Baptist Global News | Mark Wingfield | July 13, 2025
Sixty Texas Baptist pastors signed a “letter of support to Baylor University” saying President Linda Livingston demonstrated “moral courage” by rescinding acceptance of a $634,000 grant to study the exclusion of women and LGBTQ Christians in churches.
“We commend Baylor’s commitment to hold together theological conviction and compassionate presence,” the letter says. “In a polarized culture, Baylor’s decision demonstrates moral courage, affirming biblical orthodoxy while cultivating a campus environment where every student is treated with dignity, care and grace.”
At the same time, an emeritus philosophy professor at Baylor penned a no-holds-barred op-ed for the Waco Tribune-Herald saying the university’ decision demonstrates “an embarrassing lack of courage.”
Emeritus professor Robert Baird compared the grant rejection to an incident in 1962 when Baylor officials banned a dramatic production of Eugene O’Neil’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. The entire drama department faculty resigned in protest. The former Baylor Theater then moved to San Antonio to establish a theater department at Trinity University.
Meanwhile, President Linda Livingstone’s office appears to be sending a form response to those who write to her to express dismay over the decision not to accept the grant from the John and Eula Mae Baugh Foundation.
“We want to acknowledge the pain and frustration this situation may have caused you and others who care deeply about Baylor and its commitment to fostering a loving, caring Christian community,” the email begins. “Your voice matters, and your willingness to email the president’s office reflects the very heart of what it means to be part of the Baylor Family — a community that values both conviction and compassion.”
The email highlights “the guiding principles outlined in the 2021 Baylor board of regents resolution on LGBTQ issues,” which is summarized as:
“Providing a welcoming and caring community for all students, including those who identify as LGBTQ.”
“Supporting students’ spiritual, emotional and academic development within the context of Baylor’s Christian mission.”
“Upholding the university’s biblical understanding of human sexuality, while also recognizing the dignity and worth of every individual as created in the image of God.”
Then this explanation is given: “The recent decision was not a rejection of academic inquiry or of LGBTQ individuals, but rather a reaffirmation of Baylor’s responsibility to ensure that all institutional activities — including research and advocacy — align with its stated mission and policies. At the same time, Baylor continues to affirm the importance of academic freedom and the pursuit of meaningful scholarship.”
Who organized the letter?
Regarding the letter from pastors, there is no indication who created the letter or who circulated it. It does not appear to have been published online anywhere. It came to public awareness through a July 11 story in the Baptist Standard.
Signers of the letter (see complete list at end of this article) include a new professor at Baylor’s Truett Seminary and an employee of the Baptist World Alliance, which with Baylor last week announced a new partnership. Many of the signers have no direct connection to Baylor, and a number serve churches that affiliate with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, a conservative state body that does not support Baylor.
The letter begins: “We write as pastors and leaders of local churches to express our support for Baylor University’s decision to return a grant awarded to the Center for Church and Community Impact within the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work designated for LGBTQ research. We recognize the thoughtful, prayerful discernment reflected in your actions. We affirm the sexual ethic outlined in Ephesians 5, which presents marriage as a sacred covenant between a man and a woman, patterned after Christ’s love for the church. We affirm the call to love all people with Christlike kindness.”
Also, the pastors say they are “grateful for President Livingstone’s letter, which speaks with clarity and conviction, rooted in love and guided by wisdom.”
Others embarrassed and disturbed
Others found Livingstone’s letter to be disingenuous because she claims to love and welcome LGBTQ students while blocking research into how those same students may feel rejected by their churches. Critics also have pounced on the fact Livingstone makes it sound like giving back the grant money was the idea of Dean Jon Singletary and professor Gaynor Yancey.
Among those critics is emeritus professor Baird, who wrote for the Waco, Texas, newspaper that he’s too old to mince words. He retired from Baylor 14 years ago after having served on the faculty for 47 years.
“I cannot exaggerate how shocked, disappointed and frankly embarrassed I was when I read that Baylor had shut down the School of Social Work study and the research which could have produced such valuable information,” he said. “That Baylor, a Christian university and a top-tier research institution, would do such a thing as shutting down the study and returning the money to the Baugh Foundation is beyond disturbing. … I also cannot imagine a more serious affront to the Baugh Foundation, which has been so generous to Baylor for over 40 years, a more serious affront to the Christian character of Baylor, or a more serious affront to the notion of Baylor as an elite research university.”
“To be an intellectual community is to stimulate students to think in new and creative ways with the risk that some students may move in directions at odds with certain religious traditions of the institution,” he continues. “To be an intellectual community is to pursue research — which was precisely what the Baugh grant to the Baylor School of Social Work was intended to do — which some conservatives might object to, but research that would lead to valuable new knowledge. That, of course, is what genuine top-tier research institutions are about.”
