Cracked pot #7: JAV has a way with his staff
JAV has a way with his staff
Posted by Cracked pot on Nov-20-02 7:33am
JAV is legendary when it comes to his relationship with staff. Being a despot and a Christian is a difficult balance. It is a balance that JAV has struggled with since he began as pastor of WHBC. Part of the reason for this difficulty is his military background (which did weird things to his mind) and his tutelage with "Crazy" John Rawlings and his five and a half years with Jack Hyles. When you combine the coarse crudeness of a Rawlings and then mix the intrigue and legalism of Hyles, you have nearly a lethal mixture when it comes to staff relations.
Early in his tenure as pastor at Windsor Hills JAV philosophy was to hire young guys right out of college. His attitude was too work them till they dropped and if they quit, he could always hire more and he did. In the first few years there at Windsor he had a revolving door when it came to staff. Some staff lasted a year some two years and a few even made it three or more years. Most of the staff were right out of college and were full of enthusiasm and short on experience. Most importantly they were young, eager, very impressionable and hopefully easy to intimidate and control.
One such staff member was a young man recruited from Hyles Anderson College named Dan Cregan. Dan was from New York and was a fish out of water down in Oklahoma. His northern accent and Yankee ways made him stand out but he was a hard worker and is still in the ministry today. Dan started as a combination church janitor and bus director. His heart was in the bus ministry and he loved that aspect of the ministry. It seemed that Cregan and JAV were like oil and water especially as time moved along, they could not get along.
It became apparent that there was some real trouble brewing because JAV called Cregan into his office and pulled the shade down on his door window. Whenever the shade came down it was for privacy and was a sign to all to not disturb. After a few minutes a private conversation became very personal because of the screaming from the inner office. Then you see pictures being knocked off the walls in the outer office from bodies being slammed against the wall on the other side. The secretaries excused themselves because it was obvious that there was a fighting JAV office between the preacher and Cregan.
After a few minutes Cregan exited JAV office and it was pretty easy to see that he had lost the fight. He was rubbing his jaw and complained that he might of broken his jaw. Cregan talked of getting a lawyer and suing JAV, the other staff did their best to talk him out of that. Later on that day Cregan and another staff member were out on visitation, JAV saw him driving and pulled him over. As he walked up to the car Cregan wondered if it was round two. Vineyard said "Dan as far as I'm concerned , it's over." That was as close to an apology as you one would gat from JAV.
It was far from over because JAV has a way with staff. For the last 25 years stories with his staff are better than fiction. No one could make up fictional stories that can compare with the true life ones of working with JAV and you think that I'm a cracked pot. JAV has a way with his staff!
JAV has a way with his staff
Posted by Cracked pot on Nov-20-02 7:33am
JAV is legendary when it comes to his relationship with staff. Being a despot and a Christian is a difficult balance. It is a balance that JAV has struggled with since he began as pastor of WHBC. Part of the reason for this difficulty is his military background (which did weird things to his mind) and his tutelage with "Crazy" John Rawlings and his five and a half years with Jack Hyles. When you combine the coarse crudeness of a Rawlings and then mix the intrigue and legalism of Hyles, you have nearly a lethal mixture when it comes to staff relations.
Early in his tenure as pastor at Windsor Hills JAV philosophy was to hire young guys right out of college. His attitude was too work them till they dropped and if they quit, he could always hire more and he did. In the first few years there at Windsor he had a revolving door when it came to staff. Some staff lasted a year some two years and a few even made it three or more years. Most of the staff were right out of college and were full of enthusiasm and short on experience. Most importantly they were young, eager, very impressionable and hopefully easy to intimidate and control.
One such staff member was a young man recruited from Hyles Anderson College named Dan Cregan. Dan was from New York and was a fish out of water down in Oklahoma. His northern accent and Yankee ways made him stand out but he was a hard worker and is still in the ministry today. Dan started as a combination church janitor and bus director. His heart was in the bus ministry and he loved that aspect of the ministry. It seemed that Cregan and JAV were like oil and water especially as time moved along, they could not get along.
It became apparent that there was some real trouble brewing because JAV called Cregan into his office and pulled the shade down on his door window. Whenever the shade came down it was for privacy and was a sign to all to not disturb. After a few minutes a private conversation became very personal because of the screaming from the inner office. Then you see pictures being knocked off the walls in the outer office from bodies being slammed against the wall on the other side. The secretaries excused themselves because it was obvious that there was a fighting JAV office between the preacher and Cregan.
After a few minutes Cregan exited JAV office and it was pretty easy to see that he had lost the fight. He was rubbing his jaw and complained that he might of broken his jaw. Cregan talked of getting a lawyer and suing JAV, the other staff did their best to talk him out of that. Later on that day Cregan and another staff member were out on visitation, JAV saw him driving and pulled him over. As he walked up to the car Cregan wondered if it was round two. Vineyard said "Dan as far as I'm concerned , it's over." That was as close to an apology as you one would gat from JAV.
It was far from over because JAV has a way with staff. For the last 25 years stories with his staff are better than fiction. No one could make up fictional stories that can compare with the true life ones of working with JAV and you think that I'm a cracked pot. JAV has a way with his staff!