow and take on additional responsibility. Devitto had conﬁdence
in him and eventually promoted him to vice president. For O’Brien, Devitto was one of
three men who played a signiﬁcant role in his life development. Even though the
relationship was close, he was never able to confront him personally. There was always
an interpersonal distance. “That was just him.” Over the years Devitto became more
gracious, as O’Brien reﬂected, “We did not have to be so perfect anymore.”

Gaines, who was involved in the communication and radio production area,
remembers that Devitto allowed him to do his job. Devitto did not have the expertise in
radio so “didn’t look over his shoulder.” The former president had a great love for radio.
Devitto allowed him the opportunity to grow in his situation and work in his area of

expertise. One of the things Devitto did was to invest in additional resources to record

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chapels. Since this was so important to him, Gaines was able to put the chapels on the

radio for the listeners to enjoy.

Working with Faculg and Staff
The faculty and staff had a much more distanced relationship with Devitto. While

he enabled them to do their job, he had high expectations for them. He usually did not
get involved in their area unless someone wasn’t living up to his expectations. For
Campbell, he said that Devitto had a “Imack for giving you a job and letting you do it.”
The job for Campbell was to develop a mission’s program for the students.

Some faculty were critical of Devitto. Bacon, a faculty member, said that there
was a “cadre that were critical of him and sometimes expressed this to students.”
However, this usually did not go well. In one situation, the professor responsible for the
student newspaper differed with the president on its purpose. Devitto felt that the
newspaper should be a “PR” piece. However, the professor believed in a journalistic
approach for the students. Devitto won, and the faculty member stepped down ﬁom his
position with the newspaper. In this case, the faculty member was not able to act in his
area because of the expectations that Devitto had for this area. “Devitto said that this is
the way it will be.”

Other faculty felt that his style enabled the campus to grow and develop.
Capernaum needed a strong leader to make things happen. However, several of the
faculty were ready for a change in leadership at the announcement of Devitto’s

retirement. It seemed that the time for his strong, assertive, and often controlling

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leadership helped to transform the campus. Now, a different kind of leader was needed
to take the university forward.

For Fuller, she handled many of the special events that Devitto had with campus
guests and donors. This was a position in which Devitto expected perfection. She knew
what he wanted and knew that the unexpected always happened. She wasn’t hampered
by his demands and always tried to do the best that she could. At times she could sense
his displeasure. She remembered spelling the name of a donor wrong on his name tag.
This was the last time that she made this mistake.

Simon remembers being called to Devitto’s office. He knew that he had really
blown it bad and went with great fear and trembling. A woman had applied from the
local town. The university had done business with her parent’s company and Devitto felt
a strong sense of connection. She was also getting connected to the church in town. Her
mother had made it known that she was not happy since she had been denied admission
to the university. Simon expected the worse. However, “Devitto was so gracious about
the situation. He did not hammer me. He said that I had done a lot of good things and he
let me off. He demonstrated a lot of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.” What could have
been a situation that could have destroyed an “up and coming” young professional,
Simon walked away with a greater respect for and trust in Devitto.

One of his long-time staff members, Rudlow, summed it up this way: “Devitto is
a leader who lives out his faith, models a godly life, is transparent about his own
struggles, and thus, garners trust. People will more easily follow a leader they trust,

especially when they cannot know all the reasons why he makes one decision or

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another.” Devitto was certainly trusted and respected throughout his 25 years as

president of Capernaum.

Encourage the Heart

“Encourage the Heart” is the last leadership practice that Kouzes and Posner
discuss. They suggest that leaders encourage the heart by recognizing the contributions
by showing appreciation for individual excellence. They also suggest that the leader
creates a spirit of community by celebrating the values and victories of the people and the
organization.

Devitto believed that this was the most important aspect of his leadership legacy.
He felt that it was more important than the growth and the dollars raised for the buildings.
What was most important was for him to “honor God, students and faculty.” And what
became most satisfying was his impact on students. The reason Devitto did what he did
as president was for the students. This was what was most satisfying for Devitto. And

now, as he reﬂects back, this is what he misses the most in his young retirement.

A Pastor of the People

“Jesus genuinely cared for His people.” As Devitto talked, he expressed that this
was how he attempted to operate as president. He had the vision and inspiration of an
evangelist. But he had the heart of a pastor for his people. He would minister one-on-
one, visit, send notes, and give of himself to his people. Reeves believed that Devitto

“took care of his people and this came out of his belief in biblical truth.”

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To be a pastor of the people, Devitto cared for his people. A signiﬁcant portion of
his time was focused on developing relationships with donors and trustees. On
Thanksgiving morning every year Devitto would call the major Capernaum donors and
thank them for their gifts to Capernaum (Rosen). On his bookcase in his office, he had a
picture from a bass ﬁshing trip with a couple of trustees.

A faculty member commented on how much concern Devitto had for their
children. On a road trip there were two situations that Devitto contacted adult children to
minister in their lives. This happened to Campbell and his adult daughter. She was
struggling with cancer. While Devitto drove to Florida, he would call him every 100
miles to ﬁnd out how she was doing on a day of surgery.

Campbell reﬂected on this when one of Devitto’s best ﬁiends was unfaithﬁrl with
his wife. “He wept and then he got in his car to go and challenge this guy. He was an
active participant in people’s lives.” In another similar situation, a faculty member was
involved in an immoral relationship with a student. Devitto got involved and confronted
the issue. He then became directly involved in trying to save the family and the marriage.
He was a pastor to his people even when they failed. In this case, according to Rudlow,
“Devitto would ﬁnd a way and the marriage stayed together.”

To show students he cared, Rosen said that “Devitto would visit every room from
6pm until midnight during the Christmas dorm open houses. He was PR focused and he
wanted to let students know he cared.” Students were a primary focus for Devitto even
though it was more of a “platform” relationship than personal.

Not only did Devitto “pastor” the Capernaum family, he also reached out to others

around him. At a local country club Devitto connected with a retired dentist with a bad

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mouth. Through this relationship, as Rudlow recalled, this man became “enamored with
Capernaum and he wrote a $10,000 check to the university. They became fast friends
and yet he did not know the Lord. In fact, he would even come to chapel every
Monday.” Devitto reached out to anyone that crossed his path. On this man’s 80th
birthday, Devitto gave him a “big” Bible. “He thinks Capernaum is the best and I know

he has to see a difference here.”

Dealing with Death

Death can be a difﬁcult tragedy to deal with, especially on a university campus.
Devitto will be well remembered for how he used the death of a student, faculty, staff, or
other person to honor people and encourage the heart. So many of those interviewed
remembered times during his presidency when someone died.

Goodman remembered when a maintenance worker died. He initially was
seriously injured in an accident on campus. Devitto called a day of prayer to focus on
this man’s healing. He lived for thirteen days. When he passed away, Devitto led a
memorial service that was “phenomenal.” Money poured in to help his surviving family.
Devitto had the ability to step into a difficult situation and led the entire campus through
the tragedy of death.

In the early 90s several students were lost to automobile accidents. Fuller
remembered a special relationship that Devitto had with one of these students. He was an
illustrator for the campus newspaper. He had drawn an illustration earlier that showed

the brevity of life. The caption said, “Life is but a vapor.” Devitto used this at the

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memorial service to encourage the hearts of students to make the most of everyday. “He
had the unique gift of helping people sort through difﬁcult issues.”

One of the toughest times for Devitto was dealing with the suicide of two faculty
members at different times. During the memorial service he honored the families. With
the students, he helped them understand suicide. He said, “Christians can get depressed
and be in a state of camality. Sometime it is a medical condition that affects a person’s
desire to live. Through this Devitto helped people to heal and resolve the issue.” He
reassured them that there was no reason not to believe that this professor is not in heaven.
Anderson remembers him saying that “suicide is a selﬁsh act and it brings about great
grief. It is a dreadful thing to do but you shouldn’t judge this man.”

Not only did Devitto lead funerals for the Capernaum family, he would also be
called on to lead the funeral of people in the community if there was a death in the
family. His ministry with the poorest guy in town or the corporate guy enabled him to
reach people during the most difﬁcult days.

Through these crises moments Devitto “seemed to know the right thing to say.
This speaks well of his leadership,” according to Anderson. It also speaks well of his

ability to encourage the heart of the people around him.

Building up the CommM’ in Chaml
One of the most signiﬁcant legacies that Devitto will leave behind at Capernaum

is his focus on chapel. Rudlow said that through “Dr. Devitto speaking in chapel every

Monday morning, with a few exceptions, has been a great leadership tool. Faculty and

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staff as well as students hear him preach, sense his heart, know his direction, receive
common challenges which unite the university family.”

Jones and Blackwell remembered the “dandelion” message that Devitto would
give every year. In this message, he would talk about the only time to that we should
walk in the grass is to pick them. Devitto did not like them on campus. The dandelion
represented sin. Essentially, just as we attempt to get rid of dandelions in the grass, we
need to get rid of the sin in our lives. This visual reminder brought the community
together in this setting as “chapel was a major contact point for him,” according to
Blackwell.

Most will remember the closing song that Devitto often used, “Christ is all I
need.” In a sense, this summarized his faith and brought the community together at
Capernaum. Regardless of what anyone was going through or dealing with, Christ is the
only one that they needed. This was his connecting point with the entire Capernaum
community. Through this time, he “touched and changed lives” (Simon). He was a
gifted man in front of the group as he encouraged the hearts of many students, faculty and
staff.

“Call me Collect”

Devitto used to always tell the students to call him collect if they were in trouble
or needed help. In fact, Devitto is known for this throughout his days at Capernaum. His
heart commitment was for him to be accessible to the students in their time of need. On
one occasion a student locked his keys in his car in a city that was about 45 minutes

away. This student took Devitto up on his offer. He called him collect and Devitto

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accepted the call. Devitto told him that he would send security to help him get his keys
out of the car. On several other occasions throughout his years as president, he would
have students call him. Each time, they took him up on his offer, their moment of need
was met, and their heart was encouraged through Devitto’s reassurance that he would
help them.

Devitto was a president who encouraged the heart of the people at Capernaum
University. This permeated his stage presence and ﬂowed out into his personal
interactions with the people. His words were more than just words, but they were the

heart and soul of his leadership practice.

The Inﬂuence of Faith on Devitto’s Leadership Practice
Devitto reﬂected on the difference that faith makes in leadership practice. He

believes that non-Christians, or those with differing faith perspectives, are good at what
they do. Another president can be just as successful in his or her leadership position as a
president that has a Christian faith. However, as Devitto expressed, the difference is
“driven by the mission.” As a Christian university, Capernaum has a distinct Christian
mission and thus requires a leader who is committed to this same faith.

For Devitto, there are several areas of his leadership practice that are inﬂuenced
by his faith. First, Devitto was driven by his passion for evangelism. In fact, he saw this
as most important in his presidency. He was an evangelist ﬁrst, and president second.
He utilized his position as the platform to share the Christian message to students and to
the community. This emphasis is a result of his experiences prior to accepting the

position of president.

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Secondly, his emphasis on evangelism was closely connected to his role as a
pastor to the university community. He was the spiritual leader and he demonstrated this
daily at the university. By placing such an important on chapel and preaching once a
week, he was viewed as the pastor to the people. He was gifted in his ability to
communicate publicly and to draw people into a faith commitment. Also, in his pastoral
role, he demonstrated great care and concern for the people. Through his presence at
difficult times such as the death of a student, Devitto could carefully lead the grieving
community through a tragedy and direct the people to his God. He also was willing to
help people in times of need and he did anything he could to help those around him.

Third, Devitto was a leader that utilized his rhetoric to promote his spiritual
values. He had several phrases that summarized his beliefs and also demonstrated his
faith in God. It was from these value statements that he operated ﬁ'om and also rallied a
university community towards.

Fourth, Devitto placed signiﬁcance on the chapel program. While this was his
platform to be the pastor of the students, this was also a place to measure the spiritual
effectiveness of the university. And perhaps, it was also the place to measure the
spiritual intensity of the university with its Christian mission.

Devitto was a man of faith and he sought to let this commitment inﬂuence his
leadership practice. While some were critical of his style and his focus on nice things, he
desired to build a university that would be pleasing to the God he served. His faith
commitment led him to passionately pursue excellence in so many areas at Capernaum
University. This will be his lasting legacy and future generations will enjoy the

accomplishments he made during his presidency.

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CHAPTER SIX

DR. NATHAN BUNTON - BETHSAIDA COLLEGE

Introduction

I remember visiting Bethsaida College when I was a college student. The
university I attended played this college in athletics and I remember driving to Bethsaida
to watch a basketball game with some friends. I don’t remember much except that it was
very dark, the year was 1988, the gym was small, and we lost.

This time around I arrived early on Monday morning in the Spring. It was a
wonderﬁrl day in this early part of the new season for the Midwest. As I parked my car, I
realimd that this college been through signiﬁcant growth and change. New buildings and
freshly paved parking lots dotted the campus.

This campus is located in an urban area within an hour of one of the top ﬁve
major population centers in the United States. In the shadows of a large and prestigious
private university in the same area, Bethsaida College had climbed its way up from the
brink of closure to the presence of a growing and thriving church-related institution. The
heart and soul of this growth came from the leadership of the president during the past
ﬁfteen years, Dr. Nathan Bunton.

It would be a perfect time to spend three days on the campus. Bunton was
reﬂective of his tenure as he was just two months away ﬁ'orn retirement. The new
president had been selected ﬁom a national search. The one chosen to succeed Bunton

was his vice president for advancement, one who had served with him during his-entire

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tenure. The new president would be coming in to a much better situation then when

Bunton came into the college 15 years ago.

Bethsaida Collgge

Bethsaida College is one of two colleges originally associated with a small church
denominational group. While the other college was a Bible College and ended up
merging with another Christian university in the same state, Bethsaida College is the
liberal arts educational arm of this church group. Its mission clearly states the afﬁliation
of the college with this church group: “Bethsaida College is a Christian Community of
scholars and learners dedicated to building lives of commitment for leadership in the
church, the nation and the world. Bethsaida provides liberating academic programs to
challenge the mind, to enlarge the vision and to equip the whole person for lifelong
service.”

The College was closely inﬂuenced by the church. The denomination was highly
inﬂuenced by the Pietist and Holiness movements which found great meaning in camp
and revival meetings. Speciﬁcally in this church movement, great emphasis was placed
on a second crisis experience, sometime after salvation, in one’s faith that brought one
closer to God. Overseas missions were a driving motivation and evangelism was a way
of preparing for the imminent return of Christ.

Founded in 1947, with only about 60 years in its brief history, Bethsaida College
nearly faced closure in the mid-80’s. Declining student enrollment and morale had
brought the college to the brink of bankruptcy. In the mid-808, the College President had

been a pastor. Without much experience in business or managerial areas, he led this

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college down this road of miss-management and created many issues for the college. The
morale was bad and the admissions ofﬁce was accepting anyone who had a pulse. In
effect, the overall spiritual atmosphere of the College had declined so much that the
Church viewed Bethsaida as a party school. Obviously, this was a negative view of a
College that is supposed to train the young people ﬁom its churches.

