Faith « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Faith

Mar

2013

Alum named director of White House faith-based office

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Faith, Honors

Melissa Rogers When President Barack Obama went looking for a new director for the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, it seems only natural that he would find a Baylor Bear.

Melissa Rogers, BA ’88, was named earlier this month to replace one of President Obama’s longest-serving aides as the top White House official on religious issues. Rogers joins the Executive Branch from Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity, where she has led the Center for Religion and Public Affairs since 2004; prior to that, she served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and as general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

[MEDIA COVERAGE: Huffington Post || Christianity Today || New York Times || Associated Baptist Press || Washington Post || Relevant Magazine]

An expert on church-state relations and lifelong Baptist, Rogers earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and a bachelor’s degree in history from Baylor before graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Sic ’em, Melissa!

Dec

2012

Christmas at Baylor in photos, 2012

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Faith, Just for Fun, Photo Galleries, Student life

Unseasonably warm temperatures the last few days (including a record-for-the-date 83 degrees on Saturday!) make it feel not so much like Christmas outside. But yet the calendar turns; it’s December, and classes for the fall semester wrapped up yesterday, believe it or not.

But while the weather may make us think more beach than Bethlehem, the decorations around campus definitely say “Christmastime.” From the lights adorning Burleson Quadrangle to the traditional KOT Christmas tree — not to mention the live nativity in front of the SUB for Christmas on 5th Street — it’s beginning to at least look a lot like Christmas.

In case you missed it late last week, the official Baylor Facebook page shared this photo gallery from Christmas on 5th Street and Santa’s Workshop — full of camels and choirs, presents and photo ops, nutcrackers and even St. Nick. (I particularly like the Facebook page’s new cover photo.)

Sic ’em, Baylor Christmas!

Oct

2012

Bears among notable contributors to new Bible translation ‘The Voice’

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Alumni, Faith, Research

A new translation of the Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishing, The Voice Bible, takes a different approach to helping readers understand God’s word — thanks in large part to several members of the Baylor family.

More akin to The Living Bible than standard translations like the NIV or ESV, The Voice aims to bring out the various voices recorded in the Scriptures. To do so, the project’s leaders brought in writers, poets and songwriters (alongside a host of PhDs) to tell the Bible’s story.

That list of contributors includes Baylor alumni Robbie Seay and his brother Chris, worship leader and pastor, respectively, at Ecclesia Church in Houston; Dr. Greg Garrett, a Baylor English professor; and Jonathan Hal Reynolds, BA ’05, grandson of former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds. (Other recognizable names on the writing/creative team include authors Brian McLaren and Donald Miller and Christian artists Sara Groves, Charlie Hall, and Don and Lori Chaffer.)

The Voice New Testament is available for free download at hearthevoice.com; complete translations as well as selected individual books (Matthew, Mark, John, Romans and others) are available for sale online and in Christian bookstores.

Sic ’em, Bible translators!

Jul

2012

International students and scholars drawn to Baylor to study rare Biblical artifacts

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Faith, Research

Baylor ISR Logos Institute Ancient biblical manuscripts. Expert professors. Eager undergraduate and grad students. That recipe makes sense at Baylor, and was exactly the scene at Armstrong Browning Library last month during the first-ever Logos Institute, a week-long summer event for students ready to analyze papyrus fragments, worship, pray, ponder universal questions such as God’s existence and learn how to logically defend their faith in a sometimes hostile secular world.

Hosted by Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR), 31 international students were chosen to attend Logos, where they joined other humanities students doing hands-on research with leading scholar-mentors in the fields of textual studies, biblical studies, classics, Christian philosophy and apologetics.

The institute is the vision of Christian businessman Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, the world’s largest privately owned arts and crafts retailer, who has made available for study items from the Green Collection. Since November 2009, the Greens have amassed a priceless collection of more than 40,000 rare texts and artifacts, including clay tablets, Dead Sea Scrolls, Scripture on papyrus and animal parchment, rare printed Bibles and manuscripts of Latin and Greek classics.

He envisions Logos as expanding over time into a humanities counterpart of the Alliance Defense Fund’s Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a world-class summer program that trains Christian students at the nation’s top law schools to use their convictions as they rise to positions of influence as legal scholars, litigators, policy makers and judges.

