January 2010 Quality and Missional Review

Seminario Nazareno Dominicano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Students, Alumni, Faculty, Administrators, Board,

Regional Education Coordinator, Review Team and the Education Commissioner

work together in the process of the review to strengthen the school for the future.

Top left picture (left to right)

Ruben Fernandez - Mexico and Central America Regional Education Coordinator

Jorge Julca – South America Regional Education Coordinator

Rene Acosta - Seminary Director

Ernesto Bathermy - Seminary Academic Coordinator

Andres Hernandez – Caribbean Regional Education Coordinator

Top right picture (left to right)

Rene Acosta - Seminary Director

LeBron Fairbanks

Center picture (left to right)

Carlos De La Cruz – Seminary Board President

Rene Acosta - Seminary Director

LeBron Fairbanks

Board Development – to access the board development presentation click here (for the Spanish version click here)

January 2010

Quality and Missional Consultation

Centro Nazareno de Estudios Teológicos (CENET), San Juan, Puerto Rico

Top left picture

Andres Hernandez – Caribbean Regional Education Coordinator, local pastor and

Field Strategy Coordinator for Spanish Caribbean served as review team leader

Sitting at the table is Rev. Olga Robles - District Superintendent of Puerto Rico East District 

 
Rev. Andres Hernandez has much to think about as he enjoys the view from the Palace of Diego Columbus,
built in 1510. Diego was Christopher Columbus’ son who served as Viceroy of the Island c. 1511-1526.
Andres balances pastoring a local congregation with serving the Church of the Nazarene regionally
 - all while keeping the care of his wife (Tamara) and teens (Taisha & Nestor) in clear perspective!

Access the sermon preached by LeBron Fairbanks at                                                                                   Casa de Proclamacion y Alabanza, San Juan, Puerto Rico
on January 17, 2010 by clicking here. (For the Spanish translation click here).

I encourage you to read the following blog entry by International Board of Education administrative assistant, Rev. Tammy Condon. She assists me on strategic projects related to the IBOE. She is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, and a doctoral student in higher educational leadership.

In the article, she discusses a project we have been working on for several months.  We are seeking to identify key educational documents of the Church of the Nazarene. She will guide you in locating the documents collected thus far.

The project is on-going. We welcome your comments.

LeBron

FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION:

HISTORIC INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION DOCUMENTS CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE US

Tammy Condon

Administrative Assistant for Strategic Projects,

International Board of Education, Church of the Nazarene

In the Church of the Nazarene, with a commitment of more than 100 years of higher education, the concept of “global” education is more than an en vogue propaganda. Quality, Christian higher education remains the standard raised beside evangelism and compassion as the heart beat of the denomination (Manual 2005-2009, p. 25).

Currently, 54 Nazarene colleges, universities and seminaries encircle the globe. The International Board of Education (IBOE) for the Church of the Nazarene has the responsibility of providing advocacy, support, evaluation and networking for these institutions. According to Education Commissioner E. LeBron Fairbanks, this system of IBOE schools “is resolute in shaping Christlike disciples and servant-leaders for life-long service and global impact” (http://www.nazarene.org/education/tabdisplay.aspx). This is as it should be, as it was at the genesis of our denomination as Phineas Bresee (1915) in his final address at Pasadena College described this work of the educational institutions of the Church of the Nazarene, “to see that our students are led into the holy of holies and filled with all fullness of God” (inside middle column). As it has continued with each generation of educators, with Bertha Munro (1948), Dean of Eastern Nazarene College (1923-1957) stating simply, “We purpose to produce young people who, knowing something, also believe something” (p. 4).

It is a simple mandate – one that has formed a consistent thread through the historic education documents of the Church of the Nazarene which span from Bresee’s 1915 address to Fairbanks’ most recent address to the International Higher Education Council, June 2009.  While in practice and in documents, each institution develops and grows indigenously within the context it serves, however, there are clear expectations of Nazarene colleges, universities and seminaries regardless of their location on the planet. Bresee (1915) outlined the guiding principles for the development of our educational institutions as intentionally:

1) establishing the Word of God as its foundation which is woven throughout the comprehensive curriculum of each institution

2) incorporating the highest quality scholarship

3) developing the character of students – Godly, holy, transformed character (center back).

While General Superintendent J.B. Chapman, speaking to General and District Superintendents in 1944, focused the education portion of his Nazarene Manifesto on the development of preachers, especially through the founding of its seminary, it is clear from other education leaders, including Bertha Munro, that there is an important place in Nazarene education for liberal arts institutions built on the foundation of Christian holiness. The thread that flows through each of these documents is that whatever level of education – primary, high school, college, graduate school or beyond or in ministerial training, vocational training, or liberal arts – it must be Christian at its core, high quality in every aspect of its scholarship, and producing graduates who know Christian holiness as a real and personal experience that becomes an integral part of what they take out into the workplace as they leave the institution.

Most recently, the education commissioner for the Church of the Nazarene, E. LeBron Fairbanks, has inspired the gathering of historical Nazarene documents that will tell the story of Nazarene Global Education and serve as a resource to higher education leaders as they guide their unique institutions down a path that connects all the IBOE schools.

You are invited to participate in this vital collection of historic, international higher education documents for the Church of the Nazarene. First, we want to invite you to visit the Key Higher Education Documents Project on this blog (click here) and read the accumulating collection of documents under the “Higher Ed Docs” tab. Check back often as new documents are added regularly. There are some great papers already on the list including: Paul Bassett’s “Re-Wesleyanizing Nazarene Higher Education” and William Greathouse’s “Nazarene Theological Education.”

Secondly, after you have looked at the list of documents, begin suggesting other historical documents that you believe fit the category. We are interested in adding documents that describe the establishment, development and key points in the journey of the Nazarene schools globally, including important speeches, such as presidential inaugural addresses.

The point of this exercise is not simply to see what can be collected, but to begin to understand more fully the dynamics of 100 years of international higher education for the Church of the Nazarene. The documents will become a collection to resource, encourage and inspire the next generation of leaders as they continue the fulfillment of the call to Nazarene higher education. As Paul Bassett concluded in his 1985 speech to the Faith, Learning and Living Conference at Point Loma, “We have a splendid heritage, our present finds us reasonably competent and intellectually healthy, our future may just be broader and grander, by the grace of God and for the sake of Christ, than we dare imagine.  To whom much has been given, of them much shall be required” (pg. 37).

CREATING SPACE/MAKING ROOM…

Mount Vernon Nazarene University

R. R. Hodges Chapel/Auditorium

Mount Vernon Nazarene University

2009 Winter Commencement Address

E. LeBron Fairbanks

During one Christmas season while Anne and I served at MVNU, we spent a fascinating evening in Columbus with two MVNU alumni.  We walked to a nearby restaurant to purchase some Chinese food.  We ate the meal by candlelight while sitting on the floor in a circle.

The meal was great. The two to three-hour discussion was phenomenal.  Sharing our meal. Sharing our time. Sharing our journey. During the evening Anne and I experienced what the Bible refers to as hospitality.

I have been giving increasing thought to the relationship of spiritual hospitality to Christian leadership in the workforce where our vocation leads us. How do we “create space and make room” on the job or in our home, especially when we experience conflict and even collision between good and godly people over our vision and values.

This practice of hospitality was a way of life fundamental to Christian identity for seventeen hundred years of the Christian church. Christine Pohl convincingly documents this practice in her book, “Making Room: Recovering Hospitality in Christian Tradition.”

Biblically and theologically, the term “hospitality” is not limited to receiving a stranger into our homes – although it surely includes this dimension. Fundamentally, it is a core attitude toward others, which can be expressed by a great variety of behaviors. Hospitality, biblically understood, challenges us to relate to others as if we were relating to Christ Himself.

“Hospitality” means primarily the “creation of free space” – making room, to use Pohl’s words - in the midst of differences of thought or behaviors that may exist. With this perspective, the attitude of hospitality helps us to make room or create space for those with whom we live and work. It is being to others with whom you live and work, a “living witness of the risen Christ.”