On the edge of shutting its doors, the Board made a decision to move in a
different direction with the leadership. As the Board moved through the search process,
it decided upon a man who had been at the College several years earlier as the Dean of
Students. He had seen the College in its better days and they believed that he would be
the one to “right the ship.” And “With Christ at the helm,” as their college motto,
Bethsaida would experience at signiﬁcant turnaround and transformation through the

leadership of Dr. Nathan Bunton.

The Formative Years of Nathan Bunton

Born in the upper Midwest in the late 305 without indoor plumbing in his home,
Bunton remembers moving all over his home state. His father was a pastor and he
ministered in several churches throughout the state. One particular move was tough on
him. He remembers being mean to his parents when they moved between his eight and
ninth grade years. It was a difficult time for his leaving his ﬁiends and moving to a new
area. Bunton said, “I was a very angry young man for two years.” His anger was
directed at his parents for moving at such a critical time in his adolescence.

In his senior year of high school he recalls this as two or three signiﬁcant times

where God dealt with his heart. He knew that he had to let go of his anger if he was

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going to move on so that God could use him. This was a deﬁnitive time for him
spiritually.

During his upbringing, Bunton attended the denominational camp of his church.
This was an important time for him spiritually and socially. They brought in speakers
from all over the country. He was there every summer from the time when he was a
child. The camp and its leaders inﬂuenced him in his college decision. He had received
a full scholarship to stay in his home state. However, he gave this up so that he could go
to Bethsaida College. Little did he know that he would actually return to his alma mater
as president several years later after God had prepared him for the challenges that lay
ahead.

Toward the end of his college years, he married a young woman who was also
enrolled as a student at Bethsaida. They both were trained as English teachers and taught
in a public school in his home state after graduation. A few years later they relocated
across the state in order for him to pursue his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in higher
education.

After completing his Ph.D., he was on his way to interview at another Christian
university when he decided to stop back at Bethsaida College. Ironically enough, they
were searching for a Dean of Students. He decided to pursue this position and was
offered the job. He returned Bethsaida the ﬁrst time as Dean of Students where he served
for ﬁve years and then two years as Vice President for Administration. He then decided
to teach history and psychology. This helped him to learn to look at things from the

faculty perspective.

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Leaving Bethsaida and Going to a Bible Collgge
Bunton had a friend who worked at another Bible College. He had asked him

twice to come out for a visit, to encourage him to consider coming out to the college to
work. Then, when he was on vacation, the chairman of the board called and asked him if
he would consider being a candidate for president. His wife believed that they should do
this. As he went through the search process and ultimately accepted the position, he
knew that he would give up ﬁiends and the comfortableness they had with this familiar
area. Instead, they would move out to the wilderness to a college that was 65 miles from
the nearest McDonalds. Now, that’s what one calls sacriﬁce.

“My ﬁrst year out there was the most difficult The college had tied up all of its
resources in a bond and there was no cash. No one really knew that this was a problem. I
remember going to the bankers thinking that the Lord that brought me out here to be a
failure.” However, Bunton knew that while the situation might be difﬁcult, God had
brought him out there for a purpose. “God led us here and I was determined to serve
him.”

And then, the miraculous began to happen for the college’s ﬁnances. “I can’t tell
you where the money came from but people just started to come in with it. There was an
old family connected to the college without a penny to their name. The husband came in
with a check for $10,000.” In another example, he remembers a widow who found oil on
her family property. Other people mortgaged their houses to help the college. An elderly
couple with an error in their books received $1,000 that they gave to the college.

While I sat in his office, Bunton was visibly and emotionally moved remembering

these difﬁcult yet amazing days. “Going through that brokenness and seeing God work

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changed me in a powerful way. That little college should have never succeeded.” Yet,
God had brought him there for a reason—to see that God could restore a college on the
brink of closure.

Bunton spent nine years as president of this Bible College. After growing weary
in his last few years with the college as they continued to “hang on by their teeth,” he
decided to leave. He was involved in two presidential searches with other colleges but
was not offered either position.

One event precipitated his leaving this college, according to Bunton. “There was
a young man from Kenya at the college. At the end of his ﬁrst year he had a bad cough.
We took him to a doctor and had a biopsy done. The cancer was malignant. We then
made arrangements to get him home. A nurse went with him. He arrived at 7:00 am.
and then died at 8:00 pm. the same day. This death impacted me since there was another
man in town who got cancer. He was a real rascal and he got well. For the better part of
a year I found it difﬁcult to pray.” Bunton struggled with God’s fairness and this brought
confusion to his faith.

Just before he made the decision to leave, he felt the need to pray again. He
began praying the Lord’s Prayer. It was also at this time that he read, The Lord of the
Rings trilogy. What was the signiﬁcance in all of this for him? “I saw the need to go on
when you don’t see the light—to walk with faith when you don’t know.” God then led
him ﬁom this Bible College. Instead of ﬁnding a presidency, he took a position as Vice
President for Advancement at another Christian college. This position gave him the
experience he needed in the fundraising area that would help fuel his ﬁnal and ultimate

leadership opportunity.

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Back to His Alma Mater

A few years later while he was serving as vice president of advancement, the
position of president opened at Bethsaida College and another college similar in doctrine
and his church background. He did not think that the board would want to invite him
back to his alma mater for the second time. However, he interviewed on campus and
during this time he recalled what Bethsaida used to be like—the vibrancy, the life, and
the hope of a strong future. He even had a house still in the area. Bunton was asked to
come back, this time, as president. In Bunton words, “God had opened a door to come
back.” Through his previous challenges and experiences, he would be prepared to lead
Bethsaida to great renewal and turnaround.

However, it would not be easy. The previous president had not managed the
college very well. Bunton recalls that the college was in trouble, “They had lost the
dorms and there were only 80 students on campus.” The spiritual atmosphere of the
college that he remembered as Dean of Students was gone and the college was in danger
of closing. Spellman, one of the current vice presidents, who went to Bethsaida as a
student during this time said, “As a student I did not know that it was the dark days.”
Yet, for those “in the know,” this was the darkest of days for Bethsaida. Bunton’s
struggles as president at the Bible College would provide him the experience and the
preparation he needed for the challenges he would face at Bethsaida.

Prior to Bunton coming to Bethsaida, Elliot had been given the position of senior
vice president and Coyle as the Vice President of Advancement. These were two key
personnel decisions made by the previous leadership that would help prepare the way for

Bunton’s presidency. These two vice presidents would become part of the team that

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would shape Bethsaida College into the thriving institution that it is today. Ironically,
Elliot was a candidate to the presidency. According to a former student involved in the
student search committee, Spellman said “the students thought that Dennis should have
gotten the position.” Although, in retrospect, it seems that the decision to hire Bunton
was the correct decision because of the turnaround the college experienced.

The College lacked strong leadership, however, prior to the arrival of Bunton.
Like a ship without a rudder, the college had little or no direction. Wagner said, “When
Bunton came to the college it was about to go under. He had to take forceful leadership
in every situation by necessity.” Young, another administrator, said, “Bunton was
exactly what the college needed in 1989 because the college was ready to close down.
The downside is that I had to get approval for the color to paint the rooms or tree
trimming on campus.” His biggest fault is that he has to be involved in even the little
decisions (Slanski).

Bunton came in with a leadership style that put him in charge of all decisions at
Bethsaida. In fact, for the ﬁrst year and a half, he signed all of the checks (Cornwell).
Frank said, “Bunton wants to know everything going on. He kept his thumb on
everything.” Some viewed this micro-managing as good for the particular time and
context of the College. Apparently, this leadership style was what was needed for this
college to turn around.

His micro-managing style did not impact everyone. Samon said, “I frequently
hear that he micro-manages. From my experience, this is not the case. He trusts people
to do their job and really counts on them doing their work.” As Bunton had conﬁdence in

one’s particular role and responsibility, he loosened the grip of his control although he

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always liked to be informed. Emerson said, “If he has conﬁdence in you, he will give
you a great deal of scope and ﬁeedom. He has a functional trust in people.”

Nothing was too small for him as he was a servant to the college and to his
responsibilities to the people. Bunton takes a personal interest in every little thing. For
example, according to Graves, when the Fine Arts building opened, he went out to buy a
rope to rope off the dignitaries. He was willing to serve the institution in any way
possible.

With his involvement in every decision, Bunton focused on stewardship. From
his days as president at the Bible College, he had to count on all resources as important.
Harrington said, “Bunton understands the value of every dollar and the wonderful
sacriﬁcial gift. This makes him a wise and careful of the resources of the college. He has
never taken for granted that Bethsaida is in better shape ﬁnancially than it has ever been.”
Coming into the ﬁnancial challenges at the Bible College had given him the preparation

he now needed the second time around at Bethsaida.

Quiet Man of Faith

As a man small in stature, Bunton carried himself in a quiet and humble way. His
presence was not overpowering or intimidating. However, he certainly had the
conﬁdence in who he was and the responsibility he had. Bunton had the respect of the
people. They knew he was a man of faith even though he didn’t “wear it on his sleeve or
have a ‘billboard’ faith” (Samon). He consistently lived out his faith in God by how he
dealt with people. Based on his upbringing in a pastor’s home, Bunton had the heart of a

pastor as he demonstrated his care and concern with the people. His faith was

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demonstrated over and over for how he treated people and often gave second chances
when others may have given up.

Bunton was never the kind of leader who needed the spotlight or the limelight.
While he attended chapel, he rarely spoke. While he always led and was the gate keeper
for most institutional decisions, he was not ﬂashy or charismatic in his personality. He
had an abiding faith in God that drove his passion for Bethsaida College. He wanted to
see his alma mater thrive and succeed rather than close its doors. For the next ﬁfteen
years, this man of faith would pour his heart and soul back into Bethsaida College leading
it to become one of the fastest growing Christian colleges in the nation.

Bunton would face several leadership challenges during his tenure as president.
First and foremost, Bunton faced the challenge of turning around the college to get it on a
healthy path of growth. In order to grow, he had to deal with the spiritual condition and
morale of the college. Bunton believed that this focus would lead to a total turnaround in
the college. Enrollment growth, donations, and new buildings would all follow.

Later on in his tenure, Bunton faced another signiﬁcant challenge. A one million
dollar mistake had been made in the books and this shortfall would impact the budget.
These types of ﬁnancial crises can deliver difﬁcult “blows” to small Christian colleges.
Even with the remarkable growth and momentum, this challenge loomed as a potential
morale buster. Bunton faced this challenge “head-on” and led the college away ﬁ'om this
miscalculation and its resultant ﬁnancial impact to renewed strength.

During these challenges and throughout his presidency, Bunton would turn to the

God he served. His faith in God kept him motivated and focused on the challenges that

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were before him as he knew that ultimately this was God’s college, not his. He was just a

faithful servant who God was choosing to use to lead this College.

Model the Way

According to Kouzes and Posner, the ﬁrst principle of an exemplary leader is to
“model the way.” This modeling ﬁrst begins as the leader understands who he is in an
attempt to clarify one’s personal values. The leader has to be willing to be involved in
self-examination and self-reﬂection. Then, the leader sets the example by aligning these
actions with these values.

As a leader, Bunton’s modeled the way during this tenure in several ways. First,
he sought to not only focus on his own faith but to model this to the entire college
community by promoting a spiritual agenda early on in his presidency. Secondly, Bunton
valued other people. He had great care and concern for people because of his upbringing
in a pastor’s home and he reached out to others in a redemptive nature. Third, he
modeled the way when he dealt with the adverse ﬁnancial challenge of the one million
dollar mistake. He accepted responsibility for this oversight, even though he could have
blamed someone else, and offered to resign. Finally, in the hiring process, he modeled
his commitment to the future of the institution by being involved in every interview as

the protector of the mission and the faith-centered values of the college.

A S iritual enda

When he arrived, Bunton knew that the challenge would be great. However, he

knew that God had led him there for the purpose of leading this college. Bunton told

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God, “There have been a lot of other people who have asked for your help. And God,
you know I need your help. I knew that I was not ultimately responsible for the college.
I simply did the best that I could. You know, it is kind of freaky to know that it is God’s
project and not yours.” Because of this, Bunton brought a spiritual agenda that be
modeled in his own personal life.

Bunton was not the charismatic or extroverted Christian leader that one might
typically see in a Christian college—the type of leader who is able to “woo the crowds”
with his eloquent words. However, while Bunton’s faith was not externally oriented, it
was internally motivated. This is what the faculty and staff of Bethsaida College
witnessed for ﬁfteen years.

For Emerson, he had a close relationship with Bunton over the years. He knew
that Bunton had a genuine personal devotional life. Bunton learned to read widely and to
apply it to his devotional life. Yet, this personal devotional life was kept private (Renter).
During this time he would build his faith and trust in God. The experiences that he had
walked through before also helped to shape his faith in God and his resultant leadership.
God was faithful to him and He blessed him. Pyles said, “Faith isn’t something that he
just puts on for the crowd; it is who he is.”

Graves said, “It is hard to separate his faith ﬁom his leadership. It is just there.
He lives out his faith 24 hours a day as he is always a man of fai .” Not only is his faith
there, but it shows through in everything he does (Morgan). He leads by example and he
has conﬁdence in his faith. In fact, Aristolli said that “you get the sense that his

underlying conﬁdence is rooted in his faith and in his God, rather than in himself. This

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attitude permeates the institution. We know that God is in control and we rely upon Him
for everything.”

Bunton’s faith was certainly noticed by the faculty and staff at Bethsaida
Because of this commitment, he came in with a spiritual agenda for the college. Bunton
believed that if the College was going to turnaround, then it had to begin with the
spiritual environment.

His spiritual agenda focused on the chapel program. While many Christian
colleges were de-emphasizing the emphasis on chapel, Bunton placed his focus on this
program. However, Bunton did not assume the platform. He did not attempt to use gifts
that were not his own. Instead, be relied upon the charisma of his vice president for
student development to provide the “up-ﬁont” presence in chapel. While Dennis
provided the spiritual energy in front of the student body, Bunton provided the overall
support and leadership for this critical part of the Bethsaida community.

This became his ﬁrst point of emphasis at Bethsaida. Frank said, “Bunton gave
life a freshness that we needed. It was a dead campus in the 80’s and he knew that the
spiritual aspect must be cared for. He made chapel something about our spiritual lives
and it became relevant to the students as an 18-19 year old event.”

Bunton was always at chapel even though he hardly spoke to the group. He
would, however, use the ﬁrst and last chapels of the year to speak. Comwell said that
“when he speaks in chapel, you can sense the seriousness and extent and depth of his
faith.” He just wasn’t the pastor type to captivate a crowd. “He would pull up a stool
and tell stories. It wasn’t really a sermon but more of a dialogue. And he always kept it

short” (Moon). Reuter wished that Bunton would have had a stronger presence on the

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chapel platform because he believed the president excels in that image. Sometimes, it is
less in the words that one uses in front of the group to express one’s faith, but it is the
ongoing consistency that the Bethsaida community saw as Bunton modeled the way by

setting this spiritual agenda.

