Top Thrivent Exec Takes Lead of Board of Regents
What kind of leader is Brad Hewitt? “A reluctant one, usually,” the new chair of the Concordia University Board of Regents said with a grin. “I really don’t seek leadership.”
Leadership, however, seeks Hewitt — onetime CEO of a Minneapolis pharmaceutical firm, then chief administration officer for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, now a senior vice president at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Hewitt’s leadership exemplar is the guy who guided a motley crowd of desert wanderers across the Jordan into the Promised Land — the Old Testament’s Joshua.
Hewitt thinks the model is apt for present circumstances. “Leadership,” he said, “is about being courageous. And trust in God.
”Thereafter, Hewitt added, “you figure it out as you go.”
At Concordia St. Paul, Hewitt knows what he wants — courageous leaders who inspire courage in others. He wants to see people “take that leap of faith, believing in themselves and believing in the institution.
”These courageous leaders can draw upon Concordia’s great strengths, Hewitt said: place, people and progress.
The University is in a diverse urban community. Its faculty and staff truly care about students. And the institution is continuing to grow beyond its roots as a school for church workers.
Hewitt calls Concordia St. Paul “a very good microcosm of the world that most people are going to live in. That’s a strength if you’re going into ministry or if you’re going into business or if you’re going into education.
”The University of Wisconsin-River Falls math major remembers his quadratic equations—they have more than one solution. So do organizational challenges.
Hewitt also graduated from Harvard University’s Program for Management Development and received an honorary doctorate in law from Concordia St. Paul.
Not being a Concordia alum has this advantage: “I don’t have to unlearn a bunch of things about how it used to be,” said Hewitt — and yet he can draw freely on experience and ideas from the school’s legacy.
His own family, meanwhile, has deepening Concordia roots. Son Matt, a Concordia student nearing graduation in 2009 and heading for seminary, turns to Dad for financial guidance — and Twin Cities directions. His father grew up here.
Dad always comes through. “If he doesn’t know the answer,” said Matt, “he’ll find out.”
Susan Hewitt ’06, Brad’s wife, has a Concordia St. Paul master’s degree in Christian Outreach. One day while researching an assignment, Matt found his Mom’s capstone thesis, “Motivating Christians into Service.
”Her phone rang. “He wanted to know,” Mom deadpaned, “if I thought it was a credible source.”
Susan, as Metro St. Louis mission coordinator for the Missouri District of the LCMS in St. Louis, has helped reinvigorate two churches there.
Christ Lutheran reinvented itself as Christ in the City — a coffeehouse, day-care center and worship center serving a St. Louis University neighborhood. St. Stephen’s Lutheran, meanwhile, adapted itself to younger worshipers.
Those projects model what Susan hopes her husband already knows in his new role. “My encouragement for him,” she said, “would be to help the University to see the future in today’s culture.”
The family moves to its new home in Medicine Lake, Minn., in June, after daughter Melissa graduates from high school in St. Louis.
If Concordia St. Paul changes course while crossing the Jordan, the redirection will be gentle.
“People have told me,” Hewitt said, “‘I’ve never felt better about being told I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do.’”
A growing Concordia can keep diversifying while still affirming its roots, Hewitt said. Martin Luther’s priesthood of all believers includes people doing godly work in all walks of life. Not only church workers have callings.
“We help people figure out their call,” mused the brand-conscious businessman. “Why wouldn’t we want that to be our brand?”
If he’s mixing business and church — maybe both can benefit. The challenge now for Concordia and its alumni, said Hewitt, is to build fundraising to keep pace with opportunity.
That won’t take a miracle — but a miracle wouldn’t surprise Hewitt.
Here’s why: His business friends wonder how churches can manage on voluntary contributions. “I would describe that system,” Hewitt responded, “as a miracle. It really doesn’t operate except on that basis.“
On the other hand,” he continued, “I could point out to them that the church bodies have lasted a lot longer than any business.”
