Teacher/Instructor: Ross McGary
Topic: Visionary Advisors Part II
It is often discomforting for us when we are faced with the reality and finality of death. Over the past few weeks, we have been confronted with death, not only in the loss of two of our past members and leaders (Rob Harvey and Alex Harvey) but also the the extensive loss of life from both weather events and medical events. Back in 2013, Ross McGary addressed our fellowship with a two week presentation on Visionary Advisors. Within six weeks of this presentation, Ross was called home. This second week's presentations are Ross' instructions on identifying, recruiting and selecting visionary advisors. I ask you to listen and implement as Ross serves us well with the wisdom contained in these two presentations! [Note: If you missed last week's presentation, you can view it at https://cblroundtable.com]
Biographical Sketch and Notes - Ross McGary
Nashville, TN (1952 - 2013)
President and Senior Mentor, The Jonathan Edwards Education Foundation, Falls Church, VA., 1996 to 2013.
Led the Fellows program with University Fellows, undergraduates thru post-doctoral students, both domestically and internationally (Brazil as the primary focus out of the U.S.) in a wide variety of disciplines,
Led a smaller Professional Fellows program with scientists, historians, business leaders, college deans, elected officials, a town planner, writers, pastors of mega-churches and innovative distributed churches, filmmakers, new media leaders, publisher/editors and others,
Selected by Yale University’s Jonathan Edwards Center to participate in the beta test of the on-line resource of Edwards writings, developed under the direction of Harry Stout.
President / Co-Founder, Stone Soup – Friends of All Abilities
This organization was founded by his wife, Lynn Hatcher McGary, in 2003, she died in 2009. Stone Soup builds a community of friends with families who have a child or young adult with special needs. Stone Soup held the largest special needs event in Nashville’s history for whole families, in 2005 as a part of the SBC’s annual meeting Crossover Nashville, at the Nashville Convention Center. Stone Soup is now in six cities / congregations and growing – four in Tennessee and two in Georgia. There are about 300 families with special needs and over 1000 volunteers.
Pertinent Vita:
Successfully served as a church planter in Appalachia, pastor in Virginia and Tennessee.
Co-led a Bible study on biblical worldview at the National Law Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. with congressional aides, think tank scholars and administrators, and government agency leaders, as the regular participants.
Hosted, along with my wife, evangelical scholar, Norm Geisler, at different times when he came to Washington, D.C.
Founded the “READ USA” adult literacy project with assistance from Dr. Annabel Newman at Indiana University. Developed the leading adult learn to read video program which was then sold to Laubach Literacy Action – New Reader’s Press.
Established six “ministry houses” – mostly historic homes for Christian university students at public and Christian universities with a focus on guiding on a biblical worldview – housed students from MTSU, UT-Knoxville, Belmont, University of Louisville, Southern Seminary, Mid-Continent University, and Murray State University – from 2002 to present. Successfully utilize Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together” as a guiding basis to create public witness and enduring relationships among the residents.
LifeWay / Broadman Holman:
Served as a consultant with Art Frantzreb to establish the development office for LifeWay, had a support / research office for 6 months in the executive wing in the late 1990’s,
Editor for several of the Shepherd’s Notes, Christian Classics,
Reviewer of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) before its publication,
Consultation with the publisher on how to root the HCSB in the American Christian community,
Served as a commentary contributor, along with several Fellows, to the award-winning University Study Bible, published by Holman.
Philosophy:
Participated in establishing the long-running relationship with Antony Flew, along with Gary Habermas and Terry Miethe, at the historic Christianity Challenges the University debates in Dallas, hosted by Roy Abraham Varghese. Served as a host for the debate over the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth with Habermas/Flew, that became the Harper and Row “religious book of the year,” along with personal interaction with Flew. Note: It was after Flew rejected atheism, that his philosophical colleague, Richard Dawkins, took a turn for rabid attacks on Christianity.
Participant in the Virginia Philosophical Association annual meetings and personal home visits / talks with Lewis Ford, editor of the Process Studies journal, at Old Dominion University.
Sheldon Vanauken, close friend and colleague to C.S. Lewis and author of “A Severe Mercy” – my wife and I got to know him when she was completing graduate studies in special education at Lynchburg College in Virginia, where Sheldon was a noted scholar.
Personal family:
Five adult children: Two daughters and three sons.
All my children are involved currently in church planting.
As far as we can research and in our extensive family history book, my 17th generation grandfather was burned at the stake, in Scotland, for his vocal and financial support of the Reformation and John Knox.
The extended family of parents, siblings, nieces and nephews are involved in a wide variety of disciplines and all are involved in planting Baptist churches on four continents.