BishopAccountability.org
	Bible School President Takes Odd Approach to Pr By Jeremy Klaszus Calgary Herald November 22, 2011 http://www.calgaryherald.com/Bible+school+president+takes+approach/5747736/story.html In addition to being Canada's oldest Bible school, Prairie Bible Institute has another distinction: it is currently employing the world's oddest public relations strategy. Odd, because there doesn't seem to be much of one. The Three Hills school is beset by allegations of sexual abuse that go back decades. News coverage, triggered by a statement posted on the school's website calling for "healing and reconciliation" where abuse may have occurred, has gone international. You wouldn't know it by looking at institute president Mark Maxwell. On campus Monday for the first time since the Herald broke the story Saturday, the 53-year-old former financial analyst grins a lot, cracks jokes with colleagues and seems generally unfazed by attention from the world outside. Prairie's argyle-wearing managing director Peter Mal explains his boss this way: "He didn't take the how-to-be-a-president class." Maxwell addressed the abuse allegations at a staff meeting Monday morning. Instead of giving a zip-your-lips directive before reporters arrived on campus, he gave opposite advice. "He reinforced today that 'if anybody talks to you staff, talk,' " says Mal. It's an unusual approach from an unusual leader. Maxwell, a missionary kid born in Nigeria and the grandson of institute founder L.E. Maxwell, has an unpolished leadership and communication style. He rambles. He is often corrected by his staff when he speaks. But Maxwell is held in high regard in the Prairie community, largely because he recently rescued the school from oblivion, taking over last year after a period of dwindling enrolment, financial peril and bitter infighting. "We were probably at the mutiny stage when he came," says Mal. To signal a change in direction, Maxwell placed a welcome mat at the door of his office and he removed the big "President's Office" sign that hung overhead. Now that the abuse allegations have landed, Maxwell's emphasis on openness has taken on new meaning. "What do you do? There are no manuals on this kind of thing," says Phil Callaway, a Three Hills author and humorist who edits a Prairie magazine. He believes Maxwell has been "frighteningly transparent" so far. The school has no plans to hire outside public relations help, according to Maxwell. For one thing, Prairie can't afford it. The school almost didn't survive the summer, saved only by an influx of donations. But Maxwell also says hiring a spokesperson would sacrifice "the enormous benefit of being involved in a genuine, possibly messy, relationship with many of our publics." Maxwell's handling of the situation has already been somewhat clumsy. He goofed by saying the school had invited RCMP to investigate allegations at the school, which the cops said was misleading. "Probably the better reflection of truth is that we informed them of the allegations," says Maxwell. What happens next is typical: he goes on to say too much. "It sounds like their point is there doesn't appear to be enough for there to be specific allegations." Sitting in Maxwell's office, Mal jumps in: "But that's putting words in their mouth." Maxwell nods and corrects himself. He admits he's not an ideal spokesperson, but he's OK with that, and people at Prairie seem fine with it, too. "What if I screw up in what I say?" says Maxwell. "Then I hope you'll have heard our heart. . . . If we have caused harm, then we need to own it and find our way through it." Jeremy Klaszus is a regular freelance contributor to the Herald. His column appears regularly on the Editorial page.
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