Pro Ecclesia: Baylor Programs Serving the Global Church

Show Notes

Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary lives out every part of the Baylor motto "Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo" as it equips those who will serve the Church for service and leadership. Todd Still, the Dean of Truett Seminary, describes how the seminary advances into its fourth decade of service, embodying "deep roots and green shoots" in foundation-centered innovation.

The conversation highlights:

•  Truett Seminary's mission and vision: Equipping the called for a 21st-century church and world 
•  Traditioned innovation: Balancing deep roots with green shoots 
•  The $9.76 million Lilly Endowment grant and the Ministry for Life initiative 
•  Expanding outreach through denominational houses, including Wesleyan and Anglican/Episcopal studies 
•  New programs for Spanish-speaking ministers and global missional engagement 
•  Centers of excellence: Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching and Faith & Sports Institute 
•  Truett's Texas footprint: Extension campuses in Houston and San Antonio 
•  Placement success and alumni impact across 48 states and 22 countries

Transcript

Derek Smith:
Well, we're just a few blocks away from Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary as we visit today with the Dean of Truett Seminary, Todd Still. Well, just a few blocks away, but we're talking about a place that has an impact, like many places here at Baylor, that extends around the world.
That's our conversation today as we visit with Dr. Todd Still, Dean of Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Todd, thanks so much for joining us. It's exciting to visit with you about... Boy, there's so many things going on at Truett right now that we can discuss.

Todd Still:
Derek, it's a delight. Thank you for having me. Looking forward to our conversation.

Derek Smith:
Well, we've got a lot that we can visit. As we talk about that, you think about the Baylor mission, "Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo." I think obviously when you talk about Truett Seminary, you think Pro Ecclesia, but it goes so far beyond just that.

Todd Still:
Yeah. Well, we are grateful to be able to lean into the mission of being for the church for our state, yes, but really for the world because ultimately our faith is not a faith that is tribal, it's a faith that's global. And so, we're grateful to be able to lean into that and live that out.

Derek Smith:
Well, you have so many new programs, and as you celebrate just over 30 years now, so many foundational elements of Truett. I'm curious, how would you describe, when you get excited about things you see, what are the elements that never go out of style, distinctly Truett? What are the areas that you're excited about seeing grow that are new, and what's that mix like?

Todd Still:
A couple of years ago, we had a consultant come in called polymath and we said, "Take a look around, pop the hood, look inside and out and tell us what you see." They came back and they said, "At Truett Seminary, you all value rigorous academic instruction, intentional spiritual formation. You do so in the context of a community that is characterized and animated by academic and intellectual curiosity," and I say, hopefully humility, "In the service of the church."
These are the things that cause Truett to be Truett. Year after year, we lean into that and we live that out. I mean, our mission, as we stated, is to equip those that God calls for gospel ministry in and alongside Christchurch by the power of the Holy Spirit. These are not open for conversation or for alteration. These are the things that make Truett Truett. The way I put it is, this is part and parcel of who we are. It's our DNA. Yet, along with tradition, you need innovation.
A friend of ours, L. Gregory Jones, talks about traditioned innovation. We always need to have deep roots, but we also need to have green shoots. It's important not to chase shiny new things for shiny new things, yet you always need to continue to ask, how can we best serve the church and those that support our university and our seminary?
Presently, we are delighted, having just announced yesterday, to celebrate the receipt of a $9.76 million Lily grant called Ministry for Life-

Derek Smith:
Very exciting.

Todd Still:
... revolving around these ideas, shaping cultures of call. How is it that God uses the church and others to bring people to a place where they want to pursue vocational ministry? Then whatever else Truett Seminary is, we are an educational institution. We educate the called. Then we work to place the educated and support the placed.
We call this the Virtuous Cycle Ministry for Life that's life-giving, that's long-lasting. This is constitutive to who Truett Seminary is. And all things being equal on the other side of this five-year grant, we will have in place a center, the Ministry for Life Center, that will continue this flywheel effect, hopefully in perpetuity. The Ministry for Life Lily grant, we're thrilled, excited about that.
Before we came on the air, we were talking about we've hired our first Director for Hispanic Initiatives, Dr. Josue Valerio, who will begin in January. He will help us do Spanish-speaking certificate programs and help launch a doctorate of ministry in Spanish. We're delighted, excited about this. We're presently searching for an endowed chair, the Lampsato chair of Baptist Global Missional Engagement, which is linked to the launch of the Baptist World Alliance Program that we announced this past summer with President Livingstone in Brisbane, Australia at the Baptist Global World Congress.
Derek, truth is, is these are three. There are many, many other things that excite us about the new year and the foreseeable future at Truett.

