Ask Temperance: Conflict of Interest?

Question: Was it not a conflict of interest for the Moderator to appoint himself to the Commission rather than acting as an adviser?"

Bill Marsh answers:

Neither of us would presume to speak for Dr. de Witt.  However, we would question the premise of the question.  A conflict of interest exists when a person has more than one claim on his/her loyalty.  In this case, Dr. de Witt would only have a conflict of interest if Erskine's interests were different from those of the ARP Church.  Since Erskine is an agency of the Church, it does not seem to us that a conflict ever existed.

Additionally, having worked closely with Dr. de Witt over the past seven months, we were repeatedly reminded of the breadth of his scholarship and years in both Christian ministry and theological education.  He offered the Commission a unique perspective that was not otherwise available within the church.

Temperance says:
I am frankly at a loss for words. Bill Marsh did not even feel the need to hide his subterfuge – he proudly “questioned the premise of the question.” Well, you may question the premise all you like but at some point you need to answer it, Mr. Marsh. Was there a conflict of interest?

We are not concerned so much with Dr. de Witt but with the members of the new board. Todd Shealy on the Alumni facebook group compiled a list – the * mark indicates members of both the commission and the interim board.

Commission Members:
William C. Marsh *
Steven J. Maye (Moderator-Elect) *
Paul D. Mulner *
Gordon S. Query*
George S. Robinson (Chair) *
Roger N. Wiles *
John DeWitt (Moderator) *
Ken Wingate
Gordon Query

Interim Board Members
William Anderson
William L. Barron
John Basie
Adam Bloom
Julia T. Boyd
William S. Cain
Raymond Cameron
Fredrick Carr
James T. Corbitt
Dixon Cunningham
Joseph W. Donahue
Charles B. Evans
William B. Everett
William R. Folks
David R. Johnston
Morrison V. Lawing
Marlo L. McDonald
William C. Marsh*
Steven J. Maye (Moderator-Elect) *
James F. Mitchell
Scott Mitchell
Paul D. Mulner*
Deborah Neil
Joseph H. Patrick
Gordon S. Query*
Glen Robinson
George S. Robinson*
Steven Suits
Roger N. Wiles*
R. Boyce Wilson
John DeWitt (Moderator)*

In other words, seven members of the Commission are members of the new Board of trustees. Seven out of nine Commission members are on the new board. The men of the commission had a powerful incentive to restructure the board because they would get a spot on the board because of it. This is a classic conflict of interest because these men made a recommendation based on something they would benefit from. Such self-rewarding casts serious doubts on their commitment to be unbiased and quite frankly on their conclusions as well.

If I wanted a spot on the Board of Trustees I could think of no better way than to be a member of the Commission.

… dang it. I knew I should have asked for a spot.