Help Us Love Better

Some Thoughts About Baylor

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Holman_Hunt_-_Our_English_Coasts,_1852_(%60Strayed_Sheep%27)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

I somehow missed that something exciting was going on in the news about Baylor University in Texas. That once fine institution, has, apparently, been sliding relentlessly down the slippery slope which remains, just to mix all the metaphors, the undefeated champion. It seems to be a story in multiple parts. Part one is that the school received a grant which, Professor Greg Garrett explained would “help us love better.” Here’s that Tweet which includes a link to the Christian Post describing what the money would be for:

When the far right media comes for me, my colleagues, or @Baylor? I can only say: I serve the Jesus who said “If you’ve loved the least of these, you’ve loved me.” Grateful for this grant that will help us love better.

Here’s a bit of the article:

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. 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 Christian Post, as part of their journalistic effort, surfed around Twitter, sorry, X, scooping up reactions. Here is how that went: