Expanding God’s Kingdom
On June 18, 1851, a few years after Baylor University was chartered by the Republic of Texas, Baylor’s Board of Trustees adopted Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana (For Church, For Texas) as the institution’s motto. It defined the University’s dual emphases at the time — Baylor’s role as a Christian institution and its role as an institution of higher education serving society. The motto’s tenets served as pillars of Baylor’s identity and practices for many decades.
Baylor’s governing board and administration took a bold step into the future earlier this year when they expanded the University’s motto to Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana, Pro Mundo (For the Church, For Texas, For the World) as a reflection of Baylor’s rootedness in a Christian community that is global in scale. In doing so, they committed to deepen Baylor’s impact beyond state and national borders to countries and peoples around the globe.
As the world’s largest Baptist university, Baylor stands as a beacon within the landscape of Christian higher education. In principle and in practice, Baylor cultivates an on-campus community grounded in Christian values and enlivened by this faith to reach out to the surrounding world to serve as the hands and feet of Christ through a variety of outreach programs.
“Faith is at the heart of everything we do,” said Charley Ramsey, Ph.D., who serves as University Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life at Baylor. “We see every student as an individual who is known and loved by God, and our team prepares an array of learning opportunities so that everyone can experience the love of God and come to a deeper understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want every Chapel, every campus ministry event and every mission and service opportunity to deepen a student’s faith and to equip them for their vocation. I pray each day for our students and work in the hope that every student will know the love of God in Jesus Christ and experience the invitation to a discipleship community.”
In addition to providing more than 70 different Chapel offerings that represent personalized opportunities for students, Baylor’s Office of Spiritual Life has a robust partnership with local churches. Ramsey noted that Baylor hosts more than 40 campus ministries, each connected to a local church. In addition, the University organizes events for students and the broader Baylor community throughout the year that range from worship services and retreats to programs at George W. Truett Theological Seminary and through the Institute for Faith and Learning.
Built up in their faith by such a strong on-campus foundation, Baylor students travel around the world on discipline-specific mission trips each year, often alongside professors. On those trips, they serve in a variety of capacities, whether in a medical clinic, school or church. These one- to two-week experiences combine what students learn in the classroom with practical ways to use their skills in a missional setting. Establishing this connection between profession and service helps students see how they can continue to serve in their communities and around the world long after graduation.
One theme that runs through Baylor’s commitment to serve Christ as an institution of higher education is that loving others means meeting people where they live and honoring them at the most basic level as individuals. The world that God created is a place of differing backgrounds and perspectives. However, within this diversity exists a common ground of compassion.
“We are bound together not by scriptural interpretation, but by Christ and by His Spirit,” said Malcom Foley, Ph.D., who serves as Special Advisor to the President at Baylor. “So then, even with our differing interpretations, our love for one another and our willingness to work out such differences indicates to the world that Christ is real, living and active in the world. How can we live in harmony? By acting as though our faith is true and treating every human being we meet as an eternal being created in the image of God, invited into eternal life and thus worthy of love, of dignity and of care.”