Mode_lr_ng’ Redemption and the Gift of Second Chances
Growing up in a pastor’s home inﬂuenced Bunton’s compassion for people. He

always wanted to help people. One of the values that Btmton lives by is his willingness
to give people second chances. Recently, he gave one faculty member another chance.
This faculty member decided to take a student into his home to try to parent her. Bunton
warned him that this wasn’t wise yet he chose to do it anyway. Two years later, after the
female student moved out, she ﬁled claim against him for a dual relationship. A dual
relationship is when a counselor crosses the boundary and also becomes personally
involved. She sued him and the college.

Bunton and the vice president for student development reviewed this situation.
They felt like he made a bad decision to allow her to move into his home for this period
of time. However, according to Bunton, “he had not done anything that would rise to the
level of ruining his life. We gave him a letter of reprimand and placed him on three years
of probation.” Bunton could have ﬁred him for placing the college in a vulnerable
position, yet he chose to give him a second chance.

He is a believer in second chances. According to Slanski, “He is fatherly and
looks after people. He is reluctant to ﬁre and always tries to restore. This is very

‘Christian’ of him.” Some would say that he gave people more chances than they

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deserved (Emerson). However, this is the pastoral approach coming out of Bunton’s faith
and how he seeks to model the way. Foster said, “It’s an expression of his faith and the
understanding of the redemptive nature of grace.” While situations were kept
conﬁdential, this made him vulnerable to attack from others as he appeared to apply too
much grace to people.

Twelve years ago a long term staff member deserved a second chance from
Bunton. He set up an appointment with him every week. Essentially, this changed his
life. And there were others to whom he gave second chances. His philosophy is to
always extend grace. The ﬁrst time an issue comes up the decision revolves around what
is best for the individual. The second time, it is focused on what is best for the students.
“Bunton gave people second chances and allowed them to rebuild careers and lives,”

according to Coyle.

Accepting Resmnsibility for Mistakes
With the growth and success that Bethsaida experienced during his tenure, one

would think that pride would become an issue. However, for Bunton, he was driven by
an attitude of humility. Bunton said, “We can line up all the things we did but we were
blessed greater than the efforts we put in.”

Sometimes things did not go as well as Aristolli. In one instance, a signiﬁcant
mistake was made in the budget which resulted in a one million dollar error. Typically,
someone will lose their job for a mistake of this size. Instead of pointing the ﬁnger at
someone else, Bunton chose to take responsibility himself. He was quick to come to the

faculty and inform them by being open and honest with them (Clark).

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Bunton submitted his resignation to the board of trustees. He was willing to
acknowledge that ultimately this was his responsibility. While he could have blamed
someone else for this mistake, his value for humility guided him. The faculty and staff
remembered that he was willing to take the responsibility himself for this mistake. This
occurred after he had great success in building the college. The trustees, faculty and staff
valued his integrity and the detachment from the pride in his position to the humility

expressed that he was ultimately responsible for this situation.

Prote__ctl_r_r_g' the Mission and Values of the Collgge
One faculty candidate remembered his interview at Bethsaida. Bunton was

actively involved in the process. Pyles said, “Bunton asked me if I understood the
change in culture if I came to Bethsaida? He then focused on the Christian aspect of the
college and why it is a Christian college. He asked me about my faith. This was an
attractive interview process and it said lot to me about the culture of the school.” It also
indicated the faith commitment of the president.

Bunton is involved in every hire at Bethsaida. Because of his value for the people
who make up the culture of the college and those who will shape the lives of students, he
is committed to protecting the mission of the College. Eschelrnan said, “When he
interviews people, he asks about their faith.” Emerson expanded on this by saying that
“he is a quick study on human character.”

Wagner, another faculty member, said, “Bunton is able to come up with things in
the interview process that everyone else misses and he is able to put his ﬁnger on spiritual

issues that are not obvious. Each step of the interview process has to go through him.

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One time I presented him with an attractive candidate to invite to campus for an
interview. He reviewed the resume and saw a reference that he believed had been written
by the candidate.” Through his discernment, this candidate never made it to campus.

One faculty member, Spellman, had an interview with Bunton on the phone since
he could not connect with him while he was on campus. “He was concerned about my
testimony and my expression of faith. He wanted to make sure I was a good ﬁt
spiritually with Bethsaida” For Bunton, the hiring process was critical to the success and
the future of the college. He was able to protect the mission of the College by hiring
people with excellent credentials, but even more importantly a commitment to living out
their faith. This was a value that Bunton both modeled and protected in his role as

president.

Inspire a Shared Vision

A leader inspires a shared vision by envisioning the future with all of its exciting
possibilities. Even when the challenge looks difficult, the leader must look ahead to the
futme and dream of what could be possible. This vision then becomes the inspiration for
the people. The leader believes in and sees the possibilities. A leader is the one to
promote a potential future.

For Bunton, he inspired a shared vision at Bethsaida College during his
presidency in two main areas. First, he had a vision for the spiritual and the potential
renewal that this could bring to the campus. With his pastor’s heart and passion for his
own faith, Bunton inspired people to this vision. Secondly, Bunton also inspired the

College community toward a vision of becoming a growing and thriving Christian

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college rather than one that seemed to be at death’s door. This would take a signiﬁcant
transformation, but Btmton believed it was possible as he envisioned the future of
Bethsaida College. These two visions proved in the end to be the legacy for which

Bunton will be best remembered.

A Vision for the Spiritual and Revival

Bunton modeled his faith commitment in his own life. Yet, it was this value that
propelled his vision for the Bethsaida community. He knew that the campus had been
adrift spiritually. Morgan said that “no one paid attention to what was going on here.

The last couple of administrations had started the drift. The churches did not even send
their kids here and the dorms were going wild. There was no strong moral leadership
here from the top down in this area.”

Spellman, a student at the time, remembers that chapel was had. “We had chapel
in the gym and guys would bring portable TV’s under their coats because it was so out-
of-touch.” Chapel was not a spiritual connecting point for the student body. It was an
environment that reﬂected the spiritually dead campus.

It was critical for Bethsaida College to be a Christian institution ﬁrst. According
to Cornwell, Bunton believed that if their built the spiritual building ﬁrst, then the
students would come and the campus would be transformed.

The vision for spiritual renewal actually began prior to Bunton’s presidency. Two
faculty members had been praying for spiritual revival every week for several years.
Revival is simply an event where the Spirit of God is poured out in a community in a way

that brings people to the reality of their sin and their need for a closer relationship with

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God. These two faculty members had been faithfully committed to praying for this
change and knew that “revival” be an impetus to a vibrant spiritual community.

Then, after Bunton arrived, he began to pour new life and energy back into
chapel. Through the leadership of his vice president, he moved chapel to a better
environment and encouraged new praise music to better reach the students. Spellman
said, “When Bunton came, the chapel developed and matured.”

A special spiritual emphasis week took place in chapel during the fall semester.
While this would be typically be a part of the annual calendar, this special time would be
anything but typical this year. Signiﬁcant strides had been made beforehand; however
this week would propel the college forward.

During that week of spiritual emphasis, an evangelist and storyteller shared about
the Asbury revival. This was a revival that transformed the campus of Asbury College
several years earlier. Elliot remembers saying to Bunton, “Hang on brother, we are going
to talk about revival. He told the story and the same thing happened.”

Bunton was sitting in back of chapel and he remembers “the Lord melted my
heart as students streamed forward.” An altar call had been given for the student body to
respond. According to Elliot, it was an “unprecedented, spontaneous response to the
message as the Holy Spirit just descended on the college campus.” When the Holy Spirit
descended, the students responded much students at other colleges responded.

The chapel had begun at 10:00 am. that morning and actually continued well into
the evening. Students, faculty and staff were confessing their sins to God and getting
their hearts right with Him. Students went to the phones and called their parents and

pastors. At 4:30 pm. that afternoon, the student body decided to come back that night.

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Individuals all over campus were dealing with issues in their lives. Elliot remembers
Bunton telling him, “It is pretty obvious that God has done something special here.”
This revival and spiritual renewal was the catalyst that the campus needed to
begin signiﬁcant transformation. Bunton knew and believed that it must begin with the
spiritual. He had the vision to commit to this priority ﬁrst for the community. From this
experience, the students went out to their churches and shared the story of the revival on
Bethsaida’s campus. The helped to reestablish the reputation that Bethsaida College
held spiritual values as a priority. It changed the college, the faculty and the student

body. And it changed Bethsaida College.

A Vision for Transformation and Growth

Bunton certainly could have been discouraged with the condition of the college
when he came. In fact, this may have kept another potential candidate from coming to
Bethsaida. However, as be reﬂected back, he saw great hope and potential. He wasn’t
discomaged as others were. He saw the possibilities and envisioned the future. Emerson
said, “Someone once characterized him as being a funny little man with big ideas.”
Foster said that Bunton had “extraordinary vision and leade
school when it was close to shutting down.”

Bunton immediately came in with a list of 15 things to accomplish when he
arrived. He said, “We went after every one of those things and after ﬁve years we felt we
had hit them. So, we created a new list.” Some of these things included restoring pride,
restoring a sound ﬁnancial footing, and establishing good working relationships among

the faculty and staff.

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When Bunton came, he was interviewed by a reporter for the city newspaper. In
this article he talked about his vision for Bethsaida College. Ten years later the same
reporter interviewed him again. Bunton had done everything he had set out to
accomplish (Emerson). Spellman reﬂected that “most will remember him for the
explosive growth physically, spiritually and academically. God’s hand had to be here
and this coincided with his administration. Bunton is responsible for moving Bethsaida
out of a Bible ‘schoolish’ institution into a Christian liberal arts college that has respect.”

As an entrepreneur, Bunton did not lay out a speciﬁc strategic plan for how to
accomplish his vision. Hewitt said that “he doesn’t like to be restricted with a ten year
plan. I remember him saying that there are a lot of ways to get here from Chicago.”
Bunton reﬂected on this in his office as he believes that colleges place too much value on
long range planning. “1 am not convinced they work. Essentially you have to have the
tactical ability” to make the ideas work.

Young added, “Bunton claimed he had a vision for the campus but he did not
always express it. He kept things pretty close and he went after it. The Lord blessed it a
lot and has made Bethsaida a permanent ﬁxture.”

The college experienced growth ﬁfteen years in a row, increasing from around
500 students to over 1850 during his tenure. This was unprecedented growth as
compared to other Christian colleges during this time. Bunton was able to lead “during
the college’s renaissance” Gilliot). His vision of growth led to essentially tripling the size
of the college.

This growth created the inspiration for a new campus infrastructure. The College

has been in a constant building program and large-scale renovation to accommodate the

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growth. New buildings for chapel and ﬁne arts, an athletic center, dorms, an academic
center, science additions, and other projects have helped to transform the campus
landscape.

Aristolli said that “his legacy will be the turnaround of Bethsaida College. This
was predicated on him casting a vision for the institution. He gave Bethsaida a positive
self-image of what we could become. He inspired us that we could be a growing
institution with a substantial budget. He got us to look away ﬁom our problems and onto
our potential.”

Furthermore, he committed his vision to prayer. “He believes that Bethsaida is
God’s institution. We could do everything possible but God had to take over” (Aristolli).
Morgan remembers, “Ten years ago we had grand plans. Things happened along the way
that God has been in it. God ﬁnds a way to make things happen.”

During the past ﬁfteen years, the College community had rallied around the vision
of this president. His vision was one of hope that this College could become
something—that it could be a thriving college. They been inspired to dream and that
“had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with a miracle witnessing the most dramatic
institutional tumarorm ” said Aristolli. Bunton never took credit for what happened.
Instead he gave the credit to God believing that God has blessed their efforts and
ultimately transformed the college (Slanski). Coyle said, “We have become everything

we always said we were. Bunton will be known as Bethsaida’s greatest president.”

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Challenge the Process

Leaders face challenges and they also challenge the process. Challenging the
process, according to Kouzes and Posner, includes two components. First, the leader
searches for innovative ways to change, grow, and improve. It is the innovative leader
who thinks outside of the box and seeks new ways to do the familiar. Old processes and
methods are challenged to bring in new ways of doing things. Secondly, the leader is a
risk-taker and generates small wins along the way learning ﬁom his mistakes. An
exemplary leader takes risks in order to move the vision of the organization forward.

During the interviews with some faculty and administration, there were three
major challenges that Bunton faced along the way. The ﬁrst challenge has already been
discussed in detail in the preceding sections when Bunton faced the immediate challenge
of rebuilding the college. Because of the previous discussion, this challenge will not be
highlighted here. Secondly, toward the end of his tenure, Bunton was confronted with a
signiﬁcant mistake in the budget. A one million dollar mistake had been made and
Bunton had to decide how to deal with this shortfall. Finally, Bunton had to deal with the
challenge of working with the church denomination associated with the college. While
the previous college leadership had neglected this relationship, Bunton decided to re-
establish the connection in a much stronger way. Finally, Bunton was challenged by the
performance of his academic vice president. Bunton had to work through this issue and
make the best decision for the college.

Bunton would not be described as a “risk-taker” by his colleagues. While he
certainly took a risk in coming to Bethsaida College, his main innovations involved the

decisions to move the institution forward. While some could point to his decision to

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focus on the spiritual environment and chapel program as innovative, there seemed to be
little risk in this decision since this is part of the mission of the College. One expects the

president to focus on this area, especially a Christian college.

“Bl Monda ”

Before Bunton came to Bethsaida, an interim president began to put the pieces in
place for his success. The previous president had been asked to resign because of the bad
situation he had placed the college in. During the tenure of the former president, he
worked with Elliot and Coyle. Elliot said, “We went out to the faculty and staff to try to
ﬁnd support for the leadership. We found that it was unlikely that the college would
move ahead. So, the president made a decision to resign.” Dennis remembers spending
much time in prayer with Steve during this time.

One faculty member remembers the situation well. The word out in the
community and in the churches was that Bethsaida was closing. Emerson remembers that
“people said that they would never send anyone to that college. At the low point in 1986-
1987, there were 89 resident students. Dennis and Steve worked night and day as the
school was in ﬁnancial and spiritual bankruptcy.” The same was happening to their sister
school in the denomination. “Both schools had their own problems and were self-
destructing.”

Just before Bunton arrived, they knew that there would be changes. They were
under the assumption that the college would move ahead. In order to prepare the way for
Bunton and to deal with some ﬁnancial issues, the Board made a decision not to renew

twelve to thirteen faculty and staff contracts. These came ﬁ'om the recommendation of

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the interim president as well as the full support of Bunton. Bunton had told the board that
they needed to remove the “dead wood” in order for changes to be made. Steve and
Dennis, on “bloody Monday,” told these employees that they no longer had a job at
Bethsaida.

This was certainly a difficult day for Bethsaida College. However, even though
Bunton was not on campus in his role, his support and direction guided the actions of two
key administrators. This would help to alleviate the ﬁnancial crisis the college faced and
would eliminate some of the under-performers at the college to prepare the way for

Bunton’s presidency.

