Truett Seminary at Baylor University has created another alliance with a conservative branch of Mainline Protestantism — an Anglican Episcopal House of Studies.
The new house within the Baptist seminary was announced Oct. 13 and follows four years after opening a Wesleyan House of Studies that is aligned not with The United Methodist Church but with the newer and more conservative breakaway Global Methodist Church.
While the latest addition at Baylor is labeled as Anglican and Episcopal — the Episcopal Church in America is a branch of the larger Anglican communion — the person named to lead the program comes from the more conservative side of American Anglicanism, the Anglican Church in North America. The ACNA is a breakaway group from The Episcopal Church founded in 2009 by former Episcopalians who oppose the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy and, in some cases, the ordination of female clergy.
The head of Baylor’s Wesleyan House of Studies comes from the GMC, a parallel to choosing a conservative Anglican to lead the new house of studies.
Reaction against LGBTQ inclusion also was a major driver of creating the Global Methodist Church in 2022. Likewise, Truett Seminary’s dean is known to be an advocate for Baylor not embracing inclusion — in contrast to the dean of the School of Social Work who recently was forced out over an LGBTQ inclusion issue.
Todd Still
Truett Dean Todd Still said the Baptist seminary in recent years “has enjoyed an influx of students from other Christian denominations. Indeed, there are currently no less than 26 different denominations represented in our school’s student body.”
He explained: “The launching of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Truett is due primarily to our commitment and desire to equip more fully the Anglican and Episcopalian students who are already studying with us and have been entrusted to us. Our present and future hope is that we would prepare them and other such seminarians well so that they might thoughtfully, faithfully and skillfully serve as ministers of the gospel across this vast and vibrant communion of believers around the world.”
The latest data from the Association of Theological Schools shows Truett Seminary enrolling 388 students with a nonduplicating full-time equivalent headcount of 249. The seminary now describes itself as “an orthodox, evangelical, multi-denominational school in the historic Baptist tradition.” A news release said Truett currently enrolls 15 students from within the Anglican Church in North America, The Episcopal Church and other Anglican bodies.
Matthew Aughtry
Matthew Aughtry was named acting director of the new house of studies. He is a priest in the ACNA and resident within the Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others. He also serves Baylor University as an associate chaplain in the office for spiritual life and is a filmmaker.
In recent years, the ACNA has become a safe harbor for more than a few former Southern Baptists who still consider themselves theologically and socially conservative but believe the Southern Baptist Convention has become too fundamentalist. Among those is bestselling author and speaker Beth Moore of Houston.
The Baylor news release quoted her praising creation of the new house within Truett: “I’m so grateful to God that, after granting me such a meaningful heritage of faith in one denomination, he didn’t let me miss the immensity of riches in the Anglican tradition. When my husband and I first began attending an Anglican church, I kept asking myself, how did we miss this? Where has this been? To me, the Anglican Church in North America was the best secret in faithful Christianity. So, you might imagine how delighted I am that Baylor University’s Truett Seminary has added the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies. It’s time for this marvelous Christ-centered, gospel-preaching, Scripture-teaching, people-reaching secret to get out!”
The Episcopal Church in America lists nine seminaries in its orbit of preparing clergy for ministry. These include the Seminary of the Southwest, located in Austin, Texas, 90 miles from Baylor’s campus in Waco.
The ACNA lists three recommended seminaries for its aspiring clergy and four schools with Anglican tracks. One of those four is Beeson Divinity School at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Samford is a Baptist-affiliated university. None of those schools are in Texas.
Baylor’s addition also drew the praise of N.T. Wright, emeritus professor at the University of St Andrews and former Bishop of Durham in the UK. Wright is the preeminent theological writer to spring from the Anglican communion in the last 40 years.
“People often ask me where in the USA they can be trained for ministry within the Anglican tradition. Such folks are looking for a theological education that, in the words of Bishop J.B. Lightfoot, will combine the ‘highest reason’ and the ‘fullest faith,’ being both academically rigorous and spiritually nourishing. A fresh answer to this question is now provided by the newly formed Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, where you will find a team of highly skilled and experienced teachers and mentors. Over the last decade or so I have frequently interacted with Truett Seminary and its leadership. They offer an excellent preparation for the demands — and the delights! — of gospel ministry in the 21st century.”
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