Derek Smith:
We know when you talk about that, it's exciting to hear all these wonderful new initiatives. It sounds to me like a lot of what you're saying is as you equip the called, there's elements of that that remain the same as you rigorously educate them and prepare them for ministry, intentional spiritual development. There's also that recognition that the challenges that those they minister to, they change.
That means the challenges that those who minister will face also change, and that's where it seems like there's a lot of open-handedness within Truett to be ready to adapt and equip to those changing times.

Todd Still:
Absolutely, Derek. In fact, when we talk about our vision, our vision is to be a leader among theological schools by training people to be thoughtful, faithful ministers for a 21st century church and world. Although the gospel does not change, the context in which we apply the truths of scripture do change. And so, we're not sending out our students with "a bag of tricks" so that when their tricks are exhausted, they are finished. Rather, we want to form folks so that regardless of context, they will be able to stay the course.
I remember reading when I was a seminary student, a book, now a classic, by Richard Foster called The Celebration of Disciplines. In the preface to that volume, Foster talks about the need to create deep people. And so, our hope is that our students' roots would grow deep and the soil of God's love, and they, like that Psalm I tree, would be firmly planted by rivers of living water.

Derek Smith:
Well, that's an exciting vision. Truett's been living that out for 30 years. As we think about different ways that you do this, let's talk about some of the new pieces of outreach within Truett. There's new organizations within Truett, there's new plans, there's new degree plans. All sorts of things are taking place. Let's talk about a few of those different centers.
You mentioned Ministry for Life as one, but let's just break down a few. Let's talk about the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching. Maybe you can just paint a picture of how a few of these prepare ministers holistically for the needs of the church and beyond.

Todd Still:
The Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching is one of our earliest centers at Truett that was made possible by the generosity of David and Shirley Lake. Amid tragedy, the death of their son, Kyle, who was the pastor of University Baptist Church locally, unfortunately electrocuted while performing a baptism. The Lakes said Kyle was committed to preaching the gospel in such a way that could be embraced and ultimately be transformative.
So the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching through conferences, through podcasts, through grants is about the equipping of people to be more faithful, more thoughtful, ultimately more effective proclaimers of the gospel. Dr. Joel C. Gregory, who recently retired and he was the outgoing director of the Kyle Lake Center, now directed by Dr. Jared E. Alcántara. Dr. Gregory, who is a prince of preachers, once said to me, he said, "Todd, the aim is to preach effective sermons, and by God's spirit, some of them will become great sermons."
This is the Kyle Lake Center for Effective Preaching, which puts on annually, for example, the African American Preaching Conference. In January of this year, we will have our inaugural Hispanic Preaching Conference. We've had national preaching conferences. There are lectures that are linked to the center. We want our students and constituents to be more effective preachers. In fact, the singular PhD that Truett has at present is a PhD in homiletics.
There is this wonderful synergy between our PhD and preaching on the one hand, and the Kyle Lake Center on the other.

Derek Smith:
That's exciting to see the ways that that has really grown and flourished since it was established. Earlier you talked a little bit, you shared with us about the Ministry for Life grant. You shared with us about some of the fruits of the partnership with the Baptist World Alliance.
I think when you think about these two opportunities, Baptist World Alliance, you're preparing people to minister in different contexts around the world. Ministry for Life really is, it sounds like in a lot of ways, it's about the people who are doing the preaching.

Todd Still:
Absolutely. Because at the end of the day, Truett is of, and by, and for the church. If a seminary were to lose contact with its primary constituents, those that they are created to serve, then the question of aim in goal would be in play. Our hope is to equip men and women for ministry locally and globally.

Derek Smith:
What role does the Office of Ministry Connection play in that? What is that, and where all does this impact go?

