Thoughts on Transition

by Scott Wible | Spring 2009

I met Leland Eliason 10 years ago when he interviewed me for the job as editor of Heart & Mind. We’d barely sat down before he opened to the latest issue’s cover story and said, “What do you think of that layout?” His eyebrows danced. I noticed because I had once worked for a publisher in Denver whose brow did a two-step whenever his dander was up. Catching a breath of air that seemed suddenly thin, I delivered my off-the-cuff critique. Can’t remember just what I said, now, but it must have been okay with Leland, because I got the job.

Today both Leland and Heart & Mind are in a state of transition. Leland’s tenure at Bethel Seminary will conclude in August, and Heart & Mind will merge with Bethel Focus to become one Bethel University magazine. “All good things must come to an end,” the saying goes – scripturally not very sound, but certainly apropos for this final issue of Heart & Mind, and its cover story tribute to retiring Executive Vice President, Executive Director and Provost Leland V. Eliason (When I Grow Up).

Under Leland’s leadership, Bethel Seminary:

anchored its ministry to the church and developed a strong curriculum stressing the importance of biblical and theological foundations, personal and spiritual formation, and transformational leadership;
established a partnership and consequent merger with Seminary of the East, now with teaching centers in New England, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C.;
fortified and expanded its ministry on the Pacific Rim through Bethel Seminary San Diego;
introduced innovative new degree programs to resource the movements of God around the world through its main campus in Arden Hills; and
pioneered leading distance and hybrid delivery models.

And Heart & Mind covered it all. Perhaps most memorable for me are the “Cross and the Crescent” issue, addressing the impact of 9/11 on Bethel Seminary and the global Christian community; the “Long Distance Runners” issue, featuring three Bethel sages who prefer the term “refirement” over “retirement;” and the “Loving Thy Muslim Neighbor” issue, offering wisdom about living, working, and ministering among the peoples of Islam.

But some of the sweetest times have been those moments of collaboration between Eliason the writer and Wible the editor. There’s a certain shared intimacy when one person trusts another with his words. And it was during those moments when I learned that Leland’s dancing brow reflected not his ire, but his passion for excellence.
Biblically speaking, we know that the best is yet to come.

My prayer for Leland is that he will find ever increasing joy in the Lord throughout his “refirement” years. And if his brow does a little jig when he opens to this issue’s cover story, that’d be okay, too.

Your servant in Christ,

Scott Wible
Editor, Heart & Mind