Truett News (2023-24)
NEW SEMINARY STAFF WELCOMED
Jack Bodenhamer, DMin, Assistant Dean of External Affairs
Bryan DeVries, DMin, Assistant Director of the Doctorate of Ministry Program
Rusty Freeman, DMin, Director of the Wesley House of Studies
Sydney Huebner, Program Coordinator for Online Studies
Isaac Lee, Program Manager of the Faith & Sports Institute Online Certification
Toby Osborn, EdD, Assistant Dean of Student Services
Ana Peña, Coordinator of Enrollment Management
BGCT-BAYLOR JOINT STATEMENT ON SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS AGREEMENT
February 22, 2023–Leaders from the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) and Baylor University jointly reviewed the relationship agreement between the two organizations and deemed no changes are necessary. The special agreement, initially agreed upon on November 4, 2011, calls for a joint review by the BGCT and Baylor every 10 years. The most recent review was delayed two years as both organizations managed through the COVID-19 pandemic. The BGCT provides approximately $1.3 million annually to Baylor in the form of scholarship dollars in support of pastoral and ministerial education through George W. Truett Theological Seminary, financial aid for BGCT-affiliated pastors and ministers and their families, and in support of Baptist Student Ministry activities. As part of the review of the ongoing relationship agreement, Baylor confirmed that BGCT-provided funds are being allocated to their intended purposes. “For 178 years, Baylor and Texas Baptists have served side by side to shine a light on God’s Kingdom across Texas, the United States, and worldwide,” said Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, PhD. “We remain firmly rooted in our shared history, and Baylor remains committed to maintaining our historic, mutually beneficial relationship with the BGCT and Baptists in Texas. We look forward to continuing our special relationship over the next decade and beyond.”
“The BGCT is optimistic about continuing this mutually beneficial special relationship agreement with Baylor University for another ten years as together we prepare Christian leaders for service in and through Texas Baptists churches,” said BGCT Associate Executive Director Craig Christina, PhD. “This relationship enables the BGCT to offer a positive, Christ-centered influence on the issues confronting Baylor’s campus, will strengthen the presence of Baptist Student Ministry on Baylor’s campus, and will ensure our continued partnership with the George W. Truett Theological Seminary.”
TWO FROM BAYLOR’S TRUETT SEMINARY AWARDED FELLOWSHIPS AT AUSCHWITZ FOR THE STUDY OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
April 25, 2023–Baylor’s Truett Seminary announced that first-year Truett student Josepha Mbouma and Baylor and Truett alumna Kingsley East Gibbs were awarded Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE). The FASPE is awarded to students pursuing professional degrees in business, journalism, law, medicine, theology, and technology as well as to early-career professionals. Through the program, fellows spend two weeks in Germany and Poland visiting Auschwitz and other key historical sites and participating in seminars led by experts in their respective fields of study. Award recipients are able to examine the roles their counterparts played in Germany and elsewhere from 1933-1945. They then draw on historical, cultural, philosophical, literary, and discipline-specific sources to explore the ethical issues facing their respective fields today. Regarding the FASPE fellowship, Mbouma remarked, “FASPE uniquely unites people of various backgrounds, who likely would not otherwise be connected. This aspect of the program is powerful because in an age where conversations and connections can be relegated to 170 Twitter characters or sound bites, FASPE creates a space where individuals have the opportunity to explore the embodied experience of others. This approach, when combined with the opportunity to learn from his-tory and experts, is a unique experience that will equip me for future endeavors.” Gibbs added her own thoughts about the fellowship stating, “I look forward to collaborating with the FASPE fellows and growing as a minister committed to the church and Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation. As I minister to youth in Texas, I hope to learn better ways to practice communal lament and repentance, especially when it comes to racial sin. I look forward to this immersive experience, knowing that it will be intense and transformative.”
TRUETT PROFESSORS NAMED AMONG OUTSTANDING FACULTY FOR 2022-2023
May 10, 2023–Baylor University’s Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize the best all-around professors – including non-tenure track, tenured and tenure-track faculty – based on teaching capabilities, research achievement, effective committee service, time spent with students and civic and church involvement. This year, Rebecca Poe Hays, PhD, assistant professor of Christian Scriptures was recognized for teaching and Kimlyn J. Bender, PhD, professor of Christian Theology was recognized for scholarship.
