Heart & Mind
Thank you, George Brushaber!
Arguably the most fragile periods in Bethel Seminary’s history
occurred during its first decade, under the leadership of John Alexis
Edgren, and during the five years between 1989-1994, under the leadership
of George Brushaber.
Stories about the Lord’s provision during the founding of the seminary are both compelling and instructive. Edgren’s vision for an educated clergy ran headlong into the attitudes and beliefs of recent Swedish immigrants. When they had lived out Baptistic convictions gained from Bible reading and prayer groups in their homeland, educated clergy from Sweden’s state church led the persecution against them. Not surprisingly, many of Edgren’s constituency believed that education was the cause of the problem with Sweden’s clergy. But Edgren knew that piety without knowledge and clergy without education would harm the church. His vision and perseverance were rewarded with God’s provision, often at the last minute.
Fast forward 120 years and note the convergence of two factors. First, delegates to the Baptist General Conference (BGC) voted to change the method of allocating mission dollars. Up until the mid 1980s, loyal BGC churches divided their mission dollars according to the "United Mission for Christ" formula. Bethel’s portion reached $1.3 million annually. Under the new method, each local church decided how to allocate the funds. When they had to choose between funding missionaries and supporting Bethel, by overwhelming percentages they chose to fund missionaries. By the early 1990s monies to Bethel dropped by nearly $1 million annually. Second, even though there were more students attending Bethel Seminary than in the past, each student was taking fewer courses per year. Tuition dollars are based on the latter, and the resulting tuition revenue shortfall compounded an already serious problem. The ensuing financial crisis called into question the future existence of the seminary.
George Brushaber led the charge to preserve the seminary. Among his actions were a clear public commitment to the seminary as part of Bethel’s future; substantial cost cutting steps (including the elimination of two tenured track positions); the creation of Vision AD2001 to do research and plan for the future of the seminary; support for innovations such as developing the first entirely at-distance delivery system for the M.Div. degree; and a streamlined decision-making process for the development of new programs.
Today Bethel Seminary is thriving in its mission to "advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ among all people in culturally sensitive ways." When measured according to full-time equivalency, Bethel is the tenth largest among the 254 accredited seminaries in the United States and Canada. Without the cluster of strategic decisions made during those critical five years, the outcome would be quite different.
And so I say, "Thank you, George Brushaber, for great leadership during a difficult time!"
Leland Eliason
Executive Director and Provost