The gift of Christian hospitality is the opportunity we provide for the colleague, co-worker, guest, stranger, family member or friend to find his or her own way. It enables us to consider an alternative way of thinking from those who may be very different from us. This gift to others invites them to contribute insights derived from their unique gifts and abilities, even in the context of differences of thought and behavior. In practicing hospitality and being hospitable, as leaders, we often serve as “angels of God” without even knowing it.

This is much more than being nice, feeding friends or enduring “hard to get along with” co-workers, colleagues, family members or friends. It is a way of life for leaders who are Christian and dictates how we approach those with whom we live, work and serve. For the strange and the strangers, the disenfranchised and lonely, our family members and friends, creating space and making room for them is the essence of hospitality, biblically understood.

The miracle of miracles is that we experience the “surprises of God” in our lives in the process of enabling others to grow and mature.  Through “providing space” and “making room” for others to change, we are given “space” by God to grow and mature in Christlikeness. Spiritual hospitality is nothing less than the amazing grace of God working in us as Christian leaders and through us! 

I spoke on this theme recently at the winter 2009 commencement of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. To read the full sermon manuscript click here. I welcome your thoughts on the address.

Dr. Dan Martin, MVNU President, presents a president emeritus lavaliere to LeBron

Peru Seminary 2009 Graduation

Over 1,000 Peruvian Nazarenes attended the graduation ceremony at the Seminario Teológico Nazareno, Chiclayo, Peru on November 26. Forty students graduated from the Seminary’s academic programs. Peru has a strong national church due in part to the quality of the Nazarene Seminary and its continued commitment to serve the local Peruvian Churches of the Nazarene.

Dr. LeBron Fairbanks, Rev. Ernesto Lozano, Dr. Jorge Julca

Dr. LeBron Fairbanks, education commissioner, and Dr. Jorge Julca, regional education coordinator, joined the Seminary rector, Rev. Ernesto Lozano, in conducting the graduation celebration. The service was filled with great music including a school orchestra and vocal music. There were outstanding, tangible reflections of the strong relationship between the Peruvian Church of the Nazarene and the Seminary. The Peru Church of the Nazarene National Board president, Rev. Ricardo Rodriguez and field strategy coordinator, Rev. Segundo Isidoro Rimarachin, also participated in the service.

The clearest indicator of this bond between the Seminary and the Church of the Nazarene is that 84% of the Seminary graduates since 1984 are currently serving in pastoral ministry throughout the 16 districts of Peru. There are 824 churches

“The graduation ceremony was a joyful celebration of Nazarenes throughout the country of Peru,” stated Dr. Fairbanks. He continued, “Peruvian Nazarenes are proud of their Seminary and its graduates. It showed in every aspect of the service.”

Seminario Nazareno de las Americas (SENDAS), Costa Rica

“For whom is the Board of Trustees ‘the trustee’?” This question was posed to me by a faculty member of a Nazarene university in the United States. She was serious.

“What do board members do?” was another question aimed at me during the summer with more than a hint of derision. The response of the person to his own question suggested passivity, uncertainty and frustration on the part of many of his colleagues serving on school boards.

During twenty years of working with and reporting to governing boards, I have worked with strong and effective boards, and I have experienced passivity, uncertainty and frustration on the not so effective boards.

During the past few months, I have led board development workshops at the invitations of three strong school leaders: Africa Nazarene University, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Leah Marangu; Nazarene Bible College, Colorado Springs, President Dr. Harold Graves, Jr.; and Rector of the Seminario Nazareno de las Americas (SENDAS), Costa Rica, Dr. Ruben Fernandez.

Regional Education Coordinators (left to right)
Caribbean - Andres Hernandez
Mexico & Central America – Ruben Fernandez
South America – Jorge Julca

These leaders wanted to strengthen their already strong boards and to orient new board members toward effective and appropriate movement on the boards to which they had recently been elected. In each of the workshop sessions the board members were energized and engaged.

Before we process eight “best practices” of governing boards of institutions like African Nazarene University, Nazarene Bible College, and Seminario Nazareno de las Americas, I shared with the groups two biases regarding boards and board members:

1. Effective boards make outstanding presidents. (The flipside of this statement is: “Outstanding presidents embrace strong boards.”)
2. “Nose in, fingers out.” (Board members are to ask the tough questions, but do not meddle in the administration of the school.)

I shared with each board the following eight “best practices.” Click here to view the entire PowerPoint presentation. (Click here to view the Spanish version.)

#1 Board members understand the role, purpose and function of the board, including committee structure.

Principle: Focus on policy formulation (board responsibility) not policy and implementation (administration responsibility).

#2 Board members know and communicate the school’s mission, vision, and values.

Principle: Establish policies and make decisions with a laser beam commitment to the school’s mission, vision and values.

#3 Board members ask the right questions to secure critical answers to strategic questions such as: Who are we? Where are we? Where are we going? How will we get there? Why is it important to get there? How will we know when we get there?

Principle: Focus on value defining, forward looking and facilitating questions, and probe for legal, planning and restorative clarity and consistency.

#4 Board members understand and embrace the Board Policy Manual that contains the board approved policies for effective and efficient governance of the college, university or seminary.

Principle: Board policies and procedures are maintained in an up to date manual that is provided to every board member.

#5 Board members relate to the school leader - president, vice chancellor, principal, or rector - and the constituency with one voice.

Principle: Vigorously discuss policy options and make decisions within the board meetings and communicate board action outside the board meetings with a unified voice and support.

#6 Board members listen to the constituency, appreciate the heritage of the school and model faith development and spiritual formation.

Principle: Serve as an active, not passive, extension of the school leader between board meetings.

#7 Board members are outstanding examples of giving regularly and sacrificially to the school.

Principle: Financial donors look for the board members for evidence of their consistent giving to the school – individually and collectively.

#8 Board members develop new leaders throughout the denomination for increased responsibilities and commitment to the school.

Principle: Reproduce yourself as a passionate advocate for the school.

One final question. In your own context what does the governance phrase, “Nose in, fingers out” mean to you and the governing board with whom you work?

I welcome your comments on the template used in the board development workshops. It’s a work in progress!

Board of Directors, Seminario Nazareno de las Americas (SENDAS), Costa Rica

This week’s blog is taken from an article written by Dr. Filimao Chambo, Regional Education Coordinator & Regional Director for Africa. His summary remarks on my commencement speech were included in the online publication, “Out of Africa” ( Vol. 15, October 19, 2009). I invite you to read Dr. Chambo’s comments and the attached full commencement address (Click Here)

NAHEC Swaziland Celebrates First Graduation Ceremony
NAHEC (Nazarene Higher Education Consortium) in Swaziland celebrated the graduation of 220 students who successfully completed the academic qualifications for nursing, teaching, and pastoral training at Sharpe Memorial Church of the Nazarene in Manzini, Swaziland, on 03 October 2009. This was an historic and joyous event, as less than two years earlier, on 22 October 2007, the Nazarene College of Theology, Nazarene College of Nursing, and Nazarene College of Education in Swaziland merged as the initial step towards the formation of a Nazarene University in Swaziland. The three colleges are now operating under the auspices of the Nazarene Higher Education Consortium (NAHEC).

In his commencement address, Dr LeBron Fairbanks, Commissioner of Education for the International Church of the Nazarene, proposed that “caring for others… is the measure of greatness”. He addressed three leadership questions that have captivated him during his years in Christian higher education:

#1. How can we live together as Christians so that our relationships are redemptive and a witness to unbelievers of the reconciling work of God in Christ?

#2. If, “in Christ, all things are made new,” then how does our relation ship with Christ transform the way we lead?

#3. In conflict situations, especially when seemingly irreconcilable expectations are placed on the leader, how can we lead in those situations, really lead, with “the mind of Christ”?

Fairbanks continued, “Our responses to them, I believe, determine our measure of greatness. Good and Godly people will differ and often collide with us over vision and values. In these moments, great leaders choose to ‘care deeply”.

