A Letter from the Dean
Dear Truett Family and Friends,
Despite the ongoing constraints and concerns caused by COVID-19 and variants thereof, I am grateful to be able to report that Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary continues with joyful intentionality to carry out our mission of educating and equipping God-called students for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In this edition of The Cord, which I trust that you will find to be both informative and inspirational, you will meet some of the people and learn of some of the programs that make Truett Seminary the special place that it is and aspires to be. Additionally, this volume’s cover story, “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana,” considers how our university’s motto both animates and motivates our seminary’s ongoing work and witness.
While Truett Seminary is decidedly and unequivocally of, by, and for the church, we are simultaneously wholly committed to making a difference in broader ambient culture, both in and beyond our beloved State of Texas. We strive to be “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana” by training and placing students and by supporting and encouraging alumni, churches, Christian organizations, and friends. We are blessed to be able carry out our ministry of theological education not only in Waco but also in Houston and now in San Antonio.
A chief reason that our school continues to experience strong, even record, enrollment and placement is because of the remarkable—indeed unprecedented—support, both financial and otherwise, that we gratefully receive from so many people in so many places. I trust this issue of The Cord will serve as something of a written testament that such strong and sacrificial investment is not in vain.
Truett Seminary is striving daily to live into and out of its identity as an orthodox, evangelical, multi-denominational school in the historic Baptist tradition embedded into a major research university even as it is leaning wholeheartedly into its vision to prepare thoughtful, faithful ministers for a twenty-first century Church and world.
In his so-called “Immortal Message” of 1931, President Samuel Palmer Brooks encouraged graduating seniors “to have a care for [Baylor].” I cannot thank you enough for your care and prayers for Truett. Neither can I sufficiently convey how much we both need and desire your ongoing involvement and investment in our beloved school. Please continue to let us know how our seminary can best serve and support you and your churches in being a part of the answer to the very prayer that our Lord taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
To God be the glory…
Todd D. Still, Phd
Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean
William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures