Catastrophic Crisis

Steve F. Echols, Allen England

• Publisher: B&H Academic
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781433673689
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Iglesia cristiana

Nature's fury, horrible accidents, criminal acts, moral failures, personal attacks. Nothing tests a ministry leader's skills more than a crisis. When sudden events turn things upside down, and the normal methods of operation are no longer possible, the leader and the leadership moment are placed in the fire and thrust into the spotlight at once. With that in mind, Catastrophic Crisis authors Steve Echols and Allen England take a case study approach to understanding effective Christian leadership, looking back at eight trials or tragedies faced at religious institutions in recent years. From the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's encounter with Hurricane Katrina to the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Illinois, where pastor Fred Winters was shot and killed while preaching, this well-researched book tells the inside stories of each event, analyzes the leadership responses to draw out important lessons, and then poses direct questions that will help the reader actively process what is being learned. Catastrophic Crisis concludes with the "Leadership Lifeboats" and "Aftermath" chapters, focusing respectively on practical, biblical insights from various other leadership authors and the hope and blessing God ultimately provides following a personal catastrophic crisis.

Part I

The Cataclysmic Event

Chapter 1

The School of Providence and Prayer Faces Its Greatest Fear

"I will be with you when you pass through the waters." Isaiah 43:2a

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Dr. Chuck Kelley spent four days on a roller coaster of emotions. Having evacuated from New Orleans, he was in a hotel room in Birmingham, Alabama, anxiously following the latest news reports on Hurricane Katrina. As president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS), he and his administrative team were mindful of the vulnerability of New Orleans to hurricanes. They were well aware of the risk of "the big one" that had long been forecast.

Many had chronicled the potential catastrophic impact of a major hurricane on New Orleans. One widely noted warning had come in a series of articles in the major newspaper of the city, The Times-Picayune. Writers John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein had noted that New Orleans was like a giant bowl surrounded by a levee system that protected it from the Gulf and the 630 square miles of Lake Pontchartrain. Hurricane Betsy, the last major hurricane to hit New Orleans (1965), left the city more vulnerable than ever before. The Gulf of Mexico was 20 miles closer because of the erosion of the marshland that previously served as a buffer of protection for New Orleans. In addition, a complex but dynamic process was causing the elevation of the city gradually to sink.¹ If the perfect storm hit, it would drive a massive surge from the Gulf of Mexico into Lake Pontchartrain, topping the levees and creating a new lake inside the city. With the average elevation of New Orleans being five feet below sea level, some experts believed that parts of the city could have as much as 30 feet of water. The potential damage would be horrific. Thousands could drown, and the city would likely be uninhabitable for months. New Orleans might never recover. Although the Army Corps of Engineers estimated that the odds of the levies being topped in such a storm were one in 300 in any given year, that prediction was little comfort on the day of one of the most catastrophic weather events in the history of the United States—the morning of August 29, 2005.²

For Kelley and the seminary leadership, the dramatic development of Katrina had begun several days earlier. On August 23, a tropical depression, the twelfth of the season, had formed over the southeastern Bahamas. On Thursday, August 25, shortly before landfall on the eastern coast of Florida, the storm became a minimal hurricane. As always with the development of an Atlantic tropical system, the seminary leadership had been monitoring Katrina. Initially, the storm had seemed to be no threat to New Orleans. As the storm went across Florida, it weakened to tropical storm status. Weather prognosticators expected it to emerge in the Gulf and move along the west coast of Florida. However, once it entered the Gulf of Mexico, extremely favorable climatic conditions caused a rare intensification of frightening proportions. By Saturday, the storm had reached major hurricane status. By Sunday, it broke the record for the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was known as the school of providence and prayer. This epithet originated from a vote of the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in 1917 to establish the school in an area where there were few Baptists or even evangelicals. The task was not an easy one, but the school established a firm presence for Southern Baptists in a city nicknamed "The Big Easy" because of its moral laxity. As a result, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary family had a strong belief that only by providence and prayer had the school prospered in such a difficult environment. Following Katrina, that belief would be more critical to the survival of the seminary than at any time in its history.

Kelley and the administrative team had very little time to react. By the end of the campus workday on Friday, August 26, the projected storm track had shifted. It indicated a landfall along the Florida Panhandle or perhaps Mobile, Alabama, as the farthest westward target. With this prediction, campus residents who left town packed few belongings, planning to return after the weekend. However, on Saturday, Katrina's path changed again and New Orleans was now in the center of the projected landfall cone. The worst fears of the president and administrative team at New Orleans became a reality in the terrifying specter ominously consuming much of the Gulf of Mexico. In less than 48 hours, the storm had amassed the potential to obliterate the city and the seminary.