Todd Still:
Yeah. In addition to teaching classes that lead to degrees, and Truett has a number of them, Truett also feels that it is our responsibility not only to educate the called, but to place the educated. One of the things that I delight in is that year after year, our effective placement rate, which is kind of education speak for six months after graduation, are graduates employed? Our effective placement rate averages between 95 and 97%.

Derek Smith:
That's fantastic.

Todd Still:
The first thing that we do, Derek, is we work with our graduates to make sure that they have meaningful ministry opportunities on the other side of graduation, so that we're just not some kind of degree mill. In fact, the demand for a Truett graduate is far greater than the supply. For this, we give God thanks.
But not only do we help our own students, we help our alumni. There are now 1,971 alumni serving in 48 states and 22 countries and territories, and we help friends, folks who say, "Could Truett give us a lift?" Sure. We'll put you on our Ministry Connections page. We service over 500 churches a year who are looking for various ministers from lead pastor, to nursery worker, and all points in between.

Derek Smith:
By the way, you mentioned FCA, sport ministry. That's a piece of what you do, the Faith and Sport Institute. We've had Paul Putz on this program before, and that's a fun way to see a different side of Truett, it's outreach.

Todd Still:
Paul's tremendous. Our Faith and Sports Institute is a remarkable institute in that not only does it offer degrees, we have a Master's of Divinity, a Master of Arts and Christian Ministry with a sports chaplaincy concentration, but FSI is the institute that houses Truett's only online degree, a Master of Arts and Theology in sports studies.
Where else would there be the opportunity to have an institute and degrees like this, where you have a Research One university that does power for athletics and also has a seminary? This is a niche or a boutique area, but it's an important area nonetheless. Many Americans, and I would say many people across the globe, value sport.
Isn't it remarkable to be able to bring your faith and your theology to bear upon how you perceive and conduct yourself in the sporting arena?

Derek Smith:
That is exciting to see, and probably something, honestly, even as closely involved as I and others are, we almost forget just how unique that sports aspect is in the Baylor mission in terms of "We are one of one," as Doug McNamee said when he was introduced as Athletic Director last month. That's neat to see.
I want to ask you one other area before we kind of head into the final few minutes here. At Baylor, we're very proud of our Baptist heritage, and that has influenced so much the university continues to. We also recognize that we're attracting, I'd say, a broader Christian audience of students. I'm curious, there are, we call them "houses" within Truett Seminary that in my mind, when I hear about them, I think of opportunities for other denominations, students for other denominations to be educated to play a role within different contexts.
Could you take us inside what these houses are a little bit more and what those look like?

Todd Still:
Absolutely. Thank you for asking, Derek. I like to describe Truett as Baptist Plus. We are a Baptist seminary. We are formally affiliated by agreement with the Baptist General Convention of Texas on the one hand and the Baptist World Alliance on the other. We are grateful and committed to that history and heritage.
Simultaneously, not unlike our university, we have the privilege of training folks from other Christian confessions. In fact, right now, Truett trains students from 26 different denominations. We have two houses, denominational houses at present.
Folks will say, "What's a house?" Well, a house is really a group of students from a given denominational tradition that are being formed so that they can serve that denominational tradition, which requires certain classes that they would take that would prepare them for the roles and the work that they would have within Wesleyan life. Same Methodist. So the Wesley House of Studies begun in COVID in the summer of 2020, now enrolls 115 students.
We also have a certificate program linked to the preparation of Wesleyan students that enrolls over 150. The impact that our Wesley House of Studies is already making is consequential. So grateful for Dr. Rusty Freeman, who is the Scott L. Engle Director of the Wesley House of Studies, Dr. Jason Vickers, who is the Wesleyan Chair of Theology. Methodist churches in particular, both global and independent have come alongside Truett Seminary to say, "We see this. We will support it. It's vital to our own ability to minister."
We launched this fall the Anglican Episcopal House. We looked up, there are 15 Anglican and Episcopal students studying at Truett that need the kind of support so they can go out and serve in those contexts with the kind of skill and the kind of savvy that we want all of our students to be able to do regardless of their denominational context. We anticipate that there will be a reformed Presbyterian House in our future. We want to be a place that is what C.S. Lewis called "the deep middle", what Tom Wright called "simply Christian".
As an evangelical Orthodox multi-denominational school in the historic Baptist tradition, this enables us to serve Christians from different communions. What is true of Truett is true of Baylor University as a whole. What's true of Baylor is true of Truett along denominational lines.