TRUETT CHAPEL SPARKS CONNECTION WITH BASKETBALL FOUNDER’S FAMILY
June 12, 2023– In 1891, James Naismith brought 18 men together in Springfield, Massachusetts, to try a new sport. It had 13 rules, and the idea was to score by throwing a soccer ball into a peach basket. There was no dribbling in that first basketball game, and with just a few shot attempts, the game ended with a score of 1-0. In Naismith’s eyes, however, the game was more than a success as it reflected his broader goal of using sports and physical education “to win men for the Master through the gym.” More than 130 years later, Naismith’s last surviving grandson, James P. (“Jim”) Naismith was waiting in his car in his hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, when he received a message encouraging him to watch a talk given at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary by Paul Putz, PhD, assistant director of the Faith & Sports Institute. Traveling with his wife, Beverly, the two came to Waco, Texas, to learn more about the ways sports and faith are connected at Baylor. Along with the Seminary, the Naismiths learned about the ways faith shapes Baylor’s sports programs, from the strategic vision set by the athletic department’s leaders to the spiritual care and support provided to student-athletes through Baylor’s sports ministry program. While on campus, the Naismiths connected with the men’s and women’s basketball programs. Baylor’s head men’s basketball coach Scott Drew spoke about the Christian perspective that infuses the “culture of JOY - Jesus, Others, and then Yourself” he has instilled with Baylor men’s basketball while former Baylor All-American, Sophia Young-Malcolm, assistant AD for player development with Baylor women’s basketball, shared how she brings a spiritual focus to her role with the team. “Basketball was created at a Christian institution and inspired by spiritual values, but the beautiful thing about the game is that it is for everyone,” Putz said. “To get to spend time with Jim and Beverly and to hear their heart for the sport that Jim’s grandfather started was an experience I won’t soon forget.”
MICHAEL W. STROOPE AND DUSTIN D. BENAC RECEIVE GRANT TO SUPPORT ECCLESIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
June 16, 2023–Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary shared that Michael W. Stroope, PhD, professor of Christian Missions, director of the MA in Contextual Witness and Innovation (MACWI), and holder of the M.C. Shook Chair of Missions, and Dustin D. Benac, ThD, director and co-founder of the Program for the Future Church (PFFC), have received a subgrant from Princeton Theological Seminary’s “Teaching Spiritual Entrepreneurship” initiative to fund the Baylor Ecclesial Entrepreneurship Program (BEEP). Regarding the subgrant, Stroope remarked, “We are thrilled to receive this grant and anticipate that it will make a significant contribution to the academic, vocational, and spiritual preparedness of our students, as they seek to express God’s love through innovation, service, and witness.”
TRUETT SEMINARY ANNOUNCES $1.25 MILLON GRANT TO BAYLOR FROM LILLY ENDOWMENT, INC. TO SUPPORT TRUETT PREACHING INITIATIVE
October 23, 2023–Truett Seminary announced that Baylor University has been awarded a grant of $1.25 million from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to support Truett Seminary’s initiative focused upon minoritized preaching for the good and growth of the Church. As chief investigator for the project, Jared E. Alcántara, PhD, professor of preaching and holder of the Paul W. Powell Endowed Chair in Preaching at Truett, along with co-investigators Adam Bond, Joao Chaves, Jamal-Dominique Hopkins, Dennis Horton, and Angel Santiago-Vendrell, will use the Lilly-funded grant to enable Truett Seminary and her Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching to address rapid demographic changes and to equip intercultural churches with aspiring and active preachers. The funding for this initiative comes through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative, which aims to foster and support preaching that inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully. Embedded into Baylor, a R1 research university in the historic Baptist tradition, Truett Seminary is one of 81 organizations whose projects are being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. “Throughout history, preachers often have needed to adapt their preaching practices to engage new generations of hearers more effectively,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We are pleased that the organizations receiving grants in this initiative will help pastors and others in ministry engage in the kinds of preaching needed today to ensure that the gospel message is heard and accessible for all audiences.”