Hunt had been favored as the anointed one two years ago, but declined to run, inadvertently opening the door for non-establishment candidate Frank Page to take the top spot.Hunt, a successful evangelist, popular preacher, and senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., agreed to put his name in the pot this year, and brought the office home to the tightly knit party that led the conservative insurgence that captured leadership of the SBC more than two decades ago.
What many people don't know about Hunt -- who goes by "Dr." Johnny Hunt and is regularly introduced as such -- is that his two "doctorate degrees" both appear to be honorary tokens from diploma mills that are not accredited by any respected accrediting organization.
I first became aware of Hunt's tie to the sketchy schools and noted it in August 2006 when Steven Flockhart, a protege of Hunt's, was forced to resign his Florida church when it was discovered that he had fudged on his resume. While Flockhart claimed degrees from two rather legitimate schools, his "credentials" actually came from Covington Theological Seminary, which operates out of Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga. The school confirmed to the the Palm Beach Post that it awarded bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees to Flockhart in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Do you know any legitimate school where you can earn degrees so quickly, including a "doctoral" program that apparently took just one year?
It turns out that the church had not done due diligence in researching "Dr." Flockhart's background (which included other skeletons that are beside the point at the moment). Apparently, the church had given undue consideration to the strong endorsement given to Flockhart by "Dr." Hunt himself, whose credentials include an honorary "Doctor of Divinity" from Immanuel Baptist Theological Seminary of Sharpsburg, Georgia, and also a "Doctor of Sacred Laws and Letters" from Covington Theological Seminary, Flockhart's online alma mater.
Do you think an honorary degree from a marginal school provides an adequate credential to call someone "Dr."? Do you think it is honest or ethical to accept the title when it carries so little academic weight? Do you think it is appropriate to thus give tacit credibility to unaccredited schools?
To his credit (I guess), on his personal website where he sells sermons and books, Hunt (a North Carolina native) lists only degrees from Gardner-Webb University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (though he still posts a picture with pre-gray hair). His biographical sketch on sermonsearch.com, however, lists both of the "doctorates," and both regularly appear in the program bio attributed to him at frequent speaking engagements, as pointed out by Robert Parham at EthicsDaily.com. Whether Hunt is responsible for sending out biographical information that lists those degrees, he has apparently done nothing to discourage its use.
There is no question that Hunt is a gifted preacher, for those who like his style of preaching, and an effective evangelist. He has successfully grown First Baptist Church of Woodstock from medium to mega-sized. He has been a faithful soldier in the conservative movement. He has more than enough credentials to be a leader among today's Southern Baptists without claiming dubious doctorates.
As Southeastern Seminary president Danny Akin warned in a column for Baptist Press following the Flockhart fiasco, pastors who seek to be above reproach don't pad their resumes.
Integrity matters -- especially at the top.
[Disclaimer: in the interest of disclosure, the author spent more than five years earning his Ph.D. at Duke University (completed 1989), and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Campbell University in 2005. He may rightly be considered a bit of a purist on the subject, but still doesn't expect to be called "Dr."]
10 comments:
Is the Tennessee Temple University honourary degree real?
http://www.southwide.com/speakers.php
Thanks.
Bene D
I spent some time in a few churches growing up where the pastors demanded to be called "Pastor X" or "Preacher Y". They demanded these prefixes because they "earned it."
It's amazing to me the emphasis that some people put on titles. I'm sure there's some psychological reason regarding self-esteem or something like that. In churches, I wonder if it the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig. (no offense to the pigs intended)
I did not vote for Johnny Hunt, mainly because of the Flockhart association, but it seemed to me that the establishment candidate was Frank Cox.
The problem with the Presidential elections is that they have become popularity contests. many knew Johnny because he was a frequent speaker at previous pastor's conferences. Few knew Avery Willis, whom I think would have made a good President.
You said it. THis remains one of my soap box issues, as it looks like fundamentalists criticize education but like to be recognized for their pseudo achievements.
I've had pastors with earned doctorates who were called "Doctor."
I've had pastors without earned doctorates who were called "Brother."
I spent four years earning my B.A., three years earning my B.D., one year earning my M.R.E., three years earning my M.A., and three years earning my Ph.D., all from fully-accredited academic institutions.
I've had careers both in local-church ministry and in academic institutions. In churches, I was called "Brother 'Deaux.'" In academic institutions I was called "Doctor 'Deaux.'"
I do think most people want to be respectful and use appropriate titles. Perhaps it has been difficult or confusing for most of us Baptists because we have no one "approved" or agreed-upon title as do some denominations. Every church can be a law unto itself.
I think perhaps the thirst for titles of dubious quality stems from ego-hunger, perhaps the thing that would cause a person to write a comment where every paragraph begins with "I." (Which I did in this case because this is a statement of my experience and my opinion--nothing more.)
Brother Deaux
Writing in The Christian Baptist. Feb. 26, 1826, Alexander Campbell, lamented: “We are sorry to observe a hankering after titles amongst some baptists, every way incompatible with their profession; and to see the remarks lately made in the Columbian Star, censuring Mr. Cox for declining the honor. Those who deserve honorary titles are the least covetous of them. We have not met with any baptist bishop who is more worthy of a title of honor, if such these double D’s be esteemed, than Robert Semple of Virginia; and when the degree was conferred on him, he, like a christian, declined it.” The editorial concludes by quoting Cox’s statement for his refusal to accept an honorary doctorate: “To conclude, I believe that the usefulness, the moral worth, the genuine respectability of the sacred profession, and, of course, the honor of our common Master, require the abjuration of Doctorates.” Can I get a witness?
Just a non-Baptist POV: SBC elects leader with resume issues
First, I don't think an honorary doctorate should qualify addressing someone as "doctor." It's a great honor, to be sure, and I guess could be put on a curriculum vitae as an honor received but not alongside earned doctorates, if any.
Second, I once heard a commentator talking about op-ed pieces and how people sometimes put "Dr." in front of their names when they write a letter to the editor. His point was that if one is writing in on a subject like local zoning regulations, having a doctorate in English literature is irrelevant.
Anecdotally, Dr. Bill Leonard, now at Wake Forest Divinity School, told a story that his father, who was a pharmacist in small-town Texas if memory serves correctly, told people that his son (Dr. Leonard) was a doctor, "but not the kind you take your clothes off for."
I'm not sure what he'd say about "Drs." Hunt and Flockhart.
Perhaps if we Baptists had lightened up a bit and allowed our ministers to be called "Reverend," we wouldn't be having this flap over some being called "Doctor," whether or not they deserve it.
Just a thought.
Charles Howard, who for years was associated with Campbell University and a generation ago was a well-known name among Southern Baptists, once said in the postscript to a letter: "The ‘Dr.’ by my name in these bulletins is not my fault. They have been told over and over again that it is not my privilege to have that distinction. They just go on and use it anyway. It is a little embarrassing and some trouble to keep constantly explaining that it is incorrect.”
It seems to me that the person of integrity would say such a thing, make protest when the title is used without warrant, and certainly never claim the title "Dr." in a biographical sketch.
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