people. His meetings throughout the country put him shoulder-
to-shoulder with both lay and pastoral leaders—he and his staff
would work with the community’s leading Christian business-
people and ministers in each city. This gave him up close impres-
sions of how they thought, what they could accomplish, and how
committed they were to mutual dreams. Over the years after CTI’s
launch, he would personally recruit new trustees to achieve the
desired mix of business and ministry leadership.
To birth a dream takes lots of recruiting skill, and Billy was
always a recruiter, connecting with strong people and thinking
about how they might best move the cause forward. It’s true that
at times he recruited too hastily, carried along with enthusiasm as
he saw a person’s strengths that hid some weaknesses. But as his
associates say, his track record overall had been very, very good.
We see that in his recruitment of Dr. Kenneth Kantzer. In the
late 1970s, CTI was in a major transition, and a search had begun
for a new magazine editor. Billy had observed Ken’s capacities as
a theologian and leader and decided he was the man. Ken had
largely built Trinity Evangelical Divinity School over a period of
years and brought to the table a loving spirit, leadership experi-
ence, a quick mind, and a Harvard Ph.D.
When Billy approached Ken, however, the educator politely
declined. Kantzer felt he was most effective in academia, and he
didn’t believe he was equipped to become CT’s editor. Yet Billy
kept returning to his original premise—that Ken was the man—
and was persistent. He contacted Ken
again and was again politely refused. But
Billy kept after him, and finally, months
later, Ken said yes.
The current CTI staff, who went
through that time, looks back at that
decision as a great day for Christianity Today. Dr. Kenneth Kantzer
made enormous contributions to the magazine during his years
as editor, and after he returned to Trinity, he continued to work
with CTI’s leaders on many projects, including the Christianity
Today Institute, a collaboration of scholars and journalists.
Birthing DreamsIn every significant event
there has been a bold
leader, a shaped vision and,
most often, an adversary.
FRED SMITH SR.