Posted: 10/17/03
Crews named chancellor at Golden Gate;
presidential search launched
MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP)–Bill Crews has been named chancellor of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and the trustee board's executive committee has been charged with finding his successor as president.
Crews, 67, will continue to fulfill the duties of president until his successor is named, although he has officially vacated the office of president he has held for 17 years.
Trustees affirmed the transition process in their Oct. 14 meeting on the campus near San Francisco.
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| Bill Crews |
Currently the longest-tenured of the six Southern Baptist Convention seminary presidents, Crews was elected to lead Golden Gate in 1986.
“I will continue to give leadership to the institution until a new president is elected and installed,” he told the board. “I will then do all I can to see that any influence I might have is transferred to the person God has already chosen to be our new leader.”
Crews indicated he intends to retire at age 70.
“We have the time to make an informed decision, to pray about and find God's man for this place,” said John Funk, a California trustee and executive committee member.
“I chose to start this process based solely on what I believe to be God's will for my life and for the life of this seminary,” Crews told trustees. “There has been no pressure coming from secret meetings in faraway places but solely a decision on my part as to what is best for the seminary and my family.
“It should also become apparent that I will not be disappearing from the scene right away,” he added. “There are a number of issues vital to the future of the seminary which demand a continuity of leadership.”
Once a new president is named, Crews will serve until retirement in a more typical chancellor role, such as assisting the new president with fund-raising, constituent development and planning.
In addition to Funk, a health-care industry consultant from Westlake Village, Calif., other members of the trustee executive committee are trustee Chairman Gary Black, a retired insurance executive from Novato, Calif.; Ed Adams, a director of missions from Hesperia, Calif.; Bob Fargarson, an attorney from Brownsville, Tenn.; Janie Finlay, a homemaker from Houston; David Gill, a pastor from Antioch, Calif.; Calvin Kelly, a pastor from Birmingham, Ala.; E.W. McCall Sr., a pastor from La Puenta, Calif.; Joe Panter, a Christian businessman from Paradise Valley, Ariz.; and Bob Swift, a pastor from Mayfield, Ky.
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