James Dobson signs off, for now

Everything has its season, the Bible says.

For Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, one season will end today. But another will soon begin.

An estimated 200 million people worldwide will tune in Friday to Dobson’s final turn as host of the “Focus on the Family” radio show. After 33 years, Dobson will finally say goodbye to the Colorado Springs-based ministry he founded.

From a modest weekly radio show in a two-room rented office in Arcadia, Calif., it grew into a multimillion-dollar empire, and Dobson grew from an unknown child psychologist to one of the most influential evangelical leaders of our time, advising presidents as casually as he advised moms.

But the send-off has been muted by Dobson’s announcement in December that he’s starting another Christian ministry and radio show similar to the Focus enterprise.

Dobson, 73, has said he formed the new ministry because the traditional family model is breaking down. “I have asked myself how I can sit and watch the world go by without trying to help if I can,” Dobson wrote. “That is what motivates me at this time.”

Dobson and his 39-year-old son, Ryan, both of whom declined to be interviewed for this article, hope to launch their new ministry May 3 with the airing of their co-hosted radio show, “Family Talk With James Dobson.” Dobson has said "Family Talk" was not created to directly compete with Focus on the Family.

The three local radio stations that carry “Focus on the Family” — KGFT (100.7 FM), KTLF (90.5 FM) and KCBR (1040 AM) — said they will continue to carry it for now, and haven’t yet decided on Dobson’s new show. Meanwhile, Dobson has asked for $2 million from donors, signed on with Ambassador Advertising Agency to represent him to stations, and he will be selling his new show to Christian broadcasters with a Monday night presentation at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tenn.

As he launches the new venture, it raises two questions: Can Focus survive without Dobson? And can Dobson continue without Focus?

Transitional times

James Dobson has been preparing to leave Focus since 2003.

“Many organizations and presidents of organizations make the mistake of staying too long, eventually dying and leaving their institutions leaderless,” Dobson wrote on Facebook. “To avoid the pitfall, I have sensed that the Lord would have me hand the reigns of Focus to gifted successors who would carry on the work of the past three decades.”

Five years ago, Dobson named Jim Daly his successor as the group’s president and CEO. In February 2009, Dobson also stepped down as Focus chairman.

Daly, who declined to be interviewed for this article, has been presenting Focus’ stance on hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage in a softer manner than Dobson did for decades, and he has shown an ability to reach out to Democrats.

Daly has praised President Barack Obama for his family values, has visited Obama at the White House, and this month commended him for cracking down on human trafficking.

Daly helped formulate Focus’ Super Bowl ad starring former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, which turned out to be a huge success with its soft-sell anti-abortion message. The Focus Web site received 1.57 million unique visitors within 72 hours of the ad’s debut on Super Sunday, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said.

At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., last weekend, Focus distributed Daly’s essay on abortion, which advocates adoption and other alternatives. Absent in the essay was a call to ban abortions.

In recent years, Focus has experienced a downturn in donations; that has resulted in cutting its work force from 1,400 in 2002 to 860 today, and phasing out several Focus programs. Last year, Focus cut its budget from $160 million to $138 million. A reason for the downturn, experts say, is that Focus is failing to attract as many young families to its ministry as it once did. Most “Focus on the Family” radio listeners are older than 50.

Daly understands that to reach more evangelicals, including young families, Focus must broaden its moral agenda and be open to compromise, said David Gushee, author of the 2008 book “The Future of Faith in American Politics.”

“The angry, polemical, slash-and-burn focus of the Christian right was exemplified by James Dobson,” Gushee said. “But evidence is clear that it has not been effective in recent years in (financially) supporting Focus and not effective in solving cultural problems. Young people are turned off by it.”

Gushee sees Focus returning to its roots as an organization known for helping families, rather than trying to influence public policy.

Joe Pickle, a retired religion professor from Colorado College, sees a bright future for Focus with Daly at the helm.

“He is a breath of fresh air,” Pickle said. “He remains committed to conservative Christian values but is not being tied to what I call ‘the hysterical right.’ ”

Will Focus crumble financially without its founder? Michael Lindsay, author of the 2007 book “Faith in the Halls of Power,” says no.

“Every nonprofit in America has cut budgets,” Lindsay said. “I think Focus is in better shape than 80 percent of other parachurches. It remains a formidable institution.”

But Focus will probably lose millions of donor dollars because of Dobson’s leaving, said Stewart Hoover, director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“Dobson is the iconic figure, not just of Focus, but of a set of values and ideas about moral parenting,” he said.

In polls on Dobson and Focus conducted by Hoover’s center, people typically cite Dobson as a major reason why they follow and donate to the family group. Dobson’s “Family Talk” is sure to siphon away donations from Focus, Hoover said.

“His personality is a big draw.”

The new Dobson vehicle

Dobson’s personality will certainly draw some loyal followers to his new venture. But he’s clearly hoping that his son, Ryan, will attract a younger following. Even so, on his Facebook announcement, Dobson makes only passing reference to his son, who is barely known even in conservative Christian circles.

Ryan Dobson, 39, was adopted by James and Shirley Dobson as an infant, and he has a sister named Danae.

In his teens and early adulthood, Ryan Dobson was in rebellion, according to interviews he’s given. But things changed for him in 2002, when a Nashville talent agency for Christian personalities started getting him gigs as a Christian youth lecturer and deals with Christian book publishers.

His conservative Christian views and black-and-white thinking are evident in his books and lectures. His first book, published in 2003, was called “Be Intolerant,”which Publishers Weekly said had the “subtlety of a two by four to the side of the head.”

Ryan Dobson has never been employed at Focus, which according to Dale Buss, author of a 2005 biography of James Dobson, was Ryan’s choice. But Ryan Dobson also went through a divorce in 2001, and Focus has strict rules about hiring people who have been divorced. 

Focus spokesman said Gary Schneeberger said Ryan Dobson’s divorce was not a factor in his not working for the organization. “Ryan had no desire to work for Focus,” he said.

In 2005 Ryan Dobson remarried, to Laura, and they have a toddler named Lincoln Cash. The family lives in Colorado Spring about one mile from James Dobson.

Ryan Dobson is known for looking untidy at his youth lectures, often wearing a scraggly beard, wrinkled shirt and worn jeans. His appearance reflects how he views himself — a wild-eyed preacher in the wilderness. “God has called me to a sort of John the Baptist-type role,” Buss quotes Ryan Dobson as saying in his biography.

Religious experts interviewed said Dobson probably included Ryan in the nascent ministry to raise Ryan Dobson’s visibility and eventually bequeath the ministry to him. Indeed, many evangelical leaders, such as Billy Graham and Robert H. Schuller, have been succeeded by their sons.

Religious experts predict that  “Family Talk with James Dobson” will be similar in tone to the “Focus on the Family” radio show. James Dobson will offer views on parenting and public policy, with Ryan throwing in edgy asides.

There’s no evidence that Dobson started the new venture to tear down Focus.

“The transition has been relatively smooth between Dobson and Daly,” Lindsay said. “Both have tremendous respect for each other.”

Pickle said the reason behind Dobson’s new venture may be a simple one.

“He’s been doing this a long time, and has been very successful at it,” Pickle said. “He seems to be dealing with retirement as many do.

“It is hard to let go.”

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To read Barna’s interview with an auditor of Love Won Out, Focus’ now defunct reparative therapy program, on why the gay rights issue became so important to Dobson, go to The Pulpit blog at www.thepulpit.freedomblogging.com. Call Barna at 636-0367.