Texans elected to lead Southwestern trustees; administrative salaries fully disclosed

FORT WORTH?John Mark Caton of Fairview was elected chairman of the trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary during their April 8-9 meeting. Caton has been pastor of Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen since 1995 and earned the master of divinity degree and Ph.D. from Southwestern. He previously was trustee vice-chairman.

Geoffrey Kolander of Austin was elected vice-chairman. He is vice president and general counsel of Citizens, an Austin-based insurance holding company, and a member of Hyde Park Baptist Church. Re-elected as secretary is Harlan Lee, a Phoenix restaurant owner and member of North Phoenix Baptist Church.

During the informal trustee forum held prior to the official plenary sessions, thetrustees received “a report from the president where he provided his annual disclosure of his compensation information and entertained questions related to it and the same information for the rest of the seminary’s senior administration,” according to a Southwestern news release.

In his comment to Southwestern’s reporter, McClain said, “Since Southern Baptists expect that their entities supported by the Cooperative Program will be governed with integrity and accountability, I am glad the salary of the president of Southwestern has been fully and willingly disclosed to all of the trustees of the seminary, even though Dr. Patterson has refused an increase in compensation since his arrival in 2003.”

Trustees approved a 2008-’09 budget of nearly $37 million, representing a 2.4 percent increase. Initially, the business affairs committee considered a proposal to increase the budget by 5.8 percent, but asked that it be reduced in light of economic indicators. Chairman Jack S. Smith of Dallas praised the business administration vice president, Greg Kingry, as “a self-starter” who quickly responded to the concerns of the committee.

The board encouraged the institutional advancement office to consider recruiting and training volunteers to assist them in fundraising and endowment growth. Trustees will be surveyed to determine how much they wish to be involved in the effort.

Newly elected faculty recommended by the academic administration committee included Herbert Bateman and Aaron Son as professors of New Testament, and Laura Zettler to teach homemaking in the College at Southwestern. Bateman formerly taught at Moody Bible College and Grace Theological Seminary. Son comes from a teaching position at Dallas Baptist University. Zettler taught at the University of Alabama and directed children’s ministries for Calvary Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Three Texas couples will be honored next fall with the L.R. Scarborough Award, as approved by the board. They include Dr. and Mrs. James “Jim” W. Richards of Keller. Richards has served as the SBTC’s executive director since its founding. Also named for the honor are Dr. and Mrs. John Earl Seelig of Fort Worth and Dr. and Mrs. John “Jack” W. MacGorman of Fort Worth.

Recommendations of the bylaws and policies committee were approved to strike one article to reflect a previously amended trustee committee structure, and allowing the executive committee the option of a teleconference as a cost-savings measure for their required meeting between semi-annual trustee sessions.