Derek Smith:
Well, it's exciting to see that growth, Todd. You paint a great picture. As we head into the final couple of moments, I want to ask you a couple more questions that'll kind of land the plane here, if you will, a little bit.
You've done such a great job painting that picture of elements of our motto, "Pro Ecclesia and Pro Mundo." I want to ask you specifically about Pro Texana. What are some ways that Truett is expanding its footprint and serving in Texas?

Todd Still:
Well, American Airlines used to say, "We're based here, best here." What's true of that corporation is true of Baylor. It's true of Truett. One of the things that we have done, it's really our form of distance education. Since we do not digitize our main degrees, the Masters of Divinity, the Master of Arts and Christian Ministry, the Masters of Theological Studies, and the Doctor of Ministry.
We have said we can't be everywhere, but we can be some places other than Waco. We launched a Truett Houston extension in 2018. It's now housed at the Lanier Theological Library and Learning Center in Northwest Houston. It will enroll over 70 students this coming spring. It's making a significant impact in that community for students who are not going to pull up their tent pegs and move to Waco.
We also have launched an extension in San Antonio, embedded into Trinity Baptist Church on Mulberry that we call Truett San Antonio. It will enroll over 30 students this spring. When you think about Texas, you start at Dallas, move to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, move over to Houston, and then you go back up to Dallas. It's what demographers now call the Texas Triangle. 72% of our state's population lives there, and this is where Truett focuses a lot of its attention.
Out of our 1,971 grads, we presently have 1,000 grads that do their ministry within the state of Texas, 350 of whom are centered in central Texas. So yes, we have a global vision, and we will continue to attend to that vision, but if you reach the world, but you miss the world in which you live and move and have your being, then in a very real way, you've lost sight of the base that has built you and blessed you. We're going to continue to lean into where we are in Texas while having a global reach.

Derek Smith:
Well, as you've described different elements of Truett with us over the last 20 minutes or so, you give us a glimpse of the past, the present, the future, and it's exciting to see the way Truett's going to serve the church going forward. I realized this question, there's probably a million different directions that you could go, but to close, what's an image you'd like to leave with us of the way that Truett students, Truett alumni are impacting the church and the world right now?

Todd Still:
One of the things that I think strikes me as an image is I was privileged to grow up in church. From an early age, I had Sunday school teachers saying, "Here is the church and here is the steeple. Open the doors and see all the people." At the end of the day, Truett Seminary is not about bricks and sticks. It's not even about nickels and noses. It's about people, people who serve people.
And so, our focus is going to continue to be target locked on our students. We hope that we're going to be able to serve increasing numbers of students so that we can serve increasing number of churches and church adjacent organizations and institutions, but we care most about folks. That's the image that I think of day after day. I think of our students serving in various places, in various ways, and it is really all about the students.
It doesn't matter what kind of facilities, or finance, or faculty even that you have, if you don't have students. Students represent ultimately ministers for churches. That's the image that I bring, Derek. I am a student of Baylor's history. I remember that the founders and framers of our university said that they wanted to bequeath the posterity, a university that was susceptible to growth and development in order to reach the needs of the ages to come.
That's what motivates me day after day to serve in the role that I'm privileged to serve in.

Derek Smith:
It's quite a vision and a charge that never wanes. Exciting to see. Well, Todd, thank you so much for taking the time to share, for painting the picture of all that's going on at Truett. We look forward to seeing what's ahead in the coming year, not just the coming year, but the years ahead. The ages to come, if you will.

Todd Still:
Derek, it's a joy. Thanks for the work that you do and thanks for the conversation.

Derek Smith:
Thank you so much.
Dr. Todd Still, Dean of Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, our guest today here on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. I'm going to remind you that you can find video of this and other Baylor Connections episodes on the Baylor University YouTube channel, and you can find more on each episode, including show notes at baylor.edu/connections.
Thanks for joining us today on Baylor Connections.