I was born outside this country, this culture and this language. Seeing myself as a citizen of the world and part of the one human race, I wonder if I have any words to say to you who read this…
A spiritual calling to help the hungry brought Craig Gundersen to Baylor’s Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty
Conquering food insecurity is not only one of the key social issues of our time but should be a top priority for people of faith, said Craig Gundersen, a leading expert on the subject who recently joined the Baylor Collaborative…
Social work leader Diana Garland’s legacy steers her children toward justice and mercy
Note: This story includes content about sexual abuse. Siblings Sarah and John Garland share an intangible inheritance from their late mother that transcends kinship. Sarah, a journalist, and John, a pastor, say their mother, Diana Garland, a Baptist social work…
A tale of two cities: Telling the truth about race
In the past few weeks, I traveled to New York City and Washington, D.C., in support of research, collaboration and programming supported by Baylor University and the Baugh Foundation. I met with a number of principals at Washington National Cathedral…
New endowed academic chair will lead Baylor in research to end hunger
A $1.5 million gift will place a Baptist university among a select set of U.S. schools conducting scholarly research and engaging students on the topic of food security. Baylor University in Waco, Texas, announced the gift from Jim and Tammy…
Baptist Scholars International Roundtable finds serendipity in participants’ experiences
When a group of Baptist scholars came together virtually Aug. 9-11 for a roundtable on “Baptists and the Kingdom of God,” they did not know that several in the group had personal experience to speak to one of the presentation…
On the collapse of Christianity into politics
A friend sent me this piece in Salon, posted under the provocative title, “How Evangelicals Abandoned Christianity and Became ‘Conservatives’ Instead.” I was not familiar with the author, Nathaniel Manderson, who identifies himself as an evangelical pastor trained at a…
Desire to validate the Bible makes Christians easy prey for archaeological forgeries
The early morning air breathes hot on her face as archaeologist Cynthia Shafer-Elliott picks up her trowel to begin her work she describes as “not for the fainthearted.” Before her stands a mound of dirt, otherwise known as a “tel,”…
For universities, when it comes to LGBTQ issues, focus on student well-being
Let’s say you are on the trustee board of a Christian-affiliated university and you are trying to figure out what your school should do about its policies related to LGBTQ students. You have two conservative voices in your ears, one…