WACO, Texas (ABP) — Thanks to a $1.1 million grant, a Baylor University center will be able to help local congregations learn how to do more effective social ministry.
The donation, announced June 21, will go to the Baylor Center for Family and Community Ministries, part of the university's School of Social Work. The funds, to be disbursed over three years, will go to develop ministry training classes, provide internships for community-ministry students, produce resources for churches and publish a quarterly journal for congregational leaders.
The grant, from a private foundation called Christ Is Our Salvation, Inc., is one of the largest donations ever given to the school.
“The [school] is excited about this program…particularly since the Baylor School of Social Work is already working with a number of other organizations that receive funding from” the foundation, Kent Reynolds, the group's executive director, said in a press release. Those organizations include the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baptist University of the Americas, Buckner Baptist Benevolences and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
One large part of the gift involves work done by Gaynor Yancey, who will be named associate professor of church and community. She currently serves as the School of Social Work's associate dean for baccalaureate studies.
As part of her work, Yancey will teach a class called “Urban Issues and the Response of the Church” beginning this fall at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. She'll also produce printed and online workbooks and leadership manuals for congregational ministry leaders, and lead a series of community-ministry workshops sponsored by the center.
Jon Singletary, the center's director and a professor in the social-work school, said such resources will help his organization strengthen the good work local churches already do.
“The project is something we had wanted to do for several years, based on research we had been doing,” Singletary told Associated Baptist Press. “Now, we can turn it into something useful. We always hope our research has on-the-ground implications.”
As for the internships made possible through the grant, Singletary said it will subsidize two graduate and two undergraduate fellows and six stipends for undergraduate and graduate students in congregational field internships. The money will also enable the hiring of one full-time and two part-time assistants for marketing, management and administrative work.
The quarterly journal will have its first issue next summer. A mostly theological and resource journal for clergy, it will “be a sustainable way for us to provide research, profiles of existing ministries and practical tips,” Singletary said.
The Christ Is Our Salvation Foundation was established in 1952 by Paul and Mary “Katy” Piper. Christ is Our Salvation has also given money to Truett and to hundreds of Baylor students in the form of no-interest loans.
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