Days of Our LifeTalk - A Drama in Progress.

OK,

Here’s the full blown story at work…

3 or 4 months ago now, we get a new President. He’s supposed to be this great leader with radio experience and will take the ministry to the ‘next level.

Well, he comes in and has a couple of meetings with us then basically drops off the face of the earth.

About a month and a half ago, we’re ready to ‘launch’ a new live interactive talk show, and we tell him about it, figuring he’d be excited because one thing he said is he’d like more live SDA shows. So we’re starting one - and he puts a halt to ALL new programs in the works. He’s been listening and studying and ‘soon’ will want to make some programming changes. (Mind you, he doesn’t tell us what those changes are. We’re kept in the dark.)

So we try a couple of times to get this new program running, but always he says no, always! With no or just a very vague reason, always!

Well, the people we ‘agreed’ to have host and finance the show are kinda upset because we backed out like this. (These are General Conference officials - not good when you’re trying to stay in their good graces for a number of reasons.)

Finally we move on from that topic.

Then, in worship we find out (not from him but the COO) he’s hired an engineer to ‘build out’ the studio in Collegedale. So I just said in passing, I hope we get to help ‘design’ the layout. The response from the COO was that he didn’t think so, that the Prez has it all laid out like he wants it.

Oh - that just lit my fire. #1 - He’s hired an outside engineer when we have 2 completely capable engineers, without telling anyone. (Felt like a stab in the back to our guys.) #2 - He’s ‘planning’ a studio with VERY little radio background of his own and not talking to the people who have to run and maintain it. (Stab #2) #3 - He’s not talking to us AT ALL ABOUT ANYTHING. He showed up one day for 20 minutes, we go to have staff worship and he waves and walks out the front door. Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!

I was hot, but didn’t say anything - because I’ve learned popping off at the mouth causes more troubles than keeping quiet.

So - the COO calls me into his office to tell me that while he doesn’t understand everything the Prez is doing but to keep cool, it will all come out soon. I lay it out for him - about how upset I really was and can’t understand why he doesn’t communicate with us, why he doesn’t trust us, why he’s planning things without any input from us on what we’ll be using and maintaining and be responsible for should things fail.

The next day, we hear he’s called a staff meeting on the following Monday with one on one meetings to follow after the general meeting.

Well, basically we’re all pretty much steamed. And the morale had dropped to it’s lowest ebb ever there. Then there’s the uncertainty of what he’s got planned because one thing he wanted to discuss one on one was “Job Reassignment.” What did that mean.

So we get to the meeting and he basically told us that the ministry was not nearly as strong as it needs to be. He laid out a number of things he’d like to see happen to strengthen it and help stabilize it financially. To do that we’ve got to build an SDA donor base. We’ve got a very strong Non SDA, but religious base, but not strong donors. So he wants the ministry to become a Multi Media Evangelistic ministry.

Basically, he wants to add making TV programs. That’s what it comes down to.

He’s looking at other ministries, It Is Written, Evangelistic TV that also does radio. Voice of Prophecy, Evangelistic Radio that also does TV. Amazing Facts Evangelistic TV & Radio.

So we’re going to do both.

Now, that’s fine - but my concern is we’re going to do both without adding staff. We’re a small staff of 9 full time and 2 part time and can hardly keep up. We’re adding a WHOLE other dimension to the ministry, and be expected to keep up? Hummm? Not sure if that’s going to work.

There is a LOT of little things that have to be done to keep either going and not just any ‘volunteer’ he thinks he can find to come in will be able to do it.

Well, in my one on one meeting he asked what I thought of the general staff meeting. My reply was #1 - I like the evangelistic ‘thrust,’ #2 - I like that we’re not going ‘ultra conservative’ and CUTTING everywhere, but trying to build the ministry instead of trying to salvage and barely hang on to what we’ve got, #3 - the realistic outlook on the financial situation. (Which is not his fault or the two previous Prez’s. The ‘founder’ squandered over 4 million (Yes!) dollars that was supposed to be in a trust to keep LTR ‘running’ forever! We’re still trying to recover from that.)

I also mentioned that I was disappointed by the lack of ‘team’ atmosphere and the lack of communication from him.

He listened and said that “All” was going to change as of this meeting. (The jury is still out on that one.)

Then he started talking TV with me. Would I be interested in doing the TV shows, etc. So for the next 30 min we talked programs, editing, equipment, etc. Guess where my job reassignment is? Right - LTR TV.

I told him that my passion was production, preferably at a ministry. And that if he wanted me producing in radio, I’m there for him, or if he wanted me in TV, I’m there for him.

We’ll still be doing a LOT of cross over work, because we have such a SMALL staff - it can’t be super split - so I’ll still be doing both - A LOT.

Anyway, I found out the next day he ‘released’ one of our engineers, thus further cutting our staff.

I hope ‘his’ plan works out, without us having to put in 80 hour weeks, because I just WON’T do it. The max I’ll even think about it 50. I’ve got a family and am not going to trade time with them for time at work. If things don’t get done, we’ll - that’s just too bad. He’s asking an awful lot of a VERY small staff.

Because of his ‘lack’ of presence at the ministry, I’m not just sure that he really understands ALL that we do and ALL that is necessary to keep the ministry running and is over looking a LOT of very small buy VERY important details.

This should be interesting. For now, we're back to 'normal' just waiting for the "Move." They’re estimating that we’ll be moving the ministry from Vonore, TN to Collegedale, TN and the Campus of Southern Adventist University by the end of Jan the beginning of Feb.

We’ll see!

Tah, tah for now!…