Last week, I felt sad when I learned that Willie McLaurin had resigned his position with the Executive Committee of the SBC. The Search Committee seeking a new president discovered he had falsified his resume, falsely claiming to have graduated from three institutions. This saddened me for two reasons. First, I hoped Willie McLaurin would be elected to the president’s post. I thought he did a good job as interim president. Second, he is a really nice guy. Several years ago we conversed about promoting missions in local churches, and I enjoyed our conversation a lot. Several have asked how he could have risen so high in denominational service with a flawed resume. That is a good question. Perhaps the folks at the Tennessee Baptist Convention and our SBC headquarters can answer it.
The situation with Willie McLaurin caused me to think about telling the truth on resumes. Of course, this is a problem in every field. In the sports world, in 2001 George O’Leary was chosen to be the football coach at Notre Dame University, perhaps the pinnacle of college coaching. However, reporters soon found discrepancies in his resume. He claimed to have lettered in football for three seasons at the University of New Hampshire, though he did not play a down. Further, he claimed to have graduated with a master’s degree from Stony Brook, when, in fact, he only took two courses. The administrators at Notre Dame immediately fired him. Steve Masiello was chosen to be the head basketball coach at South Florida University, but he lost that position when the university discovered a false statement on his resume. He claimed he earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Kentucky, though he had not graduated. He lacked one course. He, too, lost his position.
In my career, which spans more than fifty years now, I’ve seen a lot of this. I recall one student that I had at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College. He studied for one year, and then he left. I moved on to teach at Southern Baptist Seminary, and he turned up there, enrolled as a diploma student (a program for non-college graduates). He studied one semester at Southern Seminary, and again he dropped out. Two years later I received a brochure from him. He had organized an evangelistic association and offered his services as an evangelist and apologist. He presented himself as a Ph.D. graduate. Of course, I knew he had not even completed a bachelor’s degree.
Over the years I served many churches as their interim pastor. One aspect of that duty is to advise the pastor search committee if they ask for advice. In reviewing the resumes they received, I discovered that many applicants listed degrees from diploma mills. A diploma mill is an “institution” that will grant you a degree (with an impressive diploma) for a fee—little or no study required. I advised them to throw all those resumes away.
I appeal to everyone to tell the truth on their resumes If you studied at an institution but did not graduate, just write “two years’ study at such and such college or seminary.” If you started a degree but did not finish, you can do like this: B.A. Upright Baptist College, M.Div. Faithful Baptist Seminary, “further study at Leeward Divinity School.” If we cannot depend on pastors and church workers to tell the truth, then we’re in bad shape.
