Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has received a $643,401 grant from a liberal foundation to foster inclusion among LGBTQ-identified individuals in the church.
The hefty grant to the private Baptist research university’s Center for Church and Community Impact (C31) came from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, according to a press release from the school’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.
The grant’s goal is “to foster inclusion and belonging in the church,” with an emphasis on understanding “the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change,” the release said.
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The Baugh Foundation, which has expressed “LGBTQ+ discernment” as one of its aims, said they prioritized “organizations that are openly welcoming and affirming, and organizations that do not discriminate based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, veteran status, geography, citizenship status, marital status, religion, or any other discriminatory reason.”
“The grant will focus on the lived experiences of emerging adults,” C3I Director Gaynor Yancey said, adding that it “will assist us in filling out the bigger picture of congregations’ practices that result in an environment of belonging.”
The grant will fund researchers to recruit two groups of 25 diverse young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 for private interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires regarding their experiences within religious communities.
The information gathered will help establish “trauma-sensitive training resources” to be used in congregations that will “emphasize inclusivity and institutional courage,” according to the release.
C3I plans to test the curriculum at congregational events and evaluate its impact based on participation rates and feedback on issues such as adopting more inclusive language.
The grant was met with some backlash on social media, including from Christian pastors.
“This is illuminating and sad and not at all surprising,” wrote the Rev. Denny Burk, associate pastor at Kenwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. “Baylor has been moving away from Christian faithfulness for decades now. But it’s still sad to watch another nail in the coffin of a once great Christian university.”
“It’s much better to send your child to a secular university, hostile to the faith, than to a ‘Christian’ university like Baylor,” wrote the Rev. Matt Kennedy, who serves as senior pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd, an Anglican church in Corpus Christi, Texas. “Better the wolf with bared fangs than the wolf disguised as a shepherd.”
The oldest continually operating university in Texas, Baylor University was established in 1845 after the Texas Baptist Education Society petitioned the Congress of the Republic of Texas to charter a Baptist university. Texas was annexed by the United States the same year.
The university remains associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which affirms biblical teachings regarding sexuality, gender and marriage.
The Texas Baptists did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment, nor did Baylor University.
Baylor has made headlines in recent years after raising eyebrows over other stories that seemingly indicate encroaching liberalism.
Professor Greg Garrett, who serves as the Carole Ann McDaniel Hanks Chair of Literature & Culture, went viral on X last year for tweeting about how students in his class about Harry Potter have been discussing author J.K. Rowling’s alleged “hatred of trans people.”
Some users on X accused Garrett of violating Baylor’s statement on human sexuality, and others questioned why Baylor University offers a collegiate-level Harry Potter class in the first place.
Garrett himself received a $488,000 grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation in 2021 to “illuminate the ways various forms of American culture have promoted racial myths through the centuries.”
Tuition at Baylor University is $54,844 per year, a price tag that swells to nearly $75,000 after books, room and board and other expenses.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
