What Might Have Been

For Alabama Baptists who appreciate history and heritage, the story on page three of last week’s issue of the state Baptist paper must have raised questions about what might have been.

The story announced national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) received almost $1 million from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., as part of a mediated settlement over the endowment of the Carver School of Church Social Work. That is about 90 percent of the contested funds.

Had Southern Seminary been willing to part with those funds in 1995 when the dispute started, the Carver School of Church Social Work, in all probability, would be a part of Samford University. It would also be a needed resource for Baptists and others in our state.

On Sept. 8, 1995, the trustees of Samford University authorized President Tom Corts to finalize an agreement with Southern Seminary to transfer the Carver School of Church Social Work to Samford. The outline of the agreement had been negotiated by the provosts of the respective institutions, Bill Hull of Samford and David Dockery of Southern.

Corts said at the time that Samford’s interest was in preserving the history and heritage of the Carver School, which stood in a direct line of succession from the former Carver School of Missions and Church Social Work. Before that, the institution was known as the WMU Training School. It was located on property adjacent to the campus of Southern Seminary.

In 1963, amid concerns over accredited degrees for its graduates, the Carver School, its properties and its assets had been transferred from WMU ownership to Southern Seminary. But in 1995, Southern decided to close the school.

What looked like an ideal solution Sept. 8 soured before Southern Seminary trustees could meet and act a month later. At the last minute, the parties disagreed over transfer of the Carver School’s endowment and scholarships. Samford contended financial resources associated with the school should be part of the deal. Southern Seminary said it would transfer no financial resources.

In the end, the Carver School name, some library resources and some other items were purchased by Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky. Most, if not all, of the money stayed at Southern Seminary.

That is when WMU initiated conversations with Southern Seminary about resources given to the seminary in the 1963 transfer. Individual conversations between then-WMU executive director Dellanna O’Brien and Southern Seminary president Al Mohler did not result in agreement. The seminary argued it continued to meet the qualifications of the initial transfer by including social work courses in its academic offerings. WMU felt otherwise. The two parties then entered legal mediation.

Exactly what happened is unknown because of the gag order from the mediator. But research by Associated Baptist Press verified more than $900,000 was transferred from the Southern Baptist Convention Foundation, the former custodian of the Carver School funds, to WMU. Since that news surfaced, it has been confirmed that Southern Seminary also returned to some donors scholarship funds associated with the Carver School of Church Social Work.

Whenever a legal mediation results in one side getting about 90 percent of the disputed funds, it is pretty clear where the weight of evidence lay. With such an outcome, Southern Seminary may be fortunate WMU did not ask for the return of the Carver School’s original property and buildings. Had they done so, a goodly portion of the seminary’s Lexington Road campus in Louisville might once again belong to WMU.

In 1995 the seminary said it could not part with any of the Carver School funds without approval of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1999 it appears the funds were transferred to WMU under the protection of a gag order.

The whole episode, with all its legal haggling, was most unfortunate. It did not have to happen. Had Southern Seminary been willing to part with the funds which it was later ordered to do, it would have been a win-win situation for the seminary, for the WMU, for Southern Baptists, for Samford, for the Lord’s work.

Social work remains one of the key platforms used by international missionaries to enter restricted countries. Clinically trained Christians who hold master of social work (MSW) degrees are in high demand by Christian social service agencies. More and more churches are turning to persons with a combination of theology and social work to head ministry and outreach efforts.

One can only think of what might have been if the Carver School of Church Social Work had become part of Samford University where it could provide MSW graduates who were trained in theology and dedicated to the service of God. What a difference such a development could have made in Alabama Baptist life and in the Lord’s kingdom around the world.