As of January 2024, the board of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies had not met in person since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 (“It’s More Than Unmuted,” Summer 2024). Frankly, it was easier and much less expensive to meet virtually. We got lazy; as a result, our board suffered. We were not enjoying the tangible benefits of meeting in person.

In February 2024, some of our board members attended a Wise Stewards Initiative workshop in Vancouver, Washington, thanks to a generous grant. For the first time in years, board members got to spend time together eating, learning, and talking. We discussed the future of the Institute, got to know each other better, and gained insight from helpful workshop sessions.

We scheduled an in-person board meeting for May 2024. All but one board member was able to attend. The meeting picked up where the Wise Stewards workshop left off. We enjoyed a meal together, shared stories, prayed for one another and the Institute, and had a productive and encouraging board meeting. We do not plan to go back to virtual meetings. The benefits of in-person meetings are too significant to do so.

Eric Bolger, Ph.D., Chair
Board of Trustees The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies

I appreciate Rod Wilson’s article on resisting “exceptionalism” (“Beware the Risks of Exceptionalism,” Summer 2024) and wholeheartedly agree with his thesis that we must “move away from optimistic self-reliance and independence mixed with distinctive separateness and embrace our interrelatedness for the common good and our shared envisioned future.” As president of a school that for over a decade pursued a variety of partnering relationships that would best allow our mission to be sustained into the future, we saw in ourselves and in our dialogue partners the depth of the difficulties involved in seeing data truthfully and in approaching partnership with humility. Perhaps the most challenging task Wilson identifies for us, however, is to replace ownership with reciprocity. Acting as “owners” tempts us to focus on our institutions at the expense of our mission, blinding us to any dramatic changes our institutions need to make for the sake of our mission. Acting as “owners” too easily leads to competition between schools for students and donors, while diminishing the work of the Spirit among us. Such a focus tempts us to create idols out of institutions at the expense of mission, and we know what God does to idols.

Dr. David Williams, President
Taylor Seminary, Edmonton, AB Canada

The podcast has received several comments, typically in short emails or other forms, including text messages. Here are a few: On an episode with the Rev. Dr. Heather Campain Hartung, an ATS director of accreditation, a writer called the episode “another wonderful resource” particularly for those who find “shared governance is more a challenge than an asset.” Another writer commented that it was important that Hartung talked about “who does what, how, and why, as well as the need for all stakeholders to be curious about one another’s work as it relates to the mission.” ... Another writer said a recent episode “made me feel, for a minute, like I wished I hadn’t retired from theological education.”

– The Editors

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