Baylor’s Baptist partnerships create new opportunities for students and service

Last week, Baylor and Texas Baptists representatives came together for a ceremonial groundbreaking on a new Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) building that will be built at the corner of South Fourth Street and Daughtrey Avenue — near East Village and the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.

For years, the BSM has shared space in the Bobo Spiritual Life Building with Baylor’s Department of Spiritual Life. But as both ministries grew, it became apparent each could use its own space.

“[The new building is] going to benefit our students, contribute to their spiritual growth, and prepare them to be effective Christ followers while they’re at Baylor, and then long beyond that as they go out into the world,” says Baylor President Linda Livingstone.

The Baptist Student Ministry is a cooperative ministry of Texas Baptist churches that encourages students to follow Christ and transform the world. For almost a century, BSM at Baylor (at times known as the Baptist Student Union, or BSU) has played a significant role in the spiritual formation of Baylor students. Many of Baylor’s traditions, including Welcome Week and Missions Emphasis Week, started as ministries of the BSU. Today, BSM leads out on ministries like Pathway (helping freshmen transition to college) and FM72 (72 hours of prayer and worship in the heart of campus).

The long partnership between Baylor and Texas Baptists goes back to the university’s very beginning. Baylor was founded in 1845 out of the first Baptist association in Texas — an association that grew to become the Baptist General Convention of Texas (now Texas Baptists). More than 180 years later, the University remains connected to the BGCT, continuing to build on their long shared history.

That relationship is just one of many Baptist partnerships benefiting students and exemplifying Baylor’s mission of worldwide Christian leadership and service. Last year, Baylor joined the BGCT, Dallas Baptist University and others in the Baptist World Alliance — a group founded in 1905 and numbering more than 250 Baptist organizations across 134 countries and territories. This past July, Dr. Livingstone led a Baylor contingent to Australia for the Baptist World Congress, a global BWA gathering held every five years.

In conjunction with the Baptist World Congress, Baylor announced a first-of-its-kind, graduate-level program at Truett Seminary that will study the life, history and mission of the BWA. The new Lampsato Endowed Chair of Baptist World Missional Engagement will support these efforts by bringing a leading faculty member to Truett to grow work within the BWA program.

Baylor’s motto — Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo (For the Church, For Texas, For the World) — highlights the importance of incorporating the University’s Baptist roots into scholarship and service. As President Livingstone said last year when BU joined the BWA, “We believe this relationship will help us continue to fulfill our mission… We look forward to collaborating and having the ability to impact the world for Christ in more significant ways in the future.” Today, these partnerships are deepening in new ways to do just that.

Sic ’em, Baylor-Baptist Partnerships!