The institute is part of the Green Scholars Initiative, a program of Baylor’s ISR. Baylor is the primary research partner in the initiative, expected to eventually include more than 100 universities. Besides making materials available, Green provided scholarships and stipends for students so they could travel to Baylor from universities in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada.

Sic ’em, Logos and ISR!

You might also like:
* Easter exhibit at Vatican features rare biblical manuscripts assembled by Baylor prof (April 2012)
* Exhibit of rare Bibles displayed at Baylor before heading to Vatican, permanent museum (April 2011)

Jul

2012

Students put Baylor classroom lessons to work on summer mission trips

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Athletics, Faith, Service, Student life, Videos

Baylor nutrition team in Guatemala More than 200 Baylor students went out this summer on university-sponsored mission trips, using what they’ve learned in the classroom to serve in the real world.

Engineering majors provided assistance to a school in Rwanda… Music majors used their talents as outreaches for charitable organizations in Malaysia and Hong Kong… Nutrition science students developed educational materials on diabetes and childhood nutrition to share with rural Hondurans… Public health teams worked alongside doctors in Kenya… Other teams headed to England, Ghana, Greece and Uganda.

It’s inspiring to read, see and hear the students’ responses to their trips:

Sophomore Josh Hansen put together this video recapping his Ghana team’s experience.
The Baylor Music Missions Team blogged and photographed throughout their trip.
The Kenya Women’s Leadership Team did the same, sharing stories and videos.
Students share about their week teaching nutrition with Mission Guatemala.
Student-athletes like football’s Levi Norwood and women’s basketball’s Suni Agbuke blogged during the Sports Ministry team’s Kenya trip.
Baylor Missions posted tons of photos on Facebook.

A few excerpts… “A wonderful experience of personally seeing the extensive love for Christ in God’s global church Body.” … “God has showed me that we as the inhabitants of a richer country are privileged with the responsibilityto fulfill the needs of less fortunate nations.” … “We are transformed as a result of the transforming work that we are in the midst of. … We don’t go because they need us, but we do go because we absolutely need them. We go because we need God.”

Teams are already forming for next year, and if you feel so led, they could use your support.

Sic ’em, Baylor missionaries!

Jul

2012

WORLD magazine names Baylor prof’s ‘Triumph’ its 2012 Book of the Year

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Faith, Honors, Research

In its current issue, WORLD magazine names Baylor professor Dr. Rodney Stark’s The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion its Book of the Year for 2012.

Stark, co-director of Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion and Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences since 2004, is no stranger to such honors. The Triumph of Christianity is a sequel of sorts to a previous book of Stark’s, The Rise of Christianity, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1996. His works have also been recognized by Christianity Today, the American Library Association, the American Sociological Association and others.

The Triumph of Christianity – Stark’s 31st book in a long and distinguished career — covers how a small Jewish sect grew into the largest religion in the world. WORLDeditor-in-chief Marvin Olasky applauds Stark’s accessible writing and excellence in using “both statistics and historical testimony to shoot down stereotypes.”

Sic ’em, Dr. Stark!

Apr

2012

Easter exhibit at Vatican features rare biblical manuscripts assembled by Baylor prof

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Faith, Honors

Dr. Scott Carroll This Easter, a collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts assembled by a Baylor professor is on display in the heart of Vatican City.

“Verbum Domini,” a 5,000-square-foot exhibit, brings together more than 150 of the world’s rarest biblical texts and artifacts from The Green Collection and other private collections. The exhibit’s director is Dr. Scott Carroll (pictured), a research professor of manuscript studies and biblical tradition at the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion. “Verbum Domini” runs through April 15 in St. Peter’s Square.

If The Green Collection sounds familiar, it’s because a selection of items from the collection was on display at Baylor last spring, shortly after its debut at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and before it began a tour that has included the Greens’ hometown of Oklahoma City and now the Vatican.

Sic ’em, Dr. Carroll!

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Building On Our Legacy

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Baylor 2012, Faith, Pro Futuris, Student life, Videos

Baylor Chapel For all the attention given to the results of Baylor’s Vision 2012 over the past decade, not everything about the university is new. In fact, in some areas, Baylor has really returned to its roots.

