A Special Hufhand Report: Les Ollila, The Crossroads in Ministry Conference

The “Crossroads in Ministry” Conference met at the Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN this morning (June 17) to hear Dr. Les Ollila expound the truth of God’s Word and answer some question concerning his roll in the demise of Northland Baptist Bible College.  After the conference was over, I asked Dr. Marc Monte if he would collaborate with me to put out this special Hufhand Report, which he consented to do.  So this Report represents our impressions of the meeting.

From our understanding, Dr. Chuck Phelps and Dr. Rick Arrowood put this Conference together to clear the air concerning Dr. O’s fundamental credentials and explain his role in what happened at Northland.  Most of us knew that this meeting would have no bearing on what was going to happen next at Northland, but we did believe that Dr. Les Ollila would tell us about his roll in what happened at the school, but sadly that never came out.

By and large, the meeting didn’t live up to its billing, unless “Crossroads to Ministry,” was a “promotional” to transition Dr. O from Northland to his next ministry.  We certainly didn’t come away with any more information than what we already knew, and from that perspective, we were sadly disappointed; not with a Dr. Ollila’s preaching, because his preaching was right on target.  His message on his own personal legacy using the backdrop of Ephraim was excellent.  He spoke of Ephraim coming from a background of comfort, which ultimately led to compromise, cowardice, and carnality. Using Hosea’s prophecy, he spoke of how he had turned back in the day of battle and became a “cake half-baked.” It was an excellent message.

Then came his second message, which was on “Avoiding Pragmatism.”  This was likewise an excellent message but it would have been better received had it been preached by one of the two coordinators of the meeting.   What was obviously clear to us, was the fact that “Dr. O was preaching to himself” as it related to his experience over the last three years at Northland.  Pragmatism is what has destroyed Northland Baptist Bible College and frankly, it’s difficult for us to understand how Dr. O went along with what was going on and supported everything Dr. Olson was doing.  Both Dr. Monte and I remembered the fundamentalism of days gone by that would never have allowed Northland to slip away without a fight.  It seemed that everyone studiously maintained their stature as “gentlemen,” while the school slipped away, a victim of calculated silence.

In the question and answer time, most of us were disappointed that we didn’t have an opportunity to ask Dr. O some questions. This made the question and answer time appear somewhat synthetic and contrived.  Dr. Phelps was only able to ask a few of the really hard questions, and they appeared to be sanitized to the point that Dr. O’s answers were less than forthright.  The first question that was asked, “Are you still on Staff at Northland?”  The answer was brief, “NO!”  But the follow-up question never came.  “When did you sever your relationship with Northland and why did it take so long to do it?”  That was never asked.  Several more “one answer” questions were asked like, “Are you a Fundamentalist?”  Dr. O answered, “Yes,” and then went on to clarify his position on CCM and CCM style of worship and a couple other fundamental issues.

The answer to Dr. Phelps question concerning Dr. O’s meeting with Dr. John MacArthur and Rick Holland back in [April] 2010, was put on the same level as going to the Hyles Pastor’s School or some other religious event.  In his answer, he heaped praise on Dr. MacArthur as being a godly leader, despite the fact that Dr. MacArthur preaches a “Lordship Salvation” gospel and despite the fact that his church polity is Elder Rule.

He likewise heaped praise on Dr. Olson for his leadership despite the fact that Dr. Olson is the reason that NIU is where it is today.  What surprised us the most was that Dr. O had no regrets about anything he did.   While we commend Dr. O for his clear-cut, passionate sermons, the time for passion was when the downgrade of the school became obvious. Today was a little like fighting the battle after it had already been lost.   We were glad for the personal clarification of Dr. O’s personal position on certain fundamental issues, but posturing for the future cannot reclaim the school.  There were many lessons we could have learned from the demise of Northland, but sadly, we learned precious few of them today.

Dr. O made much of humor in answering his questions, which is a good way to direct people’s minds away from the real issue.  He also made much about being under authority, as if to say that his culpability in helping to destroy NIU as a strong, fundamental Baptist school was simply “being submissive to authority.”

Loyalty to leadership can be commendable, but culpability in compromise is not.

He pleaded ignorance on knowing what was going on and believed that he was being used and even acknowledged himself as being a simpleton on occasion, (which we know he isn’t) but not once did Dr. O apologize or show any remorse for his silence over the last three years as Chancellor, while Dr. Olson methodically changed the philosophy, as well as the direction of the school from being a strong, fundamental, Baptist Bible College to a weak, generic, New Evangelical school.  To that end, we went away disappointed.  

Nevertheless, we both wish Dr. O good success in his future ministry of “Building Leaders” for tomorrow’s churches.   Personally, we believe that Dr. Ollila has time to repair the breach he has put in his own ministerial life.  Just because he’s made some serious mistakes, doesn’t mean that he’s out of the game.  He has something to contribute, if we let him do it.  He can still have a measurable impact on fundamentalism if we let him.  You Pastors have to decide that.  Like Fox News says, “We report, you decide.”

Dr. Lawrence Hufhand and Dr. Marc Monte

(Reprinted with permission)

For the complete video/audio recording please go to Q&A with Dr. Les Ollila