In his view, the comparison to the 1962 incident with the Baylor Theater Department is clear. “The episode led to nationally renowned (Paul) Baker and most of his staff leaving Baylor. To say that the incident was not a shining moment in Baylor’s history is a monumental understatement. The rejection of the Baugh Foundation money for Gaynor Yancey’s research will surely go down in Baylor history as another of those disturbing rejections of academic freedom, and this on the heels of Baylor attaining an R1 rating on the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.”
This kind of pressure to stifle teaching or research is not what he experienced in 47 years on the faculty, he added. “I never felt a moment’s pressure to alter what my colleagues or I were teaching or the books we were using or publishing.”
“But that kind of administrative response is not what has happened here,” he said. “Conservative voices have shut down vital research. Courage is standing up to those who would coerce you into being something you know, in your heart, you ought not to be. There is so little courage today in the political arena. How I long for Baylor to courageously stand up to those who would keep Baylor from being all that she could be.”
Names of pastors who signed
Signers of the letter from Texas pastors are:
Jay Abernathy from First Baptist Church, Woodville
Stan Allcorn from First Baptist Church in Stamford
Adrián Amézquita from Red Pastoral, Houston
Howie Batson from First Baptist Church, Amarillo
Jeff Berger from First Baptist Church, Conroe
Chad Bertrand from South Park Baptist Church, Alvin
Steve Bezner, formerly of Houston Northwest Church and now at Truett Seminary
Duane Brooks from Tallowood Baptist Church, Houston
Trevor Brown from First Baptist Church, Amarillo
Collin Bullard from First Baptist Church, Longview
Sam Bunnell from First Baptist Church, Henrietta
Chad Chaddick from First Baptist Church, San Marcos
Ross Chandler from First Baptist Church, Marble Falls
Stacy Conner from First Baptist Church, Muleshoe
Bobby Contreras from Alamo Heights Baptist Church, San Antonio
Al Curley III from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington
Craig Curry from First Baptist Church, Plano
Russell Cravens from Neartown Church, Houston
Daniel Crowther from South Main Baptist Church, Pasadena
Kenny Dean from The Bridge Fellowship, Sugar Land
John Durham from Highland Baptist Church, Waco
Hugo Gallegos from First Baptist Church Duncanville en Español
Brent Gentzel from First Baptist Church, Kaufman
Jeff Gravens from First Baptist Church, Sulphur Springs
Mark Hartman from Sugar Creek Baptist Church, Sugar Land
Brian Haynes from Bay Area Church, League City
Jim Heiligman from First Baptist Church, Bryan
Kyle Henderson, formerly pastor of First Baptist Church in Athens and now with Baptist World Alliance
Brian Hill from First Baptist Church, Corpus Christi
Kay James from First Baptist Church, Kaufman
Chris Johnson from First Baptist Church, San Antonio
Pablo Juarez from First Baptist Church Kaufman en Español
Paul Kim from Forest Community Church, Plano
Josh King from Valley Ridge Church, Lewisville
Juan Lambarria from First Baptist Church, The Woodlands en Español
Ronny Marriott from First Baptist Church, Richardson, and current president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas
Gregg Matte from First Baptist Church, Houston
Jordan McKinney from Hillcrest Baptist Church, Cedar Hill
Dwight McKissic from Cornerstone Baptist Church, Arlington
Chris McLain from First Baptist Church, Bandera
Juan Moreno from First Baptist Church, Athens
Roger Patterson from West University Baptist Church, Houston
Matt Richard from First Baptist Church, Llano
Moses Rodriguez from First Baptist Church, Cotula
Mark Rotramel from First Baptist Church, El Paso
Will Rushing from University Baptist Church, Houston
Lawrence Scott from Harvest Point Church, Pearland
Kris Segrest from Cross Church, Wylie
Joshua Sharp from First Baptist Church, Chappell Hill
Ross Shelton from First Baptist Church, Brenham
Nichole Sims from First Baptist Church, Marble Falls
Meredith Summers from Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, Abilene
Jeff Warren from Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas
Bruce Webb from First Baptist Church, The Woodlands
Jeff Wells from Woods Edge Community Church, The Woodlands
Bruce Wesley from Clear Creek Community Church, League City
Hunter Wheatcraft from First Baptist Church, Athens
John Whitten from Pioneer Drive Baptist Church, Abilene
Dennis Wiles from First Baptist Church, Arlington
Darin Wood from First Baptist Church, Midland.
Joining the Texas Baptists who signed the letter were Stephen Allen from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Carrollton, Ga.; Will Dyer from First Baptist Church, Augusta, Ga.; and Jeff Raines from First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La.
