Baylor University and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have announced a joint venture that will place three CBF field personnel — missionaries — on campus to guide students in responding to God’s call to ministry.
Baylor is a Baptist heritage university with a complicated denominational identity. The school never has been directly aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention, but for decades it was an SBC-adjacent school because of its relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which still names some of the university regents.
Recently, the university named a new campus chaplain who is a Southern Baptist.
Today, fewer students identify as Baptist, continuing a decline that has been noted for years. Before the turn of this century, “Baylor” and “Baptist” were nearly synonymous. Beginning in 2012, the school intentionally sought to brand itself as a Christian university rather than a Baptist university.
The university has a seminary — Truett — that is largely staffed with Baptist faculty but serves a wide range of students and recently added a Methodist House of Studies.
Amid this changing context, the CBF partnership signals an attempt by both organizations to emphasize Baptist identity while helping students discern life callings into ministry.
President Linda Livingstone said the partnership will help Baylor “fulfill our mission of educating men and women for worldwide leadership and service through the integration of academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.”
Last year, regents expanded the Baylor motto — Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana — to include Pro Mundo, “for the world.”
Linda Livingstone (Photo/Baylor)
“This partnership is certainly an extension of our strategic priority to prepare students to live in a global, caring society and share God’s love worldwide, and we look forward to working with CBF in support of these efforts,” Livingstone said.
CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley called the partnership a “first faithful step toward inviting a new generation of young adults to find their place in the mission of God.”
“The chance to engage students in deep faith in Christ and participation in his mission of bringing good news to the poor, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind is a holy privilege,” he said. “We look forward to the beginnings of these ministries in Waco and to finding ways to seed ministries like this in other places in the future.”
Paul Baxley
The three CBF personnel to serve in Waco are Karen Zimmerman, who will serve as minister for student formation and community engagement with an organization called Open Table, and a couple who cannot yet be named publicly because of their current work in Southeast Asia.
That couple will lead students on missions experiences, including international trips and internships. They also will be available to the Baylor Religion Department and Truett Seminary for educational purposes.
Open Table, which will be the basis of Zimmerman’s work, is three years old and was started by four Waco-area congregations in partnership with the Division of Student Life at Baylor. Partnering churches are DaySpring Baptist Church, Seventh and James Baptist Church, Calvary Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church of Waco. The three Baptist churches are affiliated with CBF. Each church offers multiple meals during the semester on Thursday evenings for students to engage in faith dialogue.
“Open Table began with a set of values to be ecumenical, form courageous community, example intellectual curiosity, inspire a generous theology, practice contemplative spirituality, and live an embodied faith,” said Matt Rosencrans, associate pastor at Seventh and James Baptist Church. “Our purpose is churches working together to reach and minister to college students in an ever-changing world.
“We are grateful and excited to partner with CBF in this endeavor knowing that we can grow our reach to students who desperately want to explore their faith in a safe and encouraging environment.”