Morris Brown...what's going on? I have just learned that the president has resigned! Is there any truth to this, or is this just a vicious rumor...designed to discourage our efforts in resurrecting the school? C'mon Bill, could you fill me in!

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2003

Answers

Pastor Ray it is true Dr. Taylor has resigned. I just checked the Morris Brown webpage. Here is the web address. You can copy and paste.

http://www.morrisbrown.edu/prototype/MBC_News/MBCNewsIndex.htm

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2003

Parson Ray:

Actually the key question is not 'what's going on?" but 'where do wwe go from here?' Shortly after I joined this BB in 1999 I proposed that the AMEC should be critically evaluated from top to bottom by a management consulting firm like McKinsey & Co., Deloitte & Touche or Booze, Allen Hamilton. The recent events at MBC and other attendant problems with our Zion vindicates my novel suggestion. Our 'ususal way of doing church business' leaves much to be desired.

Our current bureaucratic structure, eerily similar to the old Soviet politburo, fosters disincentives for imaginative reforms and consequently discourages new thinking. Our fiscal strength and stabilily is slightly above an anemic level as represented by a meager budget of less than $20 million dollars for the entire Connection. Several years ago Bob Matthews on this BB introduced an imaginative and sound proposal for achieving much need fiscal reform and budget growth thru proposed AME legislation. My earnest prayer is that this legisaltion is passed with a super-majority and implemented at the conclusion of the General Conference in 2004. Far too many of our lay members choose not to become involved in the mission and ministry of the church yet are always ready to render unsolicited opinions about why we are not performing up to expectations. We are seemingly content and comfortable in our collective state of Biblical illiteracy and have surreptitously defused the element of evangelical fire and fervor.

The AMEC & the Commission on Higher Education must decide how we are going to support our colleges. I'm not optimistic about the prospects of resurrecting MBC. Recent events combned with a predictable exodus of students regrettably suggest this school will be nothing more than a painful memorial about what AMEs "coulda, shoulda, woulda" done. QED

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2003

Bill,

In many respects you are right on the mark. For much too long we have buried our heads in the sand and ignored the obvious future, which lay ahead. It is also true that we must begin to do many things in a different way. However, today, I got some "Good News from the Graveyard"!

We are a Resurrection People and we serve a mighty God. Nothing is ever too hard for the God we serve. In light of Good Friday all seemed dark and bleak;all seemed hopeless and left believers in despair. But, early Easter morning they realized they were wrong. God is not yet finished with the work He has begun. Those who truly trust in Him need never abandon faith or hope. The good news of Easter is that we are a Resurrection People and God is a Resurrection God. This even includes the future of "Dear Ole Morris Brown."

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2003

Amen Bill Amen!

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2003

Greetings Parson Ray

I too am extremely concerned about the future of MBC and our Denomination. Prof.QED is right in listing his point of economic growth and educational development. I can show you that our Church, with just the one proposal from Senator Rev. Santucci and I could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars thus far.Prof. Dickens even gave the idea his blessings. Change is difficult for this church but you are right Ray. Ressurection Sunday means there is hope for us all. I will not give up, none of should. I support the recommendation of Bro. Billy D and let us be in agreement to take it forward.

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2003

I think everyone is forgetting that the AME Church does not (and in fact cannot)in the best of time provide 0.1 percent of the total budget at "our" schools. The millions annually required to support these schools come from the tuition paid by the students most of whom are subsidized by the US Government. By the way, Paul Quinn College, now at Dallas, formerly in Waco Texas is also an example of a school coming from the brink of closing to respectibility. The business community in Dallas, the Black Community, and the Episcopal District came together to save Paul Quinn. The District's primary job was to get rid of the flawed management replacing them with honest efficient management who then gained the respect of the business community who came in with the funds to pay off the debt and establish a large permanant endowment fund. Morris Brown can be saved but it will require that the entire management be replaced by an honest, sincere, hard working team before they can earn the respect of those with the funds to save the school.

BE blessed

Pastor Paris

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2003

Pastor Paris:

First of all, welcome back. I have missed your voice.......

Now, I am curious about your statement about the financial aid provided to the AME schools by the A.M.E. Church.

According to estimates, we have 2 million members. If those members are paying $50 per year in Conference Claims, then some $100 Million dollars has been generated. If you assume that in reality only 20% of the members are paying, then at least $20 Million dollars gets generates each year.

Assuming that none of the other colleges had problems, the A.M.E. Church should have had enough money to pay the bills from the conference claims.

Why did Morris Brown have to "die"? Where has the money gone? Why is that other church-sponsored/affiliated schools (Duke, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, SMU, Baylor) aren't hurting for money?

Rev. John Harper

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2003

Two of the schools you mentioned in your response, Duke and SMU, are United Methodist affiliated schools. Duke in particular was created and sponsored by the Duke Family, a rich tobacco and textile family within the city of Durham, North Carolina. There are endowments upon endowments set aside which have generated funds for generations. One problem we experience is that we fail to plan for the future. Duke has a strong alumni base, heads of state and corporations owe a sense of loyalty to "Dear ol'Duke." My father once taught at the school and we were able to experience the perks and feel the "awe" of a maintained, efficient, accountable administration. There should have been credible audits and check-ups within the school's budget. Yes, we list 2 million members within the AME Church. However, we need endowments and a consistent cash-flow to save not our institutions.

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2003

The annual budget for a single school such as Paul Quinn can approach $20. Million. The CEO of The Dallas Morning News was the major sponsor and recruited the Dallas Business Community to raise money for an endowment for Paul Quinn. I think the fund had reached $27. Million in the last report. The income from the endowment can be used but not the principle. I am a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas, and they are always in contact with me concerning fund drives and all events related to the college. By staying in contact with the Alumni, they are able to solicit donations. However the major funding comes from tuition and the business community. Funding for an endowment for all of our schools should be a line item in our church budget. But the problem is that our own Zion, the AME Church, is suffering from the same problems that bringing down our schools. We fund retirement for our bishops while our pastors are retiring destitute unless they provide for themselves; and at the same time we are encouraged to be "Full Time" servants of the church. Most pastors must be dual career in order to provide for our families and retirement.

BE Blessed,

Pastor Paris

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2003