Baylor Chapel is a great example. Perhaps the university’s oldest tradition, Chapel has been a staple of the Baylor experience since the institution’s earliest days in Independence, Texas. But over the years, Chapel morphed from a worship experience to more of a lecture series, covering all sorts of subjects and performances. For many years, even the name changed, as the required course was called “Chapel-Forum.”

In recent years, however, Chapel — now back to its original name — has also returned to its original purpose. Mondays feature speakers, bands and other performers, all aimed at connecting spiritually with students; recent guests have included Christian artists like Gungor and Jill Phillips, authors Max Lucado and Brian McLaren, and alumni such as Pastor Chris Seay and WNBA All-Star Sophia Young. (FYI, you can click on any of those names to see video from that Chapel appearance.) Wednesdays are for worship, though throughout the semester that can take many forms, from traditional hymns and student choirs to more contemporary music.

Baylor’s dedication to its Christian heritage is clearly reaffirmed in Baylor’s draft strategic plan, and Baylor Chapel will remain a core piece of fulfilling the university’s “Pro Texana, Pro Ecclesia” motto.

Sic ’em, Chapel!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Baylor parents covering campus with prayer (Dec. 2010)
* Former Chapel worship leader passes first round of ‘American Idol’ cuts (Jan. 2010)
* Max Lucado among Spring Chapel guest speakers (May 2008)

Mar

2012

Baylor We Are: Students of Faith

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Baylor 2012, Faith, Pro Futuris, Student life

Baylor resident chaplain A decade ago, the Baylor chaplain’s office began placing students from Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary into residence halls to serve as “resident chaplains” — pastors-in-training who are available 24/7 to talk about not just theology but personal struggles, relationship issues, and all the other ups and downs that 18- to 22-year-olds can experience.

Today, each of Baylor’s 12 residence halls includes a resident chaplain who is given a stipend and an apartment in the hall. In turn, the seminary students serve that hall’s students in a role somewhere between pastor, parent, friend and older sibling. That may mean leading Bible studies, talking faith over coffee, or helping students deal with tragedy, be it a failing grade, broken relationship or loss of a loved one.

“The resident chaplain program is, I think, one of the most important things that Baylor has done in the last 10 years in terms of spiritual formation,” said Brett Gibson, BA ’02, MDiv ’09, a resident chaplain from 2006-09, in a 2008 Baylor Magazine article. “Baylor is wanting to maintain that Christian identity, and I think placing resident chaplains in these residence halls really gives them a voice in helping give them the opportunity to have those conversations about what it means to be not just a really good doctor, but what it means to be a doctor who follows Christ, or what it means to be a lawyer who follows Christ. How can I put those things together? I think the resident chaplain program and what we are freed to be able to do in that position fosters that kind of conversation that wouldn’t be happening otherwise.”

Sic ’em, resident chaplains!

Feb

2012

Truett Seminary celebrates 10 years on Baylor’s main campus

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Faith

Ten years ago this week, more than 1,000 guests attended the official dedication of George W. Truett Seminary’s new Baugh-Reynolds Campus. The new facility brought pastoral education back to the main Baylor campus for the first time since 1910, when Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (which began as Baylor Theological Seminary) left Waco for Fort Worth.

From its opening in the fall of 1994 until January 2002, Truett Seminary was graciously housed by First Baptist Church of Waco, continuing that congregation’s long affiliation with Baylor. But the new facility allowed students and professors to settle into a home of their own. The campus was named for John and Eula Mae Baugh, who provided a lead gift for construction, and former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds, MS ’58, PhD ’61, who was at the helm of the university when the seminary was established.

The seminary itself is named for George W. Truett, AB 1897, whom Reynolds at the dedication called “the greatest Baptist statesman of the 20th century.” After helping raise significant funding that helped save Baylor from financial ruin in the 1890s, Truett graduated from Baylor in 1897. That fall, he was named pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, a role he would hold until his death in 1944, almost 50 years later.

Today, Truett is a thriving Baptist seminary of approximately 350 students, its education focused on small, seminar-style classes. Over the past 17 years, Truett has graduated more than 900 men and women who now serve in ministry positions across 40 states and 19 countries. Its home is easily visible to motorists on the nearby interstate, illustrating Baylor’s commitment to educating the spiritual leaders of tomorrow.

Sic ’em, Truett Seminary!

Points of Pride — Faith

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