To summarize: outstanding leaders are usually known for their decisiveness and fierce resolve. For great Christian leaders, you will also find that they:
1. Speak Gracefully. They watch the words they speak.
2. Live Gratefully. They don’t whine or cry but are grateful.
3. Listen Intently. They seek first to understand.
4. Forgive Freely. They are proactive in extending forgiveness.
5. Lead Humbly. They harness the power of community life and make decisions with much grace and deep humility.
6. Pray Earnestly. They believe that God can work in them to become the change they desire to see in others.

Comment:
1. What do you believe is the true measure of a person’s greatness?
2. What is your response to the characteristics of “Caring Leaders” outlined in the address?

Caring Christians… Care Deeply. They value people, not power.

 Determine to make this care and concern for others,

                                                  this gentleness and kindness,

                                                                              your measure of greatness!

LeBron Fairbanks, IBOE Commissioner; Sanil Dange, Director of the South Asia Nazarene Bible College and Field Strategy Coordinator, India Field

Several years ago, I read the book, CROSS CULTURAL CONNECTIONS. In the book, the author states that “what John 3:16 is to the unbeliever, Romans 15:7 is to the believer.” Romans 15:7 reads: “Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

I remember the impact that statement had on me. I asked my wife to quote John 3:16; she did. Then I asked her to quote Romans 15:7. She could not, nor could I.  For the next few days the words of the author preoccupied my mind: “What John 3:16 is to the unbeliever, Romans 15:7 is to the believer.”  I begin to probe the words of the text and of the author, and their implications for leading others in communities of faith.

Four months later, I was scheduled to co-lead a “leadership track” with Dr. John Bowling at the Eurasia Region Leadership Conference in Turkey. The more I reflected on the Romans 15:7, the more I concluded it contained profound insights for Christian servant leaders. I chose to focus in the workshop on a distinctively Christian attitude that leaders must cultivate if we are to be worthy our identity as Christ-like leaders. I spoke on the subject, THE ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE.

Increasingly, this ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE must identify and define us as biblical servant leaders. It is at the heart of all we are.

Acceptance is the ability to communicate value, regard, worth and respect to others. It is the ability to make people feel significant, honored and esteemed. This is leading “with the mind of Christ.”  To intentionally accept and serve others is to love them.

Acceptance is a profound biblical principle for Christian leaders, especially when good and godly people collide over vision and values in a community of faith.

What is the opposite of acceptance? Is it not rejection? How does the rejection by others make you feel? How do you think rejection of others makes them feel? How does rejection of others within a community of faith affect your own relationship to God?

I believe this grace-filled acceptance of others is a core Christian leadership quality that must be cultivated. And, I am convinced that an ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE is shaped and nurtured by three compelling convictions about:

• who we are as the People of God;
• what we are to do in the work of God; and
• how we live together as the family of God.

And these convictions become driving forces within us as we live and lead with an acceptance of those with whom we live and work.

What do you think about these statements?

To read the full manuscript of the presentation, Click here. The Powerpoint presentation is also available, Click here.

Let me probe more deeply. As you think of your leadership environment—home, community, district, church, region, denomination—who do you have the most difficulty accepting? As you view yourself as a leader of leaders, what kinds of people are hardest for you to accept?

• Why do you think this is so?
• How do you think this makes God feel?
• How do you think God sees that person—or those persons?
• How does your response affect your own relationship to God?

The overarching question is this: How can we increasingly reflect an acceptance of others with the community of faith we serve?

September 2009 - South India Biblical Seminary Quality and Missional Review Consultation team (left to right): Antonie Holleman, European Nazarene College; LeBron Fairbanks, IBOE Commissioner; Kent Brower, Team Chair and Nazarene Theological College – Manchester; Sanil Dange, Director of the South Asia Nazarene Bible College and Field Strategy Coordinator, India Field; John Haines, Regional Education Coordinator - Eurasia Region

I remember repeating often to myself as a young theological student these words, “if I am going to be a pastor, then I want to be the best trained pastor I can be.” My undergraduate training at Trevecca Nazarene University, Nashville, Tennessee, instilled within me a love for learning. It was during these years that a fascination with Wesleyan theology developed as I absorbed the teaching of Drs. William Greathouse, John Allan Knight and Bill Strickland.

