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Joe Carter writes, “There are three groups of people who consistently have a detrimental affect [sic] on American politics: Republicans, Democrats, and pollsters.” The post has nothing to do with religion, but you can’t beat its opening line.

Perhaps the problem is pols or pollsters, however, but the polled. In a separate post, Joe links to a Gallup survey which found that “Americans Believe There Are More Homosexuals in the U.S. Than There Are Catholics.” Joe blames TV.

Republicans, Democrats, pollsters, misinformed Americans, TV producers—that’s getting to be a pretty long list of groups who consistently have a detrimental effect on American politics.

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Last week, an F5 tornado devastated the town of Joplin, Missouri, which is located about 70 miles from where I live. The Assemblies of God—my denomination—is involved in relief efforts there. My father, who is general superintendent of the AG, visited Joplin and interviewed local-area pastors and a Convoy of Hope representative about the AG’s relief efforts. Here’s the video:

If you’d like to help Convoy of Hope by volunteering or by donating money, click here. Convoy has some excellent videos on their homepage.

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Make sure to read David Brooks’s column, “It’s Not About You.” (Has he been reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren?) I loved the final paragraph:

Today’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. Most of us are egotistical and most are self-concerned most of the time, but it’s nonetheless true that life comes to a point only in those moments when the self dissolves into some task. The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.

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David Bentley Hart won the 2011 Michael Ramsey Prize for his book, Atheist Delusions. It’s a great book, erudite, witty, and cutting in all the right places.

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“Protestant, Catholic graduates differ.” Well, duh. They’re Protestant or Catholic, after all. More specifically, however: “The graduates of Protestant Christian schools have different traits than those who attend Catholic and non-religious private schools, U.S. researchers say.” What kinds of difference are we talking about?

• Divorced less and had more children than their Catholic and private school peers.
• Participated in more relief and development service trips.
• Have lower incomes, but were more thankful for what they have in life.
• Attended less competitive colleges and attended fewer years of college.
• Talked less about politics, participated less in political campaigns and donated less to political causes.

Did anyone other than me notice that Protestants were “more thankful” and “talked less about politics”? Accidental correlation? Necessary causation? We report, you decide.

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Shane Claiborne has this to say about the “emerging church”:

So all that to say, I find the “emerging church” language, at least the Emergent™ brand, utterly unhelpful. So I will not spend much energy, beyond this note, to try and defend, or for that matter destroy, what seems to me little more than a brand name for a product no one can identify. There are many great things that have come out of the “emerging church” discussions and communities. People have been reminded that discontentment is not a curse but a gift to the church. Many of the conversations have reminded people that they are not alone as they dream great dreams for the church. And that we have to constantly re-imagine what it means to be Christ’s body in our age and context — but no one needs a brand to dream those dreams.

I am shocked—shocked!—to say that I (mostly) agree with his assessment.

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Over at First Thing’s Evangel blog, Gayle Trotter interviews Bryan Caplan about his new book: Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. My favorite bit is his response to Amy Chua, author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother:

So in her book she says that on the one hand, as a dutiful Chinese daughter-in-law she could never actually argue with her mother-in-law, but nevertheless she said she had to ignore all her mother-in-law’s parenting advice because she knew that it was doomed to fail and I would have to say, “Why would you say that her advice is doomed to fail when your husband, her son, is a Yale law professor and a best-selling author?” Seems like that is a very strong piece of evidence against you that someone can raise a child in a way that you think is totally unacceptable and not only does he become a huge success, but you married him.

That last sentence is priceless.

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Over at the online version of my magazine, my friend Joel Pertulla writes about reaching those who have walked away from the faith.

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Religion and politics quick round (h/t RealClearReligion):

• “A religious ‘test’ for Mitt Romney”: Evidently, some Republican evangelicals disagree with Martin Luther’s statement, “I’d rather be ruled by a competent [Mormon] than an incompetent Christian.”
• “A Political Revival for Ralph Reed”: He’s still around?
• “Bachmann’s Prayers Answered: ‘I’ve Had That Calling’ To Run For President”: Called to run, or called to win? And if she doesn’t win, is God to blame?
• “Walter Jones: The Antiwar Republican From North Carolina”: Jones is the guy who gave us “freedom fries.” He’s co-sponsoring a get-the-heck-out-of-Afghanistan resolution with, ahem, Dennis Kucinich. Draw whatever conclusions you want to from those two factoids.

During its April meeting, the Task Force for the consolidation of the three resident Springfield schools (AG Theological Seminary, Central Bible College and Evangel University) made significant progress by unanimously adopting the mission statement and core values for the new institution. “All other considerations of the Task Force will be based on this foundation,” states General Superintendent George O. Wood who chairs the Task Force.

The adopted mission statement says: “Evangel University is a comprehensive Pentecostal educational institution fully committed to the authority of Scripture and to shaping Spirit-empowered servant-leaders spiritually, emotionally, culturally and intellectually for impact in the global church and society.”

The subcommittee on Institutional Structure offered its recommendations, following the meeting of focus groups  comprised of school faculties and administrators. The Task Force approved the recommendations that the new university have five schools: Arts and Sciences, Behavioral Sciences and Education, Business and Communication, Fine Arts, and Theology and Church Ministry. Each of these schools would contain a number of departments.

The group spent considerable time discussing the place of ministerial preparation as a priority for the university. Noting that one of the major reasons for proposing consolidation was to strengthen and enhance ministerial training, Wood reminded the group the Assemblies of God is planning and working for a net growth of 4,000 churches over the next 10 years,  requiring the training of an unprecedented number of young people, called of God to lead and staff these churches as well as serve in lay leadership in these congregations.

The subcommittee then offered proposed structures for administrative Operations. The Task Force asked that this be taken to focus groups of staff and administrators, with a report back to its May meeting.