Monﬂ Issues and a $1,000,000 Mistake

In the early years of his presidency, Bunton helped to acquire a $5,000,000 grant

from the Lilly Endowment to fund the academic center on the campus. This was a great
encouragement for a ﬁnancially challenged institution. However, the total campaign was

i for $8.5 million and Bunton thought they had money from a wealthy and capable man in
California. When both he and his wife died, they essentially lost this donor. Bunton took
the risk anyways and built the building. They had to use one million dollars from the
college’s savings; however, this turned out to be a great investment and risk for Bethsaida
to move forward.

Toward the later years of his presidency, Bunton faced one of his biggest
challenges of his tenure. Apparently there was a one million dollar accounting mistake in
the budget. Foster said, “The college was struggling with some money deﬁcit and

coming up short ﬁnancially. There was a transpositional error of $1 Million dollars.”

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Bunton called a faculty meeting to acknowledge the problem. “From discovery
time to meeting with the faculty it was less than a week. He accepted complete
responsibility for the error. He apologized that he had put the institution at ris ,”
according to Samon. Samon went on to say that be “suspected someone else was
responsible for this mistake.”

However, Bunton took complete responsibility for the mistake and offered to
resign. Foster said, “He took the issue to the Board and voluntarily offered his
resignation. Instead of accepting it, they extended him grace and mercy. He kept going
and worked hard. I have seen him extend grace and receive grace. This did not appear to
hamper him or overcome him.”

Slanski remembers Bunton’s attitude during this time as, “Let’s not blame
anyone. Let’s frx it and go on.” And that is exactly what he did. He could have chosen a
scapegoat within the institution to place the blame for this mistake. However, he chose
humility and accepted responsibility even for something that was someone else’s mistake.
This was a calculated risk on his part. Yet, it was one he had to take that was consistent
with his character.

Even though he accepted responsibility, this still placed the college in difﬁcult
times. Wagner said, “He let us know that we would get minimal raises. The workloads
became extreme. We understood, but the faculty were ﬁ'ustrated.” While frustrations
were there, Harrington remembers that “the whole faculty worked together in prayer.

This brought them closer together.”

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The Health of a Trusted Vice Presidpnt

One of the most difﬁcult times that Bunton faced in his presidency was in the last
few years with his academic vice president. He was a close friend with Bunton and
served with him throughout his tenure. They had a high level of trust for each other.
However, because of a combination of severe depression and his tendency toward
obsessive compulsive behavior, his health deteriorated in the end. He took on too many
things including care for his father and then building a house. He then took a three week
trip to Israel. Bunton described him as an “emotional wreck when he came back. His
psychiatrist said that his nerves were not making the proper connection. His judgment
was gone and I could see the deterioration.”

Still, Bunton hung on for quite some time hoping and praying that he would get
better. This was certainly a risk for him in a negative way because the academic
leadership suffered. However, Bunton prayed that God would bring healing. Bunton
said, “When you see a Godly man have terrible difﬁculties, you can never get away from
the responsibility of treating him well.”

Some believed that he should have moved forward to make a decision sooner
rather than later. However, Bunton hung on for a couple of years. In the end, a “rising

star” among the faculty surfaced and was selected as academic vice president.

Enable Others to Act
An exemplary leader is one who enables others within the organization to act.
The leader stimulates collaboration among the people toward goals that are shared.

Through this process, the leader is able to build trust. Also, the leader shares power with

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those in the organization. There is an openness and a willingness among the people to
move the organization forward through empowerment ﬁom the leader.

Bunton is described as a president who is involved in every aspect of the College.
While he would often hold the ultimate decision for him to make, his leadership did not
stiﬂe the willingness of the faculty and staff to act. Bunton willingly shared his power
with those he had conﬁdence in and enabled them to move their particular area of the
institution forward. In some cases, he knew that others were better gifted to make an

impact in a particular area.

Establishing a Team

One of things that Bunton did early on in his presidency was to establish a
working and uniﬁed team. In many cases, a President will assemble his team after he has
been in the position and has had an opportunity to evaluate those around him. Prior to his
arrival, Bunton already had great conﬁdence in the leadership abilities of the Vice
President for Student Development and the Vice President for Advancement. Both of
these men were involved in laying the foundation for Bunton arrival on campus. These
two men would serve throughout Bunton entire presidency and helped to establish a solid
team.

In addition, Bunton selected a Vice President for Academics early that served
until the last year of his presidency. Had it not been on health issues, he would have
continued in this position. Also, he hired a vice president for business in the third year of
his presidency. This man came from a banking background and provided needed

connection and understanding to this community in a difficult time.

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Bunton believed in his team. He trusted them and they trusted him. None of
them felt micro-managed or stiﬂed in their areas of responsibility. Bunton said, “We had
a tight administrative staff. We would take retreats together and got to know one another
spiritually.” They became a close-knit group of leaders who were on the same page and
were able to move the College forward.

Emerson, ﬁom the perspective of a faculty member, said that “He doesn’t try to
do everything. He works with a team of people like Jesus did with his disciples. He
cultivated extraordinary relationship and kept the core of his team intact.”

In some ways, the success of Bethsaida College can be attributed not to one
person, but to this group of administrative leaders who led in unity. Just as Bunton

enabled them to act, they in turn enabled those within their areas to make a difference.

Enabling Leadership

One of the things Bunton recognized early on was the type of person he is and
how he is wired. Bunton is not the type of leader who rallies the crowd ﬁom the
platform. He is more of a steady and consistent leader who leads ﬁ'om his strength rather
than attempting to be someone he is not.

An example of this is Bunton’s empowerment of Elliot to lead chapel. While
Bunton would speak at the beginning and end of the year in chapel, he would let him be
in charge (Clark). He was the man who had the passion and the charisma to lead from
the platform. Btmton knew and understood that this was not his strength. “Btmton

doesn’t think of himself as a preacher,” said Reuter. Nor did he did not allow pride to

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interfere with his spiritual agenda. He allowed Dennis to carry it out while he
participated from a distance.

Because of this, as Emerson describes, “chapel is the center piece of campus. In a
recent study among Christian Colleges, students chose chapel as the number one positive
thing about Bethsaida. This College fosters a climate where there is an expressive
chapel-centered campus. Students come to chapel to rock.”

In the academic area, Bunton also enabled his Vice President for Academics to
provide spiritual leadership to the faculty. Moon said, “Bunton was not the front leader
in academics. He gave the Vice President ﬁee reign and he drove faculty to spiritual
concerns. Bunton knew this was needed and empowered him to get the job done.

Spellman was recently promoted to the position of Vice President for Academics.
On his ﬁrst day on the job, he asked Bunton, “Well what do I do?” Bunton answered,
“Well, what are your questions?” For Spellman, Bunton was exactly what Bethsaida
needed. He would have been willing to work for him the rest of his life. It was this type
of mentoring relationship and empowerment that promoted a successful working

environment for many at Bethsaida College under Bunton’s leadership.

Trusted the Peo Ie

For those who worked close with Bunton on the administrative team, they have a
much more intimate relationship with him. However, those faculty and staff interviewed
that do not report directly to Bunton have a trust in and respect for him. In some ways,
Bunton can be seen as a “father” type ﬁgure in his role as president. Moon remembers

early on when he did not complete a project on time. “Bunton scolded me pretty good.

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Sometimes he likes to send a message but he has been supportive. He can be stern but he
keeps it enough like a family. A little family is good.”

Clark was impressed with “his ability to be one of us. He communicates with all
levels in the institution and he is always approachable.” This communication helps to
increase the level of trust among the faculty and staff of the College. Bunton’s leadership
style was one of honesty and integrity. His goal was always to let the people know what
was going on.

Samon appreciated his leadership at Bethsaida. “You can do just about anything
you want as long as you don’t expect money. One just has to prove that something is
worthwhile and it will be fed. We are ﬂee to be creative and this is a great place to
work.” Spellman felt the same way as he has learned so much from Bunton. “This year
working for him has been tremendous. I have a new respect for him. I am also humbled
by the amount of trust and conﬁdence he has in me for this job.”

Hewitt said that there are days “when she could kill him.” She told him that in a
search committee meeting one day. Bunton said to her, “What did I do?” Apparently,
from her perspective, the meeting was supposed to bring some deﬁnitive answers to the
issue in which she needed direction and closure. However, as she said, “He likes to let
the door stay open to be entrepreneurial and I wish he could share the larger picture
sometimes. Yet he trusts me to do the job” (Hewitt). His trust in her gives her the ability
to get the job done even when she may be frustrated with him in a meeting.

At the time of the interviews, Bunton was just two months away from his
retirement. As mentioned earlier, the decision to hire his Vice President for

Advancement as the next president thrilled him. He said, “I have great conﬁdence in him

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to do the job.” Yet, as he moved through his ﬁnal days, he was no “lame duck.” Reuter
said that he has been “pleased with the way he has handled the transition. He is
gracefully turning over it to Dr. Coyle. His years of experience help and he is giving him
his space.” Bunton trusts Coyle to do the job as the next president, and thus he will be

enabled to act. From Bunton’s perspective, “He will take Bethsaida to new heights.”

Encourage the Heart

Everyone needs encouragement in some way ﬁom some one. An exemplary
leader makes it his focus to encourage the hearts of those within the organization.
Kouzes and Posner suggest that there are two ways for a leader to do this. First, a leader
recognizes contributions of the employees by showing appreciation for their excellence
and achievement within the organization. Secondly, a leader creates a spirit of
community by celebrating the values and victories within the organization. These
celebrations act to encourage the hearts of the people.

As Bunton reﬂected back over his career, he said that “buildings are nice but they
don’t make the college. It is the people. The most important thing to me in my career is
that I treated people well.” Bunton had a great report with the people at Bethsaida. They
were encouraged by his leadership because he took the time to show care and concern for
them. He did this in several ways. First, Bunton demonstrated the passion of his heart
through prayer. Secondly, Bunton encouragement to the people came through his
pastor’s heart. He expressed a genuine care and concern for the faculty, staff, and

students at the college.

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A Pram g Leader

For Bunton, his relationship with God is a lot like his relationship with his wife.
He said, “Everything I do and say is colored by a strong relationship with my wife. I
would act differently if this relationship wasn’t there.” The same is true for his
relationship with God. Just as he talks to his wife in this relationship, his relationship
with God is rooted in prayer. Bunton is a “man of prayer” (Morgan).

At the beginning of the school year, the faculty and staff get together for a retreat.
Eschelman said, “Bunton does not lead but he has real input and he actively participates.
The highlight is when we have communion together on the last night. He is in the
background” but you deﬁnitely know his presence and his encouragement. This retreat
was always a signiﬁcant time of encouragement and prayer for the faculty and staff of the
College.

On other occasions he will pray for people whether it is one-on-one or in a
meeting. Samon said, “It is a reﬂection of his spirituality and he is authentic in this way.
He will pray for faculty members who are sick or those who just need prayer.” It is part
ofhisnaturetoturntoGodtothankHimforwhathashappenedorto ask Him for
guidance and direction.

When Bunton came, the college was in serious trouble. As Morgan said, “This
made for some tense ﬁnancial times. We spent a lot of time in prayer asking for God’s
wisdom. We met weekly on Mondays. One time we borrowed a church sanctuary and
spent about one and a half hours in prayer.” Frank, another faculty member said, “There

were weeks when we didn’t know if we could make payroll. We spent time together in

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prayer and God touched this campus. Norman is the pastor and shepherd of this college.
God doesn’t bless when the personal house is not in order.”

Bunton’s background as a pastor’s kid enabled him to grow up watching his
father. Even though Bunton did not become a pastor of a church, the heart of a pastor
was ingrained in him. Instead of his “ﬂock” being the church, he became the shepherd of
the faculty, staff, and students.

Prayer was such a key thing that the administrative team would spend signiﬁcant
time focused on this. Elliot recalled that “there were several times that we would pull
together for prayer. We would have full day retreats where we could read Scripture,
pray, lay hands, and anoint one another. Bunton grew up in a pastor’s house and knew
the importance of integrating his faith and his leadership.”

His focus on prayer was also manifested in faculty meetings. Moon remembers
“the faculty meetings we had early on in his presidency. He would have a signiﬁcant
time of the meeting devoted to praying for the College and the Church. Bunton really
facilitated the emphasis on prayer.” This was a time of encouragement for the people; a
time when they could see the heart of the president.

While Bunton was not the most charismatic of leaders, his heart demonstrated a
commitment to and dependence upon God. This was evidenced through his prayers for

the College, the Church and the people who were part of it.

A Pastor’s rt

Bunton has a pastor’s heart. As he has worked with many people at Bethsaida,

whether it was someone with a chemical imbalance, a difﬁculty in marriage, or whatever

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the issue, he would extend care and compassion to them. He would provide emotional,
ﬁnancial, or spiritual support. He has even worked with people that he probably should
have released (Elliot). Samon said it well, “Bunton is interested in restoration more than
punishment.”

Graves began to cry as he talked about Bunton’s presidency. “It will be hard to
see him go. His personality and dreams infuse everything here. I know that with him if I
have a concern or a problem, I will be heard. If I call him, he calls back immediately and
I can say whatever I want. Through him, we have been able to create a place where we
are trying to walk the world of faith in Christ in everything.” For Graves, Bunton had
encouraged her heart.

“Some presidents express faith verbally. For Bunton, he has a quiet practical
fai ” according to Hewitt. Last year Hewitt was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She
remembers that impact and encouragement that Bunton had on her. “It was hard for me
but he had a tremendous compassionate heart. He always asked me how I was doing. He
genuinely cares for people. He loves this place and the people.”

Bunton is an advocate for his people. Moon said that “he does a great job of
sustaining relationships. One faculty member has been gone for two and a half years and
Bunton still visits him. He helped him see that he needed to leave Bethsaida and he
worked through a process. He doesn’t seem to be quick with the trigger and some would
say that he would wait too long. However, he is gracious and errs on the side of caring
for people” (Moon).

Whenever one works with people, there will always be personal issues. Morgan

recalled a faculty member who went through a divorce about eight years ago. This

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faculty person came with high promise from the same church background as the college.
He had marital problems, went through a difﬁcult time, and ended up in divorce. The
faculty member stayed at Bethsaida after the divorce, however, he was not as productive.
Dr. Bunton spent a lot of time with him encouraging him and counseling him from a
Christian perspective. The faculty member ended up moving to another Christian college
but Bunton was able to provide some needed encouragement during a diﬁicult time.

Another faculty member also went through a divorce. He had been married for 25
years and his wife decided to divorce him. He was the leading professor on campus. At
some Christian colleges, he would have been let go because of policies against being
divorced and employment. In fact, everyone at Bethsaida wondered if he was going to
get ﬁred. However, Bunton asked him to speak in chapel. Bunton sent him a note of
support and gave him a check for $1,000 to help him out on the ﬁrst payment of a loan
(Comwell).

Bunton was always giving in his actions. This was the heart of the man and this
president. Frank said, “He would give you his last dime if you needed it.” In fact, one
lady in the adult program needed some help. Foster remembers Bunton pulling out $100
to help her. He was gracious ﬁnancially to others when they needed help.

