In the May 2023 meeting of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Board of Directors, outgoing Board Member the Rev. Dr. Donald K. McKim ’74 gave these remarks, titled “The Mysterious and the Manageable.” Addressed to the Board of Directors, McKim’s words will resonate with all religious and nonprofit leaders.
Dr. Ernest T. Campbell was minister of The Riverside Church in New York City from 1968 to 1976. While in college and seminary, I had often heard him preach in the summers at the Massanetta Springs Bible Conference in Harrisonburg, Va.
After he left the Riverside Church, LindaJo and I became friends with Ernie Campbell. We were his chauffeurs to and from Pittsburgh Airport when he flew in to teach two homiletics classes at PTS. We ate dinner together. Ernie had a keen sense of humor. He promised us that if we named our firstborn after him, he would give him or her a free year at Moody Bible Institute. We named our firstborn, Stephen Ernest, in his honor. But we never desired to collect on Ernie’s offer!
When Ernie Campbell spoke to preachers, he often said: “We are always tempted to retreat from the mysterious to the manageable.” It is easier to do “other things” than to work on your Sunday sermon! The “other things” may be good in themselves; but they may take preachers away from their “rendezvous with the Holy Spirit” in preparing to preach the Word of God.
Campbell had a high view of preaching. So he had this sage advice for pastors. But we also know that in the realms beyond the preaching task, the “manageable” is an important part of our lives—in the church; and every day. The “manageable” in our lives has to be “managed.” Things have to get done; plans have to be made; opportunities must be met—all this and so much more! This reality of the need to deal with the manageable greets us every morning. It goes to bed with us every night.
Both the “mysterious” and the “manageable” are central to the life of the Board of Directors of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The PTS Board is charged with dealing with both: the mysterious and the manageable!
Because we are a board of directors of a theological seminary, we must deal with the “mysterious.” We must deal with God. We seek to understand what God wants PTS to be and do as an institution of the church and a provider of theological education. But as we deal with the mysterious, we must also deal with the manageable. We make decisions as the Seminary’s Board from a theological base. Not every Board of Directors of various institutions takes its direction and “mission” from an ongoing “rendezvous with the mysterious”!
The PTS Board deals with the mysterious. The Board deals with the manageable. We deal with the manageable because we believe in the mysterious. We believe in the mysterious who calls us to do God’s work in this world through Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where God’s work takes shape in and through the “stuff” (a good theological term!) of real life: faculty and staff must be paid. Student aid must be provided. The buildings of the Seminary must be maintained and kept in good shape! The mysterious works through the means of the manageable.
So, the PTS Board proceeds on a theological basis to manage and meet the Seminary’s needs in the here and now—and for the future. These involve the dimensions of life that are important to the students God gives us. The mysterious and the manageable! They are inextricably bound up together!
We need a diverse board. We need people who have received the gifts of God to help manage the certain—and diverse—needs of PTS and its community. To speak personally, I have been especially grateful in this Board meeting for the gifts shared by our own Tom Hinds, Bill Bensur, and Jim Gockley, who have gifts for financial management!
We can go through the lists of PTS needs; and the gifts of those around this Board table. God has chosen and called you “for such a time as this” to manage the needs of the mysterious which God has set before us.
But no matter what our own gifts are for helping meet the needs of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, we must always be a board of directors that acts theologically and grounds all we do—the manageable—in the mysterious! We do it all as we seek to understand what we believe the plan and purposes of God to be for Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
So I encourage our Board to continue to tend to both: the mysterious and the manageable. God bless you in these ministries for Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
This is the fourth in a series about “seasons of change.” Other stories include:
Starting well as a pastor in a new place (Aug. 11)
Retiring from pastoral ministry (Aug. 15)
Starting Seminary (Sept. 5)