March 10, 2003
UMHB lays cornerstone for ministry
___By Carol Woodward
___University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
___BELTON--The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor has laid a new foundation for Baptist student ministries on its Belton campus.
___New carpet, new walls, new furniture and all the smells of a fresh new environment welcomed nearly 100 students, university personnel and Baptist and community leaders as they gathered March 5 to dedicate Cornerstone, a new 5,200-square-foot home for the Baptist Student Ministry.
___Located at the corner of 8th and Pearl streets, on the southeast corner of the UMHB campus, the building previously housed Belton Nazarene Church. Purchased and completely renovated by the university, it includes a sanctuary with a stage and seating for 120 people, offices, a game room, a prayer room, a full kitchen and a fellowship hall.
BSM Director Shawn Shannon and UMHB President Jerry Bawcom pose with the dedicatory marker at the new BSM facility.
___Cornerstone represents more than the name of a building at the corner of two streets and on the corner of campus, university officials said, explaining the name demonstrates the essence of what the BSM does.
___The dedication ceremony included a responsive reading that focused on Jesus Christ as the foundation of all things.
___"Built on the foundation of the apostles, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone," read Ashley Stroud, BSM co-president.
___"In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord," participants responded.
___Betty Sue Beebe, director of alumni development, reflected on the history of the BSM at UMHB, noting that the nation's first BSM was organized at UMHB in 1907 by Earnest Townsend, dean of Baylor College for Women.
___Townsend, Beebe said, believed a single organization was needed to coordinate the various religious activities on campus. What was formed as the Student Christian Association evolved into the Baptist Student Union, which is now known as BSM.
___Four Baylor College women spoke at the first BSU convention in 1920, and during the 1921 convention on the Belton campus, a recommendation was issued to launch the student movement throughout the Southern Baptist Convention.
___George Loutherback, assistant vice president of student life at UMHB, spoke of the new building as a place of identity and a base of operation.
___Jan Daehnert, director of minister-church relations at the BGCT, served as the Mary Hardin-Baylor BSU director in the late 1960s. Delivering a charge to the campus, he reflected on his experiences and spoke about the need for students to have changed lives, caring lives and new life as they serve in ministry.
___Current BSM Director Shawn Shannon pledged the BSM would continue to be a place in which the name of Christ would be lifted up. The cornerstone, she said, provides a sturdy foundation on which work can be done.
___"This represents the students' lives that will do great work. And may it be a place where Jesus Christ is known, pleased and enjoyed."
___Added university President Jerry Bawcom: "We are dedicating more than a building. The students and leaders of this organization have a new facility to better equip them as they serve in ministry to the university, the community and the world."
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