Sometimes his encouragement was evidenced in words or just his personal
presence. Elliot said, “He is encouraging. He believes that every faculty and staff
member is a chaplain. I remember when I had to suspend an entire athletic team. He was
encouraging to me in this process. He also knows when I am exhausted and tired and he
has a way of just encouraging me.” For the president to be there, supporting him along

the way must have been a great encouragement to this administrator.

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For Bunton, it doesn’t matter whether you work directly for him as a Vice
President or if you work in maintenance, his compassion and encourage is consistent.
Young remembers when he got his hand smashed working maintenance at Bethsaida
Bunton came to the emergency room to check on him. Young said, “Bunton even knows
the maintenance staff.”

As a president, however, it is diﬁcult to please or to be liked by everyone. Some
faculty were concerned and unhappy with Bunton’s leadership. Harrington said, “They
were concerned that his leadership was top down and that their voices weren’t being
heard. He pulled us all together and hit the concern head on. He intentionally faces
problems head on.” Through this, he builds a spirit of community even when there is
dissatisfaction with his leadership. For Pyles, he never felt like Bunton was intimidating
or unavailable. He had the time for faculty and staff. “He cares about us as people and is
concerned about us personally.”

Bunton will be longed remembered as the president who turned around Bethsaida
College. However, perhaps more than that, he will be remembered as a man who cared
for the people of the College. Reuter said, “I plan to write a letter to him after he is gone.
I want to say to him that I have appreciated the opportunity you gave me to work, for my
three sons to graduate tuition ﬂee, for your support allowing me to achieve my goals, and
for being a personal mentor to me. We were a team! Bunton is a real man of God.”

And, Bunton was certainly a personal encouragement to him.

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The Inﬂuence of Bunton’s Faith on His Leadership Practice

“There is no question that his legacy will be as the president whose leadership
brought the college back from the brink of collapse,” reﬂected Moon. Yet, the
foundation for Bunton’s legacy of leadership is found in his faith. Bunton had an
unwavering and abiding faith in God that shaped his presidency. While he certainly was
far from perfect, his faith inﬂuenced his leadership practice in several key ways.

First, as many described him, Bunton demonstrated the heart of a pastor in his
leadership practice. A pastor is one who leads a group of people in a church to pursue
God. The pastor acts as the shepherd over the people by caring for the sheep of his
congregation and reaching out to them on a spiritual level. Through his care and concern
for the Bethsaida College community, Bunton provided the spiritual leadership as a
pastor to the campus. His heart was mostly expressed in his one-on-one relationships
rather than what one would expect from the pastor who regularly speaks in ﬁ'ont of a
group. As a pastor cares for his people, Bunton cared for the faculty, staﬁ‘, and students.
He pastored them by providing the spiritual leadership, direction, and emphasis they
needed to thrive as a Christian community committed in their own faith. One of the
things that came out clearly from Bunton was his emphasis on grace and second chances
with those around him. He did not easily give up on someone or cast them aside. He saw
great value in working with individuals to move them down the road of restoration and
growth rather than casting them alongside in order to move things to another level.
Through this he modeled redemption, the redemption that he had received from his faith

and the redemption that pastors freely offer.

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Secondly, his heart as a pastor carried over to his spiritual agenda and emphasis
on the chapel. This value had direct inﬂuence over his leadership practice. Bunton made
this his primary agenda early on in his presidency. It was his emphasis with his
administrative team and the result was a signiﬁcant spiritual turnaround among the
students. Bunton said repeatedly that God would bless if the spiritual house was in order.
He laid this foundation to provide the impetus for additional growth. Although, Bunton
also said that he could not equate faith with blessing. Just because he had faith and
promoted a spiritual agenda, did not mean that God would necessarily bless his
leadership or the College.

Third, Bunton’s leadership practice was largely shaped by his personal prayers
with God. For Bunton, his prayer life was part of his personal devotional time with God.
This is when he would have conversations with God. He would go to God with his needs
and concerns, asking Him for direction and guidance. His focus on prayer would also
serve as an encouragement to others and provide a united focal point for the
administrative team.

Bunton’s leadership made an impact on the Bethsaida College community and
campus. His 15 year legacy will long be remembered as one who provided the leadership
that led to the transformation and turnaround of the College. However, even more
importantly, Bunton will be remembered as a leader committed to his faith and its

inﬂuence throughout his tenure as president.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

A PORTRAIT OF LEADERSHIP PRACTICE INFLUENCED BY FAITH

Three Christian Coll_ege Presidents

This picture is about three presidents of Christian colleges who attempt to live out
their faith in their leadership practice. For each president, an individual portrait has been
painted of their leadership practice inﬂuenced by faith—a faith that is based on the
Christian belief in the God of the Bible. Through time with key personnel who have
worked closely with these leaders, as well as one-on-one time with each president, the
three voices have formed separate portraits. Yet, we now move forward to merge the
separate paintings to form one portrait that seeks to answer the question at hand, “In what
ways does faith inﬂuence the leadership practice of selected Presidents in Christian
higher education?”

Each of these three presidents are equally devoted and committed to their faith.
With similar backgrounds, they grew up in Christian families who provided the spiritual
example for them. Because of this spiritual commitment, they were brought up in the
church. These church backgrounds were parallel in that they focused on growing in their
faith relationship with God. All three men also made a commitment to follow God’s
leading in their lives to pursue ministry—whether in the church or in the academy.
Belding initially pursued a pastoral role; Devitto pursued his passion for evangelism
through preaching; and Bunton pursued his burden for students through teaching and then

administration. These different paths brought them to the same goal—the presidency at a

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Christian college. All three presidents assumed the role of spiritual director as they led
their respective colleges from this perspective (Dagley, 1988).

Two of the presidents were at the end of their tenure and were able to look back
and reﬂect on their many years of leadership practice. The other had just begun his
career and was at the initial stages of implementing his vision for the future. In each of
these cases, these leaders passionately pursued their calling to advance the colleges they
served through their faith commitment.

The context of the colleges they served were similar. All three colleges ﬁt the
systematic model of a Christian college (Litﬁn, 2004). The systematic model suggests
that the college is committed to a faith-based mission and hires faculty and staﬂ of like-
faith. While students represent different denominational groups, the faith message is
consistently taught ﬁom the college’s foundational commitnents to which they ascribe.

When each of them began their presidency, these Christian colleges needed strong
leadership to move the institution forward. In one case, Bethsaida College was on'the
edge of closing. For Galilee and Capernaum, they needed presidents to invigorate the
constituencies and lead the college ahead to better days. All three leaders seemed to ﬁt
the model of the transformational leader as described by Bass (1985), and Bennis and
Nanus (1985), who appeared on the scene when a strong, bold, and visionary leader was
needed to move the institution ahead to better days.

All three presidents faced signiﬁcant leadership challenges along the way. Two
of the presidents faced difﬁcult ﬁnancial challenges while the other dealt with a power
struggle within the faculty leadership. The common thread that is woven throughout

these challenges is their constant faith. While they certainly did not do everything right,

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they knew that the God they served had given them the responsibility to lead to the best
of their ability. They also knew that their faith in God would guide them along the way.
They were being used as leaders to move people along to God’s agenda (Blackaby &
Blackaby, 2001).

So now we move from their individual leadership practices to the assimilation of
one voice—one portrait that paints the picture of the inﬂuence of faith on leadership
practice for the Christian college president. As these leaders demonstrated exemplary
leadership practices as described by Kouzes and Posner, several themes emerged. These
themes begin to paint the portrait of the ways one’s leadership practice is inﬂuenced by

Christian faith.

Toward a Portrait of The Inﬂuence of Faith on Leadership Practice

Like a painting on a canvas, the stories of these three Christian college presidents
have been merged together to form one portrait depicting the ways that faith inﬂuences
their leadership practice (Lawrence-Lightfoot & Davis, 1997). Utilizing the ﬁ'amework
ﬁom Kouzes and Posner’s ﬁve practices of exemplary leadership, the stories have been
assimilated together to discuss the themes that emerged from the research.

In order to discuss the ways in which faith inﬂuences the leadership practice of
three Christian college presidents, there are two overarching areas that we will initially
discuss. First, the presidents lived out their faith and their leadership practice in
partnership with God. Secondly, the ﬁve practices discussed by Kouzes and Posner

seemed to identify three primary ones that showed the most evidence of the inﬂuence of

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their faith. These two themes will then lead us to a discussion with reﬂects more speciﬁc

themes that emerged in the research.

Faith-Based Leadership as a Partnership with God
An underlying theme that was evident through the stories of leadership practice

was the partnership between these Christian college presidents and God. Instead of
acting on their own, they believed that they were partnered with God in their leadership
practice. They displayed a reliance on God for His guidance in the decisions they faced
and the directions they proposed.

For the heroic leader or the transformational leader, their experience can often be
a solo act. However, these presidents demonstrated that the college was less about them
and more about the God they served even though they demonstrated a transformational
style. While ego was apparent along the way for these leaders, it was tempered by their
humility before God knowing that ultimately He could chose to do what He desired at
each of these colleges. This reality motivated them to serve God ﬁrst rather than their
own leadership agendas. Instead of them acting on their own, they acted on the
conﬁdence that God would be there to help them through whatever challenges or
obstacles came their way.

As an expression of this partnership, their leadership practice represented a more
symbolic perspective (Estela Bensimon et al., 1989). These presidents provided meaning
to the events and challenges at the college through a spiritual grid in their leadership
practice. This partnership with God became a primary emphasis in their leadership role

as president. By publicly giving God credit for the blessings at the college and the

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focusing on God’s role in guiding the college, these leaders expressed this symbolism
through their rhetoric and actions. This “God-talk” and spiritualized rhetoric provided
the rallying points for this faith-based community.

The faith-based president is certainly ﬂee to talk about his faith and the Christian
mission in the Christian college. It’s expected and acknowledged. It is part of the role of
the president in the Christian college which differs signiﬁcantly from the president in
non-faith based institution. However, in the case of these three leaders, this partnership
with God and its expression through their leadership practice came from their heart.

They sought to live their lives in partnership with God and this inward commitment

ﬂowed out into their leadership practice as president.

The Five Leadership Practices

Kouzes and Posner present ﬁve leadership practices in their writing. While all of
these were evident among the three Christian college presidents, it appeared that three of
these practices surfaced more in relationship to their faith inﬂuence than the other two in
my research. In other words, this is where their faith inﬂuence appeared the most. As
leaders committed in their faith, the stories that were told which expressed the inﬂuence
of their faith focused on modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, and encouraging the
heart. As we brieﬂy examine each leadership practice, we will see the inﬂuence of their
faith in this brief overview before moving on to discuss the major ﬁndings and
implications from the research.

Model the Way. Modeling is an important belief for the Christian. These

Christian college presidents modeled the way through their own personal faith

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commitment. They were committed to developing their faith through their own Bible
reading and prayer. This was the basis of their faith and in order for them to publicly
model this to the college community it had to be practiced privately. In their view, their
public faith had to match their private practice. This alignment of values was critical to
their success in a faith-based institution. It was part of their job expectation and one of
the reasons why they were hired by their board.

For each of these men, the focus on the mission was a driving value for them in
their role as president. In step with Kouzes and Posner, this was a personal value that
was clariﬁed in each of their leadership experiences. They each sought to preserve and
protect the mission of the college as they did not want it to depart from their faith
commitment during their watch as Marsen (1994) has written about. This was one of the
highest values that they personalized which manifested itself in many ways throughout
their leadership practice. Because of their commitment to this Christian mission, they
each sought to implement a spiritual agenda at the colleges they served.

There is certainly a strong emphasis on symbolic leadership as discussed by
Bolman and Deal (2001) in this leadership practice. Their rhetoric and action in
modeling the way focused on this mission. Even in the symbolism of referring to the
mission statement in the interview became important for these presidents. However,
what drove them in their symbolic approach was the desire to wrap their personal and
institutional faith commitment arormd everything that they did in their leadership
practice.

Inspire a Shared Vision. “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs

29: 1 8). These Christian presidents practiced this Biblical principle by inspiring a shared

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vision at their respective colleges. They believed that their vision was in fact ordained or
endorsed by God. Through their faith in God, they believed that they were led by God to
lead the college they served in the way that God directed. While God did not author the
vision through some divine means, these visions were ordained or endorsed by Him.

Unique for the president in higher education at large, these Christian leaders
focused their visions ﬁrst on the spiritual. Since this was rooted in the mission of the
Christian college and in their own modeling, this vision became paramount to ﬁrel growth
in campus buildings and student enrollment. The inspiration they provided was centered
in spiritualized rhetoric which was part of their symbolic leadership. Each of them
desired for these Christian colleges to be a place of signiﬁcance for God’s kingdom in
this world. In addition to their focus on symbolic leadership, they also demonstrated
practices of a transformational leader. It is interesting to consider their faith is closely
linked to a personal transformation process. As a Christian, the believer’s life is to be
constantly transforming to become more like the example of Jesus Christ. The Christian
leader is always reaching higher in his or her personal life and this is carried over to their
push for excellence and continual improvement in the Christian colleges they serve.

Challenge the Process. While these leaders certainly faced challenges along the
way in their leadership, they did not seem to overtly challenge the process. In these
situations, much time was spent in prayer with God. They believed that God could give
them the direction to handle what seemed to be a tough situation whether it was with the
board, a faculty member, or some other situation.

These presidents were innovative and took risks in their leadership. The inﬂuence

of their faith in this area was most evident in this area. They believed that this direction

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taken was in partnership with God——that they were being guided by God to bring new life
and energy to the college.

Each of these presidents had an entrepreneurial bent to them in their leadership
practice as described in the literature (Fisher & Koch, 2004). This sense of
entrepreneurialism aptly depicts how they were always pushing forward for enrollment
growth, new “state-of-the-art” buildings, and additional programs. Yet, this is perhaps
more how they were “wired” as leaders rather than the inﬂuence of their faith. Their
faith inﬂuenced them to pursue growth for the advancement of God’s agenda in their
sphere of inﬂuence—the Christian college. Through additional students who were
attracted by new buildings and innovative programs, these Christian colleges would have
opportunities to move more young people towards God’s agenda.

Enable Others to Act. These three presidents utilized teams and enabled others
to act as described by Bensimon and Neumann (1993). They believed in getting others
involved and empowering them to accomplish their goals. However, it did not seem like
faith had a strong inﬂuence over this leadership practice. They enabled others to act
because there was a job to be done and a vision to be reached.

They did, however, attempt to emulate the example of Jesus Christ in their
relationships with others. In fact, their leadership practice was person-centered as
described by Rost (1993). While two of the presidents were very strong and at time
autocratic in their styles, they still believed in empowering others to do their job.

Encougge the Heart. These three Christian college presidents spent
considerable time encouraging the hearts of the people. This value for people was

represented in their belief for how Jesus encouraged and ministered to those around him

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as he exempliﬁed in the Biblical accounts. Jesus was always reaching out to those as He
ministered.