Those few hours had been frantic for Kelley. As president of the seminary, he had predetermined that he would stay and ride out any storm. He felt a deep sense of obligation to watch over the investment Southern Baptists had in New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Besides, growing up on the coast of Texas, he had been through hurricanes before. His father had a funeral home business and always felt a duty to stay in order to serve the community. Chuck Kelley had the eye of one hurricane pass over him. No matter how fierce the storm, he could not conceive of leaving his beloved seminary. Like his father, he would stay out of a sense of responsibility to his vocation. His parents were another reason for staying. His 85-year-old father suffered from dementia, so his parents were residing in an assisted living apartment in New Orleans. Kelley's mother-in-law was living in the same facility, but she was out of town. The frantic pace of orchestrating an immediate and complete evacuation of the campus was stressful enough, but a serious concern for his parents also weighed on Kelley.

On Sunday, the administrative council had its final meeting before its members left the campus. Adding to the ominous mood of the meeting was the unprecedented mandatory evacuation order issued that morning by Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans. However, Kelley was still insistent on remaining in New Orleans. As they were leaving, with very little time remaining to evacuate, the members of the council pleaded with him to leave as well. They pointed out that, if the storm were as severe as predicted, Kelley at the very least would be stranded in New Orleans and unable to communicate. This consequence would have been devastating for the seminary. Later he would express deep appreciation for his team telling him what he did not want to hear.

Time was running out for the president of NOBTS to evacuate. Although the New Orleans airport was about to close, a friend of the seminary offered to send a private plane to evacuate him. Before Kelley could make the decision, the friend called back to say the airport officials would not let the plane come in. The winds were already too high. Had he waited too late? What should he do about his parents? Traffic was gridlocked. With the window closing to leave before officials would shut down the interstate, there was no way to get to his parents in time. Even if he could, no place was available that could supply the care his father needed. Fortunately, Kelley's parents were in a strong multistory building on some of the highest ground in the city and less likely to flood. As it would be many times, God's provision was evident. At the last minute, a family friend stepped forward to provide care for his parents.

With barely time to throw a few items of clothing together, Chuck and his wife Rhonda evacuated by car to Birmingham. With the enormous traffic snarl, the normally six-hour trip stretched to 13 hours. As he drove, thoughts raced through his mind. Twenty-four campus security and maintenance personnel had remained to secure the campus. Would they be safe? The seminary was on some of the highest ground in the city. The front of the campus was slightly above sea level, and a number of sturdy buildings would provide a refuge. But there was still uncertainty. In modern history, New Orleans had never had a storm like Katrina. Leaving the seminary, his parents, and the remaining employees on the campus had been the most trying moment in Kelley's presidency of over nine years. It was the first of many difficult decisions he would make during the catastrophic crisis of Katrina.

On the evening of August 29, Chuck Kelley was still experiencing an emotional roller coaster. Four days earlier, the storm seemed to present no significant threat. The day before, Katrina threatened to wash away New Orleans from the face of the earth. At the last minute, there had been some hopeful news. Although still a major hurricane, the storm weakened before it came ashore. It also jogged to the east, striking along the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. News reports indicated that New Orleans had missed the worst of the storm's fury. Like many, as Katrina approached New Orleans, students at the North Georgia campus of NOBTS had been fervently praying. At a special chapel service on Monday morning, they rejoiced at the encouraging news. Now at approximately 4:30 p.m., the news was even more hopeful. Chris Friedmann, who was in charge of buildings and maintenance for the seminary, called Kelley to report that his crew of 24 was safe and that the damage to the seminary had been minimal. Friedmann was optimistic that once utility workers restored power it would be possible for classes to meet within a few days. Chuck Kelley hung up the phone with an enormous sense of relief and thanksgiving to God. He and his wife went out to dinner that evening with the feeling that indeed everything would be all right. They went to bed with no reason to think differently, but that feeling would be short-lived.

Friedmann and his crew had been staying in a secure location at the front of the seminary campus. That night some of them went back to their homes and apartments. As he approached his house, Friedmann had noticed that the water had risen to halfway up his front yard. Exhausted, he tried to sleep, but the air was hot, stuffy, and humid. About midnight, Chris got up and looked out from the front of the house to see that the water had risen ominously to the point where it would soon be in his house. The seriousness of the situation was becoming more evident. Later, when he and his crew saw live shrimp and fish in the water, their worst fears became a reality.³ The levees along the canals that normally drain water into Lake Pontchartrain were failing. Although New Orleans escaped the brunt of Katrina, the massive storm surge that exceeded 20 feet had pushed more water into the lake than the levees could hold. The seminary and the city were in serious trouble.