The Governance subcommittee reported its recommendations that cover the formation of a Board of Trustees for the new school, and the process for selecting presidential and administrative leadership who will in turn lead the faculties through the process of consolidation. Their recommendations will assist the Bylaws subcommittee in shaping the rules that will govern the university through four authority structures: The General Council of the Assemblies of God, the Board of Trustees, the Office of the President, and the faculty. The Bylaws subcommittee will report to the May meeting of the Task Force.

The governance and structure will provide the basic   framework for the narrative which is to be submitted to the Boards of Directors of the three institutions for consideration at their meetings scheduled for June 8, and then to the Executive Presbytery in its June 9 and 10 meeting.

The work of the Task Force will culminate in presenting a resolution on consolidation to the 54th General Council of the Assemblies of God in August in Phoenix, Arizona.

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* From a broadcast email sent to employees of the Assemblies of God General Council.

What will God do through you to shape our next 100 years? Upload your video response at GeneralCouncil.org.

Dr. George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, sent the following letter to ministers this morning:

The 16-member Task Force for the Consolidation of the three Springfield Assemblies of God residential schools met for the first time last week, under the leadership of Chairman George O. Wood.  He opened the session with a discussion of the group’s five-part assignment and reviewed desirable outcomes, namely, that the work of the Task Force:

• Pleases the Lord both in terms of how it works and the result arrived at;
• Advances God’s Kingdom
• Invests strategically in generations of present and future students, equipping them for a life of service to Christ and His Kingdom, in the power of the Holy Spirit;
• Serves the needs of the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Movement, and the larger Christian world for well-educated and well-trained ministers and laity;
• Conserves the best values and DNA of each institution;
• Accomplishes the assignments given the Task Force  to (1) draft a resolution for consolidation to present to the 2011 General council; (2) create a bylaw framework for the consolidated school; (3) provide for the initial narrative of a statement of core values and mission of the consolidated school, ensuring clear promotion of the mission statements of each school; and (4) design the organizational framework of the consolidated school—all being done in conformity to the requirements of the accrediting bodies and in a process of candid discussion and ultimate unanimous agreement;
• Fosters unity through the respective stakeholders in each institution;
• Deepens relationships and trust among Task Force members

Dr. Wood led the group as it discussed common language to use in this process.  A variety of possibilities was mentioned on how collaborations come into being, and rationale was given on why the church’s Executive Presbytery chose the consolidation model for this venture.
“The word ‘consolidation’ was chosen carefully since it means ‘to unite’ in higher education,” Wood explained.  “It is used to describe the uniting of two or more institutions that will result in a new one.”

Considerable time was given for each institution’s stakeholder group to discuss their understanding of the mission and core values of their institution.  This resulted in a discussion of the many commonalities in shared values of the three schools the complementary missions of the three. The Task Force expressed the hope that the consolidation will address a Biblical understanding of spiritual and character formation to ensure that a Biblical position on ministry is an integral part of the consolidated university.

The Task Force organized itself around four working groups:
Mission: This assignment is to evaluate the current statements of mission and core values, giving consideration to the discussions of the Task Force, and propose a statement of mission and articulation of core values for the consolidated schools.  Members: James Bradford, chair; Charles Self (AGTS) Fred Frank (CBC) and Arnold “Bud” Greve (EU)

Institutional Structure: To design a plan for the structure of the university in terms of its educational system and academic programs.  These structures may be colleges, schools, divisions, departments, programs, centers, branch campus, extension programs, virtual campus, library, learning centers, etc.  Further, to determine the nature of campus configuration in relationship to these structures.  Members: Robert Rhoden, chair; Byron Klaus (AGTS); David Arnett (CBC); Robert Spence (EU).

Governance: To propose a plan for the consolidation of the three boards, including a plan for board organization and board work; the consolidation of the three administrations to provide management and operational effectiveness; and for the consolidation of the current faculties into a unified faculty with authority for educational policies and planning.  Finally, to undertake a legal audit to determine if there are legal liabilities, restrictive obligations, government/professional regulations and if fund erosions result through consolidation.  Members: George O. Wood, chair; Richard Dresselhaus (AGTS); Gary Denbow (CBC); John Lindell (EU).

Bylaws: To provide a draft of bylaws, to be authorized by the new board of trustees (directors) for ratification by the Executive Presbytery, reflecting the proposed statement of mission, proposed governance system, and institutional structures and any other matter that represents mandated authority.  Members: Doug Clay, chair; Don Judkins (AGTS); Betty Johnson (CBC); Ted Pappit (EU).

Name of New University

Subject to the approval of external governmental and accrediting agencies, a motion prevailed unanimously to recommend to the respective Boards of Directors of the three schools that the name Evangel University be the name for the consolidated university and that the consolidated university embody structural elements that will honor the legacies and fulfill the missions of the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Central Bible College, and Evangel University.

The Task Force is comprised of the general superintendent as chair; 3 members of the Executive Presbytery; the board chairs of CBC and EU and vice-chair of AGTS board; the presidents of the three schools, one faculty member from each (chosen by vote of the faculty); and one non-credentialed donor from each.

George O. Wood

General Superintendent

Yesterday, my boss (Jim Bradford) interviewed my dad (George O. Wood) about the proposed consolidation of the Assemblies of God’s national residential schools: Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Central Bible College, and Evangel University.

My dad gave the opening address at the World Assemblies of God Congress in Chennai, India. Here’s the video of the entire opening ceremony. Dad’s message begins at 58:30. The message was simultaneously translated into Tamil.

In his January Monday Motivators, Doug Clay offers some achievable New Year’s resolutions. First on his list: Handle your problem with the right attitude.

Check out this Q&A with my dad regarding coaching, mentoring, and counseling in the Assemblies of God.