These presidents often assumed a pastoral role which contributed to the spiritual
model of community. Through their prayers and their genuine concern for the people of
the Christian college, they demonstrated a heart of a pastor. They cared for the needs of
those in the community and reached out to those around them. They were never too
concerned about their position that they could not stop to help someone in need. This
attitude and approach made their presidencies seem more pastoral in nature than strictly
presidential. They had a deep care and concern for students, faculty, staff, and people in
the community. Whenever there was a need, they seemed to reach out beyond their
presidential role.

This pastoral role, as will be discussed later, also led them to lead the college
community in a spiritual direction. They were committed to the faith of the college and
sought to promote this integration into all of college life. This leadership was highly
symbolic and was evidenced in their commitment to chapel, the promotion of a spiritual

agenda, and the mission of the college.

Christian Reﬂections on The Leadership Challenge
In 2004, Kouzes and Posner edited a new book on their ﬁve leadership practices .

This time, they attempted to provide Christian reﬂections on these practices. This work
came as a result of John Maxwell’s request, a prominent Christian writer on the subject of
leadership. His desire was to use the ﬁve practices as the ﬁ'amework to organize a

leadership conference. Then, as a response to the conference, he “offered to compile a

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book that would make The Five Practices leadership ﬁamework speak more directly to
Christian leaders, weaving together faith and leadership” (p. 3).

Kouzes and Posner suggest that ﬁve themes “give us a deeper appreciation for
how faith informs and supports leadership, no matter the context” (p. 119). They took a
much broader approach by looking at Christian leaders in any context. The ﬁve themes
they discovered are as follows:
Credibility is the foundation of leadership
Leadership is personal
Leaders serve

Leaders sacriﬁce
Leaders keep hope alive

9:59P!”

These themes form the conclusion to this brief work. While they do not signiﬁcantly
expound on any of these themes, they do provide a short description of each.

First, credibility is the belief in the leader (see also Kouzes & Posner, 1993). It is
a belief that what he or she says or does is true. It is the belief, ﬁrst of all, in the person.
For the Christian leader, the people led must believe that the person is who he or she says
he is. The leader’s actions need to match the words that the leader uses in his or her
rhetoric. Although they label this as one of the themes here in their Christian Reﬂections,
there is no difference between a leader of faith and one without it. All leaders need to be
credible in order for them to lead effectively. Otherwise, at some point along the way,
their leadership will fail.

Secondly, leadership is personal. Essentially, Kouzes and Posner argue that the
leader has to take leadership personally. This means that the leader must be involved in
personal relationships with those in the organization which begins with oneself and then

move outs to others around the leader. In their words, “It’s about leading out of what is

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already in your soul” (p. 122). Again, this is not so much distinguished from the leader
who is without a Christian faith. It could be argued that leadership is personal whether
one is of a particular Christian faith or not. Using the term and concept of a pastor seems
to be a better description of this theme as it relates to faith.

The third observation they make about Christian leaders is that they serve.
Leadership is not about position or power; it is about the practice of serving the people
and the organization. They suggest that “the message of leader-as-servant is clearly one
that speaks to the heart of every Christian” (p. 123). Fmthermore, they argue that one
must be a servant ﬁrst before one can be a Christian leader.

Fourth, Christian leaders sacriﬁce in a way that is similar to the example of Jesus
Christ. He sacriﬁced his life for His cause. Christian leaders place the cause they are
serving above their own agendas and comforts as a way of sacriﬁcing themselves for the
organization. And ﬁnally, Christian leaders focus on the hope of the future. Even when
times are difﬁcult, the Christian leaders know that God is ultimately in control.

What I found in my study was different from what Kouzes and Posner (2004)
observed in their study about Christian leaders and their leadership practice. The portrait
of leadership practice inﬂuenced by faith among three presidents of Christian colleges
includes several areas that emerged ﬁom the interviews.

First, there was a commitment to maintaining, preserving and promoting the
mission of the institution. The leadership action that the president took to ensure this
occurred as each president was involved in the interview process with all potential hires.
Secondly, these presidents conversed with God in their leadership practice. These

conversations occurred in their prayers to God. Third, their leadership practices were

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shaped by pastoral action and demonstrated a heart of a pastor. They presidencies could
be best described as a “president-as—pastor” leadership model. Fourth, their leadership
rhetoric featured “God- ” in their conservations with people and with groups. They
often included spiritualized talk and acknowledged God and His work with others. Fifth,
their vision was seen as a joint vision between them and God and focused on the growth
of the college. While not God-given, their visions were ordained by Him. Finally, their
leadership practice promoted a spiritual agenda which was rooted in their commitment to
chapel. This emphasis was of primary importance at these Christian colleges. Let’s take

a look at each of these themes in more detail.

A Faith-Based Mission

Mission statements provide the guiding framework for how colleges operate. It is
their unique purpose statement in which everything is ﬁltered through at the institution.
For Christian and church-related colleges, this mission statement is typically written from
a faith-based perspective with the focus on the integration of faith and learning (Holmes,
1987; Litﬁn, 2004).

Based on this study of three Christian college leaders, the president plays a central
role in maintaining, preserving, and promoting the mission of the College to both internal
and external constituencies (Moseley, 1988). All three of the Christian colleges reviewed
have a distinct mission statement that places emphasis on the pursuit of a faith-based
education. Galilee University’s mission “is a community of learners distinguished by our
lifelong involvement in the study and application of the liberal arts, total commitment to

Jesus Christ as the perspective for learning and critical participation in the contemporary

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world.” The mission of Capernaum University is “to offer an education consistent to
biblical truth.” Finally, Bethsaida College “is a Christian community of scholars and
learners dedicated to building lives of commitment for leadership in the church, the
nation and the world. Bethsaida provides liberating academic programs to challenge the
mind, to enlarge the vision and to equip the whole person for lifelong service.”

While written differently, each mission statement of these three Christian colleges
is focused on their faith-based commitment to integrate spiritual principles with learning.
For Belding, Devitto, and Bunton, their institutional mission statements became
paramount in their role as president. Flowing out of this, they had a profound emphasis
on the spiritual life and faith development of the student as an outworking of the mission
statement. This focus came partially their professional careers to Christian ministry.
Whether it was Belding coming more from a pastoral and academic background, to
Devitto as a traveling evangelist, or Bunton from his administrative roles in Christian
colleges, they focused on the advancement of God’s work.

Initially, it was the critical reason why they sought the position of president at
their respective colleges. Belding, as the most recent one to enter the presidency, felt
compelled to consider the opportunity at Galilee because of the emphasis the university
had placed on this mission statement. It was the reason why he was attracted to the
university. For Devitto, his desire was to have the opportunity to lead young people in
their faith development. This is essentially what he preached in churches and chapel
services. While Bunton did not express this as overtly as the others, he operated ﬁ'om

this commitment as he put forth a spiritual agenda throughout his presidency.

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What distinguishes these leaders is their focus on protecting the faith-based
mission of the college. All three leaders placed signiﬁcant importance on the hires of
new employees so much so that they were involved in the interview process. Even for
the hire of lower level staff positions, these presidents wanted to interview them. It was
interesting to see that these interviews focused not on their abilities or credentials.
Rather, these three presidents spent time understanding their faith journey and their
commitment to God. In regards to Belding, Jamison said that “he meets with most new
hires to get an understanding of their passion for the Lord, school and students.” Pyles
said that during his interview with Bunton, “He asked me about my faith. This was an
attractive interview process and it said a lot to me about the culture of the school.”

Knowing that these potential employees may become the future of the college, led
each president to carefully interview all hires. As protector of this mission and the faith
commitment of the institution, they knew that the faculty and staff will in one way or
another fulﬁll its mission. It was critical that these future employees be on the same page
spiritually in their faith as that of the institution.

From the interviews with Devitto in his ofﬁce, he always pointed out the plaque
on his wall with the mission of the university to the questioning of their faith journey.
Whether a plaque was used to identify the mission or a direct question was asked to the
candidate, the focus was on the mission of the institution and the faith commitment of the
person being interviewed. In one case, Belding took special consideration of a critical
upper level administrative hire when he selected a leader ﬁ'om the Catholic tradition. To
some this could have been seen as a step down the road of compromise; however, he

sought counsel from others and probed her faith in the interview process. Finding that

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the alignment was there, he made the decision to hire her. These actions were symbolic
in their leadership practice.

This is traditionally where the drift has taken place in faith-based institutions
(Marsden, 1994). Faculty and staff are the ones who carry out the mission and its faith
commitment. At each point where this varies, the mission loses its consistency. For
most, it is usually a gradual deportation from its faith-centered mission. Until one day,
the institution has departed completely from its historical commitment.

For two of these presidents, Devitto and Bunton, they led their respective colleges
for many years, Devitto for 25 and Brmton for 15. Throughout their tenures they
protected the mission of their institutions. While Belding had only been at Galilee for
four years as president, he said that under his leadership the university would remain
committed to the integration of faith and learning. In order to accomplish this mission,
he knew that he had to hire faculty and staff of like-faith and who were striving to grow
in their relationship with God.

Certainly, this focus on mission and protecting the institution from a spiritual
drift, is an example of value alignment. The faith values of the president must be aligned
with the college. For Devitto, at the beginning of every school year, he brought everyone
back to the mission of the university. Just as the president protects the mission of the
institution, so does the board in the presidential search and hire.

This theme can be part of each of the ﬁve exemplary practices that Kouzes and
Posner present. Presidents “model the way” in their own leadership practice by
maintaining, protecting and promoting the faith-based mission of the institution. They

also “inspire a shared vision” by reminding the faculty and staff why they serve in the

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Christian College. The process can be challenged as they align everything at the
institution up against the faith-based mission. This mission enables everyone to act in
their respective areas of inﬂuence towards a common cause and approach through a
uniﬁed faith commitment among the employees of the institution. Finally, the emphasis
on encouraging the hearts of the people is through the commitment to remain authentic to

the faith-focused mission of the Christian college.

Conversations with God througp Prayer

For each president, their commitment to their faith was rooted in their family and
church upbringing. All three presidents grew up in homes where both parents were
committed in their faith. They were involved in their respective churches and discovered
what it meant to develop a relationship with God.

The basis of this relationship is centered in prayer. Prayer is the medium through
which their conversations with God takes place. It begins in their own one-on-one time
with God and then is seen in their relationships with individuals or in groups.

These conversations with God began in private for each of the presidents.
Belding began every morning at 5:00 am. by reading his Bible and praying. During this
time in his conversations with God, he would pray speciﬁcally for his family,
administrative team, and those at the university with needs. Even though Devitto would
not call himself a great “prayer warrior,” he kept a special diary that he would pray

through those on his “prayer list” every day. Bunton was described as a “man of prayer’

and would spend time praying to God by pouring out his requests and concerns.

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From these personal times of prayer, the leaders modeled the way and encouraged
the hearts of those around them. Prayer was not just something that was part of their
private experience. It was also part of their public relationships with people and
exempliﬁed their symbolic approach to leadership (Estela Bensimon et al., 1989; Bolman
& Deal, 1997). During one-on-one times and in group meetings, these leaders would
pray for the person’s needs or the agenda of the meeting. These leaders modeled the
practice of prayer to their constituencies and established events geared around modeling
this practice to them.

Prayers of the leaders also were manifested during difﬁcult and challenging times.
These leaders were involved in some signiﬁcant challenges, especially early on in their
presidencies. During 9/11, Belding called the campus community together to pray for
this tragic situation. Bunton, when going through some difﬁcult ﬁnancial challenges,
called the administrative team together for a special prayer retreat. They went to a church
sanctuary and spent time praying together and pouring out their hearts before God.
Devitto would regularly lead the campus community through the special day of prayer
each academic semester.

Praying with others was a natural outﬂow of their faith commitment as leaders.
Because of the faith alignment within the institution, the prayers of the presidents brought
encouragement to the people. Williams said that “Clearly [Belding] is a man of prayer.”
They were able to see ﬁrst-hand the faith commitment of the president and this veriﬁed
the authenticity of the leader’s heart and passion for God.

Prayer certainly overlaps throughout the exemplary leadership practices.

However, it is mainly manifested as the president’s “model the way” and “encourage the

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heart.” Each of the presidents valued their relationship with God and spent personal time
in prayer. As an outﬂow from their personal lives, they encouraged the hearts of the
people by praying for the people, their needs, and the institution. Prayer became a way
for these leaders to give everything over to God and to ask for His divine guidance and

direction.

The Heart and Action of a Pastor

Although the mission is different, the Christian college is similar in some ways to
the church. Both exist for spiritual purposes. The church is interested in saving souls and
transforming lives to be more Christ-like. While the Christian college is interested in
these things, its mission is focused on the applying faith to learning—the integration of
education with Biblical truth.

At times, the Christian college appears like the church. Chapel sessions resemble
church services and small group Bible studies among students are similar to Srmday
school classes. As we know, the church is originally seen as the sponsoring organization
to the Christian college. It is from the desire of the Church leaders to make sure their
youth were educated ﬁom the same Biblical and faith basis, that the Christian college
was formed. Because of this, the early model for leadership in the Christian college
presidency was the pastor. While some Christian colleges have moved away from this
early model as “pastor-as-president,” it was evidenced in these three presidents.

In the examples of the three Christian college presidents studied, each one
expressed the heart and action of a pastor in his leadership practice, thus the description

as “president-as-pastor.” All three backgrounds of these presidents were different, yet

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they were brought up in committed Christian homes and pursued ministries. Belding was
the only one of the three who actually served as a pastor in a church. He provided
leadership to the adults in a large church. Devitto, while not a pastor, served some
pastoral functions as a traveling evangelist. Bunton was the only leader to work solely in
educational settings prior to his presidency. Yet, his close connection to and upbringing
in the church, as well as the example of his father, provided him with en effective model
of pastoral leadership. All of these prior experiences conditioned these presidents to lead
with the heart and action of a pastor.

Let’s take a look at some of the “pastor-like” leadership practices of these three
Christian college presidents—these themes reﬂect the model of “president-as-pastor.”
There are several that emerged as themes: Commitment to spiritual development;
Spiritual gathering of the community; Prayer; Ministering in times of need; Spiritual
direction; Care for the ﬂock; and VP’s as disciples.

Commitment to Spiritual Development. A pastor is the leader of a group of
people in their spiritual lives and is concerned about their faith development. All three
presidents expressed deep concern and demonstrated a commitment towards this same
spiritual development in the lives of the students, faculty, and staff at their respective
colleges. Bunton led throughout his presidency with a spiritual agenda. He believed that
if the spiritual environment on the campus could be changed, then the college could move
forward and thrive. Devitto’s focal point was through the daily chapels as he believed
that this time was critical to the spiritual development of the campus community. Thus,
he committed his time and resources to this daily hour. Belding focused his spiritual

agenda on the mission of the university to integrate faith with all of learning. He was

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interested in the spiritual application to all of life for the student. As these presidents led
their respective institutions, their leadership practice demonstrated a commitment to the
spiritual development of the people which emulated a pastoral role in the Christian
college.