On Tuesday, the dire news reports began to come in. The gaps in the levees had grown, and massive amounts of water were inundating the city. Communication with the seminary campus ceased, and for three days Kelley and his administrative team would have no way of knowing the fate of the crew or the extent of the damage to the seminary. First and foremost, the president was concerned with the safety of the crew. In addition to fearing danger from the flooding, Kelley received a report that police and the National Guard had exchanged gunfire with looters and anarchists close to the campus. Kelley later would learn that the campus faced a serious threat from the riotous behavior of some in the community. Looters were performing random acts of destruction and violence. What might they do to the crew? Even if the crew managed to remain safe, what might the looters do to the most essential building on campus, the library? With one of the largest theological collections in the nation, the seminary could ill afford to lose its library. If the seminary were ever to be up and running again, the library resources would be of critical importance in maintaining accreditation.

Communication is essential for leadership in the midst of a crisis. Chuck Kelley was woefully short on information from the campus, but he found another communication was undisturbed: his communication with God. At that moment of such incredible stress and uncertainty, God brought to his mind Psalm 46. Kelley recalled that he and Rhonda read the passage, and "[we] just got down on our knees and I just committed the situation to God, and He filled our soul with peace." From that moment on, if he ever felt overwhelmed, "it never lasted very long [because] God just kept that peace there." Further undergirding Kelley was an assurance of his calling. He noted that it was this certainty of calling that enabled him to have the confidence to make decisions. His confidence came from "knowing that God has been getting me ready all of my life for this moment in space and time." With that conviction, Kelley moved forward with a decisiveness that would prove to be crucial in the hectic and chaotic first few days.

The first important decision Kelley had to make in the aftermath of the storm was how to get the administrative team together as quickly as possible. Kelley found himself torn between a pastoral role and an administrative role. He felt deeply for the team members' losses and knew they all had families experiencing the trauma of the catastrophe. Yet he was responsible for the seminary, and he discerned that time was critical. Students were scattered to 29 states and faculty to nine states. Soon they could be making irrevocable decisions to plant their lives in places other than New Orleans. The stakes were enormous. If too many students or faculty relocated, the seminary would have difficulty surviving even if the city did. Some members of the administrative team requested that they not be required to be in Atlanta until after Labor Day. The extra time would allow them to deal with critical family needs. Reluctantly, Kelley declined their requests. He felt it was imperative that the seminary leadership immediately signal that the administrative team was functioning and moving forward. He instructed these leaders that no matter what it took to get there, they were to be in Atlanta in three days.

With nearly 400 students, the North Georgia Center of NOBTS was one of the largest theological extension centers in the nation. Kelley called it "the crown jewel" of the NOBTS extension center system. Located in Decatur, Georgia, the center occupied a large church building complex, which Columbia Drive Baptist Church had donated to NOBTS. The gift of the facility some 10 years earlier proved to be a godsend, as it would become the temporary home of the operations of NOBTS.

In addition to meeting with his administrative team, one of Kelley's initial actions was to have a brainstorming session with the displaced seminary family that first began to trickle in and then pour in to the Atlanta campus. Four days after the storm hit, Kelley stood before the bedraggled group and asked them to identify the challenges ahead. He wrote them on a board, categorized them, and quickly appointed task forces to handle the issues. Some of the seminary leadership questioned the wisdom of having such an open session. Would false expectations be raised? However, no issues were presented that had not already been in the minds of the administrative team. Nonetheless, this action served two purposes: it brought a focus on moving forward, and it provided a mechanism for the seminary staff and faculty to feel that they could give input.

Various teams swung into action. Housing for students and faculty was critical. The Georgia Baptist Convention and numerous churches stepped forward to meet the need. Information technology personnel worked tirelessly to get the seminary back online from the new location in Atlanta. It would be weeks before faculty could have access to material from their offices and staff could retrieve computer data for the most basic seminary functions. Yet creative improvisation made things work in new ways. Incredibly, in the midst of it all, the seminary never missed a payroll.

With teams working to meet the needs of the sem...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Part 2
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Part 3
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Further Resources: Works Cited
• Name Index
• Subject Index
• Scripture Index