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This article originally ran in the February 6, 1981 issue of Christianity Today.

Three more key members of Bill Gothard's Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts (IBYC) have left the organization in disagreement with Gothard's handling of moral and financial questions that have publicly engulfed the institute since last summer.

There were also these developments:

• A long-time member of the board, who resigned in 1977, was reelected in November, only to find out in December that his reelection was ruled invalid. He believes the reasons are connected to the current troubles.
  
  
• A group of field representatives who work for the institute are signing form letters that demand answers to five broad questions that have arisen from the turmoil.
  
  
• Gothard has agreed to an independent audit of institute finances by the firm of Price Waterhouse and Company, a move many disaffected employees have been asking for. How extensive the audit will be is not yet known, however, nor is it known whether it will be available to the employees who have been asking the questions.
  
  

In short, although thousands of "alumni" and friends of the institute have been pleading and praying that the troublesome disclosures would cease so the seminars can continue untarnished, it is the present and former staff members themselves who are demanding answers to dozens of questions about how the large sums of institute money are spent. Gothard shuns publicity and so far has said very little publicly about the problems.

The institute holds weeklong seminars that are composed of 32 hours of lectures by Gothard, whose biblical principles on handling of problems have been helpful to many. His seminars regularly draw 5,000 to 10,000 people at a cost of $45 per person. Last year the institute took in some $8 million.

One of the most significant resignations from the institute was that of Samuel J. Schultz, who has been on the board since the beginning of IBYC. In carefully measured words, Schultz announced his resignation by saying, "After much prayerful evaluation and consideration, I came to the realization that I could no longer support IBYC or influence the future direction of the organization."

Schultz is a retired Wheaton College professor, an author, and a former editor of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He resigned in December because he said he was unable to win support for changes he believed needed to be made. They include:

• Enlarging the board of directors from five members to nine, to ensure more independent judgment. Schultz believes the smaller board is dominated by Gothard even though Gothard has been on a technical leave of absence since July. In August the board voted to enlarge itself to nine, but Gothard has been delaying action on it.
  
  
• Engaging a nationally recognized auditing firm to audit the books for present and past years. (Schultz made his statements before learning that a more limited audit is in the works.)
  
  
• Having Gothard meet openly with staff members to discuss the many ethical and financial questions that have arisen.
  
  

Asked about his reaction to the changes Schultz has called for, IBYC board chairman Gustav Hemwall said, "If the implication is that he left because they're not being done, that isn't true. But if it isn't being done fast enough or if it's because he can't influence it the way he wants—these things are being done. The audit is in progress now. The enlargement of the board is in progress. Gothard has met with staff members time and again."

Schultz was also concerned that the institute might not have handled its millions of dollars in real estate investments properly, and he raised questions about the biblical basis for the seminar's chain of command (authority) principle, and whether the institute leaders practiced those principles themselves. He also stressed the importance of having the activity and leadership of the institute under the authority of the board of directors in order to ensure that its programs are biblically sound. Christianity Today was unable to get Gothard to respond to Schultz's resignation, or to the issues he raised.

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March (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47