Spiritual Gathering of the Communig. A pastor preaches to the people every
weekend in a church service. These three presidents took varying opportunities to preach
to the students in chapel. Devitto more closely resembled the pastoral model in this area
as he spoke weekly to the students in chapel. Perhaps the only difference from this
service as compared to a regular church service was that the “congregation” was made up
of 18-22 year olds instead of spanning all the age groups. Devitto was wired in such a
way that he thrived in ﬁont of a group whereas Belding and Bunton did not place an
emphasis on their platform presence in chapel. However, they were just as committed to
this spiritual gathering and empowered others who were gifted in this area to lead this
important part of college life.

m A pastor prays for his people. All three presidents prayed privately and
publicly for their people—the students, faculty and staff of the colleges they served.
Pastors typically spend personal time reading their Bibles and praying. Each of the
presidents spent time developing their own personal relationship with God. Through an
outflow of this private experience, they often provided public prayers. Whether in a one-
on-one meeting or time with their administrative teams, each president would offer public
prayers for the needs of the person, group or college.

During challenging times, these presidents called the administrative team or the

entire community together and led them in corporate prayers. A pastor prays for his

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congregation in public, and so did these Christian college presidents. Prayer is a
foundational practice for one committed in their faith. As demonstrated by these
presidents, it was also foundational to their leadership practice.

Care for the Flock in Times of Ngg. A pastor values and cares deeply for the
people of the church just as a shepherd watches over his ﬂock. The Bible describes the
pastor as being a shepherd to the church. In similar ways, all three presidents acted as
shepherds to the campuses they served. They brought “lost sheep” back into the fold and
gave them second chances. This was especially apparent in Bridge’s presidency. They
were willing to work with their people and to treat them well. Devitto and Bunton were
committed to their administrative vice presidents and took great care of them.

A pastor helps people in their times of need. All three presidents helped those
around them in their times of need. These times of need manifested themselves in
different ways as these presidents seemed to be available and ready to help anyone
around them when they were facing difﬁcult and challenging times.

Throughout his presidency, Devitto told the students to “call me collect” if they
were in a time of need. Some students took him up on this offer and Devitto provided the
help they needed. Devitto also called others when they were facing a difficult time.
Whether it was a faculty member with a daughter going through cancer treatments or a
ﬁiend who had made some bad choices and jeopardized a marriage, Devitto proactively
reached out to those around him. Belding stopped a student on the sidewalk and prayed
for her and her dying mother. He also took time out of his busy schedule to help a vice

president look for his runaway daughter and to pray for God to bring her back home.

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Bunton helped a student in need by giving her $100 and he also helped a faculty member
going through a divorce by giving him $1,000 to pay for his ﬁrst loan payment.

One of the most difﬁcult times of need that a community faces is death. The loss
of a loved one is a signiﬁcant time of grieving. The pastor is the one called on to reach
out to the family. Devitto was often called on to lead funerals and memorial students for
students, faculty members, and people from the community.

Another signiﬁcant time of need in a person’s life is through some type of a crisis
event. In many cases, these presidents acted as counselors as they listened to the
problems of the people. In fact, during Belding’s ﬁrst year at Galilee, he spent a lot of
his time listening to those who had been hurt by the previous leadership. In his pastoral
role, Belding was approachable and willing to listen.

In other situations, these presidents called faculty and staff who were going
through difficult times. One faculty member commented that Belding was the ﬁrst one to
call him to see how he was doing. Devitto called a faculty member every 100 miles as he
drove to check in with him to see how his daughter was doing with her ﬁght against
cancer. Bunton reached out to a faculty member who was going through ovarian cancer
to see how she was doing. Pyles said of Bunton, “He cares about us as people and is
concerned about us personally.” In many ways, through their care and concern for
individuals connected with the college, these presidents became a pastor to them. There
were able to help the people of the college in their times of need, just as a pastor helps the
people within the church.

Spiritual Direction. A pastor delivers spiritual truth and provides spiritual

direction to the people of the church. In different ways, each of the three presidents gave

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spiritual truth and direction to the college community. All three presidents sought God
for spiritual direction in leading their respective institution. The read their Bibles in
search of what God had to say to them and the college community. In turn, they imparted
spiritual direction to the faculty, staff, and students.

Devitto used the platform of chapel to deliver this spiritual direction while Bunton
and Belding relied on small group and individual meetings to share spiritual direction
with others. These presidents were not only expected to provide the vision for the
college, the people also anticipated spiritual direction from them. It was expected from
them in their role as president of a Christian college.

VP’s as Disciples. All three presidents worked to assemble a team of vice
presidents to help lead the college. These leadership teams, especially in the long-term
tenures of Devitto and Bunton, worked closely together throughout their presidencies.
For Belding, he had just ﬁnished assirrrilating his team as he was early on in his
presidency. In their “president-as-pastor” role, these presidents treated their leadership
team as a group of close-knit disciples similar to the approach that Jesus took in his New
Testament ministry. As the ultimate shepherd to the church, Jesus relied upon the
leadership of a few to lead the people and propagate his mission. These presidents did
the same in their leadership practice.

Through all of these pastoral actions, these presidents demonstrated the heart of a
pastor in their presidencies. While the mission of the organizations were certainly
different, it is amazing to see the parallels between the pastor’s leadership of the church

and the president’s leadership of a Christian college. As these leaders were inﬂuenced by

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their upbringing in the church and their previous ministries, the “president-as-pastor”
model worked well for these Christian colleges.

This model ﬁts best under Kouzes and Posner’s exemplary practice of “encourage
the heart.” The pastor is in a position to provide great encouragement to the people of the
church. The president, in a similar way, as the actions manifests themselves in pastoral
ways, encourage the students, faculty, staﬁ‘ and other constituent groups connected to the

Christian college.

“ -Talk”

One of the primary functions of a leader is his or her speech. A leader talks about
the organization and its future. This rhetoric provides hope and motivation for the people
to rally around the mission and impact of the organization. It is the focus of both the
spiritual and symbolic leaders.

For these three Christian college presidents, their leadership rhetoric centered
around “God-talk.” Simply stated, “God-talk” is the verbal integration of the spiritual
and faith-based beliefs with the topic at hand. It is a way of consciously using
spiritualized talk in personal or group conservations. These presidents demonstrated this
“God-talk” in several ways.

First, these Christian leaders talked about God in their natural conversations. This
ﬂowed out of their personal relationships with God through prayer and Bible study. They
talked about what God was doing in their lives, what they were praying for God to do,

and how all that happened around them was from God.

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Secondly, in their communication, they gave credit to God for his blessing.
Devitto often used the phrase, “The only explanation for Capernaum is God.” The
campus had experienced signiﬁcant growth in enrollment and facilities during his
presidency in which he gave God the credit. Even when difficult times hit, the president
would often spiritualize the conversation. Belding said, when faced with difﬁcult
ﬁnancial aid issues, “If we are honoring God it will out as long as we work at it.” Bunton
also gave credit to God by saying that the college was “God’s project” and not his.

Third, as each of these leaders looked to the future of their respective colleges
they talked about following God’s will and direction. Bunton knew that no matter how
good he was as a leader, Bethsaida College was ultimately God’s. Therefore, God could
choose to do what he wanted. For Devitto, one of the phrases that he often used, focused
on his emphasis on quality. He said, “Everything done in the name of Christ ought to
have quality stamped all over it.” He equated his passion for excellence as something
that God desired which justiﬁed his decisions for quality in even the little things. Beste
said it well, “He always gave glory to God. Capernaum is all about God.”

Fourth, the mission was often discussed with others, which was a main focus of
their spiritual rhetoric as president. Belding was most notable for using the mission as a
speaking point. He talked about it and wrote about it. He even had a special workshop
for faculty and staff to work through the mission in relation to their speciﬁc job. Devitto
always reviewed the mission at the beginning of the school year and emphasized their
spiritual focus.

Without knowing the heart motivation of each of these presidents, it is difficult to

know if this “God-talk” was a result of their Christianized experiences and conditioning

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or if it was truly an expression of their internal commitment. Certainly, we would like to
think that it came ﬁom within. The important thing is that each of these presidents
demonstrated their internal faith commitment to God and it was expressed verbally in

“God-talk”—the spiritual rhetoric of their leadership practices.

God’s Vision and an Emphasis on Growth

Vision is critical to the future of an organization. It is the forward-looking and
forward-thinking that a leader or group of leaders is involved in to make the organization
a better place. It is where innovation, change and growth comes from. All three
presidents placed signiﬁcant emphasis on their vision for their respective institutions.
Each vision centered arormd an emphasis on growth—growth in enrollment, facilities,
programs as well the spiritual growth of the students. In all three cases, their vision was
connected to an optimism that there would be a better day for the institutions.

It seems that the vision of these three presidents was discovered in partnership
with God. Through their personal prayers and conversations with God they felt led to put
forth an agenda for the future of their institutions. Belding came in with his vision for
Galilee. He wanted to see a continued commitment to the integration of faith and
learning, signiﬁcant enrollment growth, and improvement in academic quality. Jamison
said, “He has God’s calling on his life to be here. He has been given a vision for this
university.” Throughout all of this, he believes Galilee will become a “place of
signiﬁcance” in Christian higher education.

For Bunton, his vision was centered around a spiritual agenda. He knew the

context of the student body and that he needed to begin with a renovation of the hearts

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rather than a focus on numbers and facilities. This would come but it had to result after
the spiritual foundation and turnaround. He did not believe in strategic plans, at least
those on paper, although he had a vision mapped out in his head of where he wanted
Bethsaida College to go in the future.

Devitto’s vision focused on the transformation of the campus through enrollment
growth and building expansion. Austin said, “He always trusted God. He prayed hard
and diligently about it. God always provided the piece of the campaign you did not brow
where it would come from.” One hundred million dollars and many new buildings later,
Devitto can look back. Rudlow said, “He was willing to dream big for God and he did
not hesitate to give God the credit.”

In none of these three leaders did they say that their vision for the growth and
expansion came directly from God. It seemed to be more of a joint process of pursuing
God’s will and direction on a daily basis that they were led to move these institutions
forward. Jette said it well of Belding, which could be represented of all three presidents,
their visions were “not God-given, but God-ordained.” These men demonstrated a

leadership practice in which their visions were endorsed by God.

A Spiritual Agenda and pn Emphasis on Chapﬂ
Each president promoted a spiritual agenda and placed a signiﬁcant emphasis on

chapel as a time focused on the faith development of the student body. Belding’s focus at
Galilee centered around his commitment to the integration of faith throughout all

learning. His spiritual agenda was more academically focused.

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For Bunton and Devitto, their spiritual agenda manifested itself in the chapel
program. Bunton empowered his vice president for student development to transform the
chapel program and to gear it to the spiritual needs of the students. This vice president
provided the platform presence and charismatic style to spiritually challenge the students.
What resulted was a special time of spiritual emphasis in which an evangelist was used to
bring revival to the students. This resulted in a spiritual turnaround among the campus
community that transformed Bethsaida College and ignited its growth. Throughout this
entire time, Bunton provided the support and overall direction for this spiritual agenda
while infrequently using the platform of chapel to speak to the students.

Devitto had a similar spiritual agenda for the student body and also placed
signiﬁcant emphasis on the chapel program. The difference is that he was directly
involved chapel. He continually said that, “Chapel is the heartbeat of any Christian
College.” Because he was passionate about this program, he led the chapel program for
25 years out of his ofﬁce. While most Christian college presidents delegate this
assignment to another leader, Devitto kept this under his direct oversight. He also
operated the chapel program much like a church service as he sat on the platform,
introduced the speakers, and spoke weekly. For him, the Capernaum student body was
his church and he used this environment to promote a spiritual agenda.

While demonstrated in different ways, these presidents placed an importance on
the spiritual agenda at their institutions. To them, this was as important as the desire to
grow in enrollment, facilities, or academic quality. Without this spiritual agenda and

emphasis, they believed that their colleges would no longer remain true to their mission

228

as Christian and faith-based colleges. And to them, chapel becomes the measuring rod
for gauging the spiritual pulse of the campus.

This spiritual agenda and the emphasis on the chapel program is most closely
aligned with the leadership practice of “modeling the way” and “inspiring a shared
vision.” The president models this commitment to the spiritual by aligning his personal
values with that of the institution. This commitment then manifests itself in a shared
vision for the college. Because of the central focus of the chapel program and the
requirement for everyone to attend, this vision could be promoted and lived among this

faith-based community.

Symbolic Leadership and The Future of the Christian Collgge President

With the growth and resurgence of Christian colleges in the last two decades, it is
critical for these faith-based institutions of higher learning to remain committed to their
historic mission. The Christian College president will continue to play a critical
leadership role in preserving and protecting this mission. With vigor and determination
the president should make every effort to build the faith within his or her personal life. In
turn, this will ﬂow throughout the Christian college.

Just as Riley (2005) suggests in her book, The Missionary Generation, the future
of Christian colleges are rooted in their continued commitment to integrate faith with
learning. Related to this integration, symbolic leadership seems to be an important
consideration for presidents. The use of symbolic leadership becomes paramount for the
Christian College president as he or she seeks to maintain this historic commitment

instead of falling away to the unbelief that Marsden (1994) has so well traced in the

229

literature. This faith-based symbolism will inspire the Christian college community to
rally around this commitment. The Christian college president should make every effort
to use faith-based symbols in his or her leadership rhetoric and practice to guide and
direct the institution in this continued mission. These include the symbols described
early in the “president-as-pastor” model.

Based on the interviews and observations of the presidents, the use of Christian
symbols did not appear to be a utilitarian leadership tool. Rather, because of the
congruence between faith and action in the leader’s practice, the use of Christian symbols
were an outflow of the symbolic leadership styles of these three presidents. It ﬂowed
naturally from the inner faith commitment of each president and resulted in symbolic
leadership practices that were faith-based. These symbolic actions did not appear to be a
means to an end or merely what was expected from the constituency. T'his symbolism
displayed, rather, was the congruence of their faith and practice.

Therefore, symbolic leadership, for these three presidents, was an identity-based
leadership practice. It came from who they were, rather than from what they were
expected to say or do. As symbolic leaders, they used symbols to capture attention, tell
stories, frame experience, and discover and communicate a vision—all of which was

congruent with their faith.

Limitations and Implications for Further Research

With the emergence of a discussion of the spiritual and symbolic leader in the
literature, it is important to continue this research quest. This study has examined a

selective sample of Christian leaders serving in the role of Christian college president to

230

discover the ways in which their faith inﬂuences their leadership practice. This thick
description, which is based on stories told by these presidents and others within the
college, has given us the depth of rmderstanding and insight to paint this portrait.
However, this painting should be considered as just one in a series for it is only
representative of three Christian college presidents and cannot be generalized to the
leadership universe. Rather, it can be used as a launching pad to spur the discussion and

additional research in this critical area.

Limitations of Research

There are several limitations to this study. First, as a researcher, my own bias is
present. With the same evangelical Christian background as those studied, it is possible
that this inﬂuenced what I saw, heard and experienced. My comfort and familiarity with
this belief system may have resulted in quickly accepting what I heard as the inﬂuence of
faith. In other words, it is possible that that as the researcher, I found what I wanted to
ﬁnd.