Earlier in my Trevecca days I had responded to what I perceived as a call of God to pastoral ministry. God saw in me what I did not, could not, see in myself. To this day, some 45 years later, I have sought to be faithful to this calling.

My intense desire to learn coupled with a deep sense of calling to pastoral ministry led me to graduate programs at Methodist, Nazarene and Presbyterian institutions. The formal vita is located below in this section.

I enjoyed thoroughly my years in local church pastoral ministry. However, during the past thirty years, I have “lived out” my pastoral calling in Nazarene higher education. In every aspect of my classroom and administrative responsibilities, I have been captive to my conviction and vocation to “work” in these educational assignments out of an intensely personal and communal pastoral perspective.

Since those early days in Nazarene higher education at the European Nazarene College, I have “wrestled” with leadership questions for faith communities such as the local church, a Christian college or university, or a family unit. I probed in my mind the need for modeling of Christian leadership at the district, regional and global levels of the denomination. I could not escape the implications to live and lead “faithfully” in the context the faith community or communities in which I was “stationed” or placed.

In the PURPOSE statement for this blog, I identify several questions that I have attempted to pursue since my EuNC years. These questions probe the spiritual dimensions of leadership in faith communities.

The one question that preoccupied my thinking during my first year of teaching at the school on the borders of Germany and Switzerland was this: “How can we live together as the body of Christ in the midst of this diversity in such a way that our relationships are redemptive and a witness to unbelievers of the reconciling work of God in Christ?” Today, as I work as education commissioner in the Global Ministry Center of the Church of the Nazarene, I continue to pursue the question. I am still on the journey.

In the midst of conflicting expectations, and often seemingly irreconcilable differences in a local congregation, mission organization, Christian university, church governing board, denominational headquarters or a host of other faith communities, what does it mean - really mean - in these often conflicting situations for the Christian leader to lead with the mind of Christ? These are pastoral issues and concerns.

I am often challenged by the words of “The Servant Song” in our Nazarene hymnal (page 679). Listen to the first two verses:

Brother, let me be your servant,
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace
To let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey;
We are brothers on the road,
We are here to help each other,
Walk the mile and bear the load.

Each time I sing this hymn, however, I am convicted by a question. Is it really possible to be a servant - a servant leader - in the real world of the contemporary Christian community with all of the conflicting demands and pressures on us?

My conviction in this blog, reflected in each section, is that, regardless of where God places us as leaders and with whom He places us within the Christian fellowship, we must have at the core of our being at least three compelling convictions:

• A vision of who we are as people of God;
• A passion for what we are called to do in the work of God; and
• An obsession for how we live together as the family of God.

These convictions are the heart and soul of the servant leadership. They comprise the essence of the Servant’s Song.

I am coming to understand that if leaders are to assist “the led” to think and act Christianly, we must wholeheartedly embrace these leadership themes:

• The motivation for servant leadership is grounded in a theology of ministry.

• The lifestyle of servant leadership is characterized by a passion for Christ-likeness.

• The goal of servant leadership is to facilitate transformation and reconciliation.

• The ministry of servant leadership is to prepare others for their ministries.

• The pain in servant leadership is experienced when good and godly people differ and sometimes collide with the leader over vision and values.

• The evidence of servant leadership is in the qualitative growth of the led -individually and collectively.

Fundamentally, I believe, effective leadership for Christian character formation is grounded in biblical perspective and not in organizational skills. Skills, of course, are needed. However, sharp skills without Christian motives easily lead to manipulation. The primary orientation and motivation of our actions as Christian leaders must be deeply theological…and pastoral.

My wife of 47 years, Anne, and our son, Stephen, share with me this journey. They share my passion for pursuing the compelling convictions and implications of what it means to be a Christ-centered leader.

Brother, sister, let me be your servant…