Good Faith Media | Craig Nash | July 18, 2025
On Friday, various pastors, faith leaders, and members of the Baylor University community released a letter titled, “A Pastoral Call for Baylor to Lead with Courage and Compassion.” The letter was in response to Baylor’s rejection of a grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, which was designed to study how churches can address harm done to women and the LGBTQ+ community, as well as how they can be more welcoming spaces for all people.
The letter, addressed to President Linda Livingstone and the Baylor Board of Regents, states that “denying funding for this research exhibits indifference and disregard for the well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals and women in our congregations.”
It adds, “One of the most significant questions facing the Church today is how we engage LGBTQ+ people, a question that is tearing apart congregations and denominations worldwide. Research like this is urgently needed now more than ever before.”
The faith leaders make no explicit call for Baylor to reverse its decision, but rather to consider the harm the decision causes to real lives within faith communities. “When the Church becomes complicit in the very systems that cause trauma,” the letter says, “we cease to be the Body of Christ and become instead an instrument of harm.”
The letter currently has over 100 signatures, most of which are from faith leaders who are graduates of Baylor University, Truett Seminary, and the Diana Garland School of Social Work. The link to the letter and list of signatories can be found here.