Secondly, the use of interviews can be considered a limitation. This “one-time”
period of questioning does not allow for a longitudinal perspective involving multiple
interactions with the interview subjects. It gives a snapshot at one point in time based on
the response of those interviewed. Greater insight could be gained for a study that
closely examines this issue over a period of time and allows for continual interaction.

Third, this study is limited because it utilized one conceptual framework. It
would be interesting to conduct the same research using the same subjects but examining

them through a different or multiple frameworks. For example, would the themes have

231

been the same if Bolman and Deal’s four frames were used as the conceptual framework?
Other frameworks should be considered and utilized to research this important question.

Fourth, because of the small sample size of three presidents, generalization is only
possible to these three subjects. The ﬁndings cannot be generalized to other leaders in
Christian higher education or the larger higher educational context. Generalization is
sacriﬁced for a more detailed and thick description of the subjects studied. It can,
however, be used to attempt to replicate the study and discover similar or dissimilar
ﬁndings in other leaders.

Fifth, the subjects were relegated to one speciﬁc religious segment of Christian
higher education. This study does not include leaders from a more liberal theological
bent nor does it include leaders of other faith perspectives. To widen the scope of this
project, consideration could be made for leaders of other faiths including, but not limited
to, Jewish, Catholic, or Muslim populations.

Sixth, the interview subjects were chosen because of their long-term working
relationship with the president. By interviewing additional people who have left the
institution, this may provide differing views of the leader and his or her faith inﬂuence on
leadership practice. These interview subjects seemed to be supportive of the president
and his leadership. Including those who are disgruntled in the study would provide a
broader perspective on the issue.

Seventh, the study focused on three very similar institutions with communication
that is conditioned by Christian rhetoric. The use of Christian “lingo” is expected for
those who work in a Christian university. It is part of the fabric of the institution and is

normative for all the employees. These norms may have conditioned people to “talk-the-

232

talk” while their practice may have been completely different. By studying the president
of the 1miversity, some personnel may have been hesitant to share negative views of their
person capable of terminating their position even though the research was conducted
anonymously.

Eight, this study was limited to three leaders serving in the position of president.
The academy is made up of many leaders who serve in a variety of positions. Additional
research should be conducted to examine this question at all levels throughout the
institution.

Finally, this study did not consider leaders or presidents who are Christian in their
faith commitment but serve in a university that is not faith-based or church-related. It
would be interesting to consider how their faith expression is ﬁltered or enabled based on
the college context. For example, in what ways does the organizational context condition
the faith inﬂuence on leadership practice? These limitations lead us to consider the

implications for future research.

Lack of Inconggence Expressed

One of the things that surprised me in the research was the lack of incongruence
expressed between the faith of these presidents and their leadership practice. From my
experience, even as a direct report to the president I served, it was extremely easy to be
critical of his leadership practice. Most of all that was discussed was positive about the
leadership practice of these presidents. The only thing that stood out was the
materialistic focus, as expressed by those interviewed, of Devitto in his desire for things

of quality.

233

Every opportunity was given to allow those interviewed to express this
incongruence from the anonymity of the interviews to the repeated questioning. A reason
that may be suggested for this is the long-term employment of these individuals. Most of
those interviewed had worked over ten years for their president and had a deep
appreciation and value for their leader. It would be interesting to consider a more random
sampling of those employed at the institutions to gain a comprehensive portrait of the
president. However, for those who were interviewed, their stories were triangulated

among the others which supported my ﬁndings.

Implications for Future Research

As this research quest continues, there are several implications to consider. First,
It will be important to consider this same question as it relates to other leaders throughout
higher education as well as the not-for-proﬁt and for-proﬁt organizational world. This
research focused only on higher education and in particular, the Christian college.
Leaders can be found at all levels throughout an organization, whether in higher
education or in the business world.

In addition, this study should be expanded to consider leaders at all levels. The
inﬂuence of faith on leadership practice is not relegated to the presidency. Rather, it is
expressed by leaders at all levels. It would be interesting to study one institution and to
examine multiple levels of leadership to determine if this inﬂuence of faith on leadership
practice is expressed differently. For example, how is the inﬂuence of faith on the
leadership practice of leaders expressed in personnel who have a “behind-the-scenes”

responsibility rather than being in the public spotlight?

234

Secondly, it will also be important to consider leaders of other faith perspectives.
It would be interesting to see if the type of faith commitment and belief system produces
a similar or different inﬂuence on leadership practice. For example, what does a non-
Evangelical faith commitment look like in its inﬂuence on leadership practice? At the
same time, a researcher should consider studying leaders of a different faith perspective
than his or her own.

Third, it will be interesting to examine the organizational context for his or her
leadership practice in light of his or her faith. For example, would the inﬂuence of faith
on the leadership practice of a president of a public university look different ﬁ'om that of
a leader of a Christian college? How does the openness to which the organization values
faith expression (Christian versus non-Christian organization) affect how the leader can
allow for his or her faith to inﬂuence leadership practice?

Fourth, additional conceptual frameworks should be utilized for studying the
inﬂuence of faith on leadership practice. This will allow for the research to be dissected
from multiple vantage points and disciplines.

Finally, it would be prudent for future research to consider the inﬂuence of faith
on speciﬁc leadership practices. For example, a researcher could examine the leader’s
faith in God and this inﬂuence on his or her rhetoric and vision. The researcher could
also study the role of prayer in the leadership practice of the president. Another example
would be to identify how a faith-based leader makes decisions. How does faith inﬂuence
these decisions? These are just some of the questions that could be considered in

additional research.

235

Not only should this quest continue in the literature and research, it is my own life
journey to discover and understand how faith should inﬂuence my leadership practice.
The ﬁnal section will provide some personal reﬂections on my own leadership journey in
the last few years and explain how this study has informed the inﬂuence of my faith in

my own leadership practice.

Personal Reﬂﬂ'ons on Faith and My Leadership Journey
I began with a story about my own leadership journey and the perceived

inconsistencies between faith and leadership practice. This journey has been one of
signiﬁcance for me as I have been able to take an introspective look at my own leadership
practice while looking through the lens of these three Christian college presidents. I am
able to see my own inconsistencies yet understand how I am attempting to grow and

develop.

My Leadership Journgy

Four years ago my career path changed suddenly because of the decision of
another leader. At this time in my life, this was the most difﬁcult thing that I had ever
faced—the loss of a job. It was difﬁcult to swallow the decision that someone else had
made that impacted my job, career, and family. Yet, for me personally, this was time of
growth in my own faith. It would be the ﬁrst signiﬁcant loss in my experiences and it
was during this time that my faith was stretched and strengthened. I learned what it
meant to depend upon God in my own personal journey to lead me the next step of the

way.

236

While I was cleaning out my ofﬁce, I was called by a reporter from the local
newspaper. I began to talk with him in fear and trepidation realizing that he wanted to
report the news and stories of what had occurred. He was looking for the details that
would sensationalize the story. I knew that this would be an opportunity for me to model
the way as I left the college. The reporter asked me how this could happen to me. I said,
“While this has been difﬁcult, I know that God has a plan for me and my family. This is
part of the plan. God is good.” I could have “slammed” the college and the president.
However, I realized that what I said would be read by the entire community and it was
important for me to model my faith commitment.

Ironically, my response in this situation encouraged the hearts of others along the
way. I received calls ﬁom people I did not know who wanted to help me. Just recently, I
visited my alma mater and a couple of former colleagues talked about the testimony I had
when I left the college in this difﬁcult time.

I also learned to never burn any bridges. While I certainly disagreed with the
president’s decision, I realized that he was being led to make decisions for the best
interest of the university. He was the leader who had the responsibility and the power to
make decisions, whether I viewed them as right or wrong. Looking back, I can’t actually
say that his decision to terminate my position was right or wrong. It simply was what it
was—a decision. I may have disagreed with him because it impacted me. However, it
happened and I survived.

In some ways, this was a ﬂeeing experience. It gave me the opportunity to look at

the world from a new vantage point. Sure, I would rather have looked at it from an

237

employed perspective. However, at least I had four months of severance pay to ease the
transition to my next leadership opportunity.

I remember one meeting with this president a couple of months after my position
had been terminated. Since I had not heard from him and had some unresolved
questions, I decided to take the initiative to meet with him to essentially challenge his
process. What I had hoped for and expected I never received. All I wanted ﬁ'om this
leader was for him to acknowledge that he was sorry that he had to make this decision
and its impact on me and my family. Perhaps this is where the greatest incongruence was
apparent to me—the realization for a leader to apologize for the hurt and pain caused to
me and my family. As a man of faith, I had hoped that he would have expressed value
for me in this way through an apology. To hear the words, “I’m sorry that I placed the
university in a position where I had to make this decision,” would have made signiﬁcant
strides towards my understanding of what had happened.

However, the irony in this situation is that my relationship with this leader has
continued and been rebuilt. I had to come to the conclusion in my own faith journey that
God had a plan for me and that, perhaps, this decision was part of his plan. I believe in
the sovereignty of God which means that He uses the events and decisions, whether right
or wrong, to guide my journey in life. Even when people mess up and make mistakes,
God uses this to shape our steps. I am not in a position to judge whether or not this
decision was incorrect or a mistake. I did not have the information he had nor could I see
it from it from his vantage point as a leader. As I have learned, it is so easy to be critical

of the leader.

238

Personal Leadership Challepges

My journey from this university took me to an administrative leadership position
in a private K-12 school. Now, this time around, I was the one “calling the shots” and
leading the faculty and staff. It sure looked different on this side of the leadership
equation. In fact, it’s never as easy as it looks.

I had been through some difficult leadership challenges—challenges that included
extreme ﬁnancial pressures, eliminating positions, organizational restructuring, and
difﬁcult parent and student issues. One of the most difﬁcult times for me, and there were
many, was working through the position restructuring of two long-term administrative
leaders at the school. Through many conversations with the senior pastor, the school
board, and the church leadership, I decided to move a 20-year athletic director out of his
position to another area of responsibility I created for him within the school. I believed
that his giftedness and strengths as a leader were found more in the position of a coach
and teacher rather than as an administrator.

This decision was questioned by many but I knew in my heart as I looked at all of
the issues that this was the right decision. Because I valued him and his commitment to
the school, I gave him a position with less responsibility with the same pay that enabled
him to concentrate on the areas of his strength. This is where I sought to encourage the
heart in a difﬁth time. For me, the most stressful and diﬁicult issue to deal with was
when I faced 60 angry and concerned parents. My faith was questioned as a leader.
Questions like: How could I do this to a Godly man? Isn’t it better to have a strong

Christian in this position even if he doesn’t do a great job in his administrative abilities?

239

I thought, “How could they question my faith?” Did they not see that I valued
him as a person and an employee and that I was trying to do what seemed best for the
school? Yet, to them, my faith seemed incongruent with my leadership practice and
decisions. Based on what I had been through, what I was hearing sounded all too familiar
to me. This time, I was the one being questioned about my faith and leadership practice.

Part of the stress of this situation and the other leadership challenges I faced led
me to lose sight of my faith. This took me down a road which would ultimately result in

more loss and another transition.

More Loss and Another Transition

Toward the end of these two years into my experience as leader of this school my
career path again changed suddenly. This time the change came as a result of my own
decision. Personally, I made some bad choices in my own life and began to drift in my
own faith commitment. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe anymore. Actually, I still believed
strongly in God and everything I was ever taught or learned. The leadership challenges
brought signiﬁcant stress to my personal life. Instead of turning to God and depending
on Him, I neglected my relationship with God because of issues going on in my life.
What I said publicly did not match who I was in private.

God allowed me to drift for some time until I hit “rock-bottom” in my own
spiritual jom'ney. My whole world came crashing down around me. The position of
leadership I held became insigniﬁcant to me. I had to put my life back in order. This
began by re-centering my life on a relationship with God. Because of the events

surrounding my life at the time, I decided to step away from my leadership

240

responsibilities. I needed time to rebuild my life and my spiritual focus on God. I made
a commitment to make right decisions, and through the counsel of others around me, I
experienced the loss of a position once again.

This loss, although different from the ﬁrst experience, brought great learning to
my life and my own leadership experience. I realized that one who leads a Christian
organization and who professes to lead by faith must live this out consistently. This
begins with my own personal relationship with God. If this isn’t in order, then leadership
can come crashing down. The faith based mission of the organization must be lived out
in the life of the leader and those who make up the organization. Otherwise, there is
signiﬁcant incongruence. In other words, for the Christian organization, it is important
for the leader to have the same belief structure and faith.

One ironic twist occurred during this time. The leader that eliminated my position
actually reached out to me. The president who had eliminated my position, called me
during this difﬁcult time. He became a supportive and listening friend. He oﬁ'ered grace
to me and a willingness to help during my transition. He shared his own faith journey
during his leadership challenges where he sought God through the Psalms. Interestingly,
this is the one book of the Bible I studied and felt comforted by as I rebuilt my spiritual
and professional life.

Closing Reﬂections at this Point in my Leadership Journgy

I almost titled this section “ﬁnal reﬂections.” Yet, I then realized that this faith
and leadership journey is not over. This leadership journey has been a personal one for
me as I have attempted to better understand the inﬂuence of my own faith on my

leadership practice. So what have I learned about my own journey?

241

First of all, for the Christian leader, it is important for the personal life to match
the public practice. This was so clearly evidenced in the practice of the three Christian
college presidents. While I did not know the deepest most personal struggles they faced,
I was able to gain a glimpse of their heart and their desire to live out there faith. For me,
this takes a daily commitment to grow in my relationship with God. If this is what I say I
believe, then I need to make sure it is practiced.

For me, the leadership practice of modeling the way is paramount to my Christian
leadership experience. If my values that I promote do not correspond with my practice,
then the other leadership practices will be discounted. As the New Testament book of
James so aptly suggests:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who

looks at his face in a mirror and, aﬁer looking at himself, goes away and

immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the
perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he

has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).

It is the listening and believing that must match the doing. As a Christian leader, it must
begin here. This is where the integrity of the leader is discovered. This is where I will
either succeed or fail as a future leader.

Secondly, I have seen the importance of the pastor role as Christian leader. While
I may never lead a church, I will have the opportunity to be a pastoral example to others.
This example and the evidence from the research has given me reason to consider my
own leadership practice. This pastoral role is connected to the practice of encouraging
the hearts of others. Throughout the years, I have not been the best example of one to

encourage others. However, as my commitment to my faith grows, I must seek to

practice this in greater ways.

242

To me, as I look at the stories of these Christian college presidents, I admire their
commitments to modeling the way and encouraging the heart in their leadership practice.
Their examples, as well as the others I will come across in my life, will continue to
impact my life, my faith and my leadership practice. I have listened to their stories from
the leaders themselves. I have heard how their faith inﬂuences their leadership practice
ﬁom those closely around them. From this, my quest continues to create a portrait of

leadership practice inﬂuenced by Christian faith in my own life and practice.

243

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