Around the State: Men of Nehemiah perform Christmas concert

Men of Nehemiah, a nonprofit organization working to rebuild the lives of men who have struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, presented a Christmas concert at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. The Christmas program featured a 50-member choir comprised of men currently in recovery. Men of Nehemiah, founded by Lou Harrell Jr., uses an approach based on biblical discipleship, clinical counseling and military-style discipline.

Howard Payne University celebrated the start of the Christmas season with Christmas on the Plaza, the annual lighting of Old Main Park. The event began with the Heritage Chapel Band singing Christmas carols while students, faculty, staff and friends decorated Christmas ornaments, made s’mores and sipped hot chocolate. HPU President Cory Hinesread the story of Jesus’ birth from the Gospel of Luke. Kailee Torgerson, director of student leadership and engagement, planned the event.

Baptist Student Ministry students at Houston Christian University took time out during finals week to serve refugees. Working in partnership with Houston Welcomes Refugees, the students spent their lunch hour unpacking cooking utensils, towels and groceries at an apartment where a refugee family would move in later that evening. The students also prayed over the apartment, its new residents and the Houston Welcomes Refugees volunteers who will walk alongside the family as they begin to transition to their new life in Texas. “The hope is that the love of Jesus will be communicated first in deeds of service and that through being served, the new family will come to know of the love of Jesus in a very tangible way,” said Nathan Mahand, BSM director at HCU.

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor named Craig Hammonds as dean of its College of Education, effective Jan. 2. Hammonds has been a member of the UMHB faculty nearly 13 years and has been associate dean since 2018. He holds a master’s degree from City University of Seattle and a Doctorate in Education from UMHB. He also has a post-graduate principal certificate from Tarleton State University. Hammonds has served as a representative on the Ethics Commission for the City of Belton, a Family Advisory Council member for the McLane Children’s Scott & White Hospital, a member of the UMHB alumni board, a board member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation—Central Texas Chapter and as a volunteer for the Hope for the Hungry organization. He is a deacon at First Baptist Church in Belton. He and his wife Megan have two daughters, Mylie and Chloe.

Baylor University announced Jason Diffenderfer, vice president for university advancement at the University at Buffalo, will join Baylor as vice president for university advancement, effective March 1, 2024. At the University at Buffalo, he has shepherded the university in surpassing its $1 billion Boldly Buffalo campaign goal, while also setting a fiscal year fundraising record with more than $123 million in commitments. “In higher education, Christian universities play an unparalleled role in impacting our world, and philanthropy is an essential partner in advancing the charge,” Diffenderfer said. “With its breadth of academic programs and research, Baylor University is well-positioned for philanthropic investments that will have an eternal impact beyond the borders of the university.” Diffenderfer holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Gardner-Webb University, a Baptist school in North Carolina. He and his wife Karrie have three daughters—Katie, Abby and Emmy.

East Texas Baptist University has renamed the largest student residence hall on campus in honor of Steve and Penny Carlile of Marshall. Originally dubbed Centennial Hall to mark the institution’s 100-year anniversary in 2012, the modern student residential facility will now be called Steve and Penny Carlile Hall in recognition of the Carliles’ Christian servant leadership and recent major gift to the university, which supported building enhancements, lighting improvements, interior renovations and landscaping additions throughout and around the 125,000-square-foot freshman student residence hall. “Steve and Penny Carlile Hall will reflect the Christian commitment, community leadership, and kingdom legacy of the Carlile family,” ETBU President Dr. J. Blair Blackburn said. “We are grateful for the Carliles’ Christian faith, business history success, family relationships, and service in the community along with their generosity to ETBU.”

Wayland Baptist University received approval of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to offer a Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree beginning Aug. 1, 2024. The 54-hour professional degree program will be delivered fully online, with an optional in-person summer residency at the Plainview campus. The program will offer concentrations in humanities and culture, Christian ministry, education and nursing organizational leadership. Admission to the doctoral program requires completion of a master’s degree with a graduate GPA of 3.4 or higher. Successful completion of the Doctor of Strategic Leadership degree program will include preparation, defense and publication of the student’s dissertation. Wayland will accept up to 15 students in 2024, with an anticipated increase to 20 students beginning in 2025.

Howard Payne University hosted alumni and friends at the Legacy Luncheon, an event honoring university supporters who have endowed scholarships, have been named to the Robnett Legacy Society because of their participation in planned giving, or have become a part of the 1889 Society by giving $1,889 or more within the 2022-23 fiscal year. HPU President Cory Hines moderated two panel discussions as part of the program. The first panel featured two alumni couples who have endowed scholarships—Scott and Kriste Davis, and Steve and Sophia Faulkner—who shared HPU memories and explained why they gave to support student scholarships at the university. The second panel featured current students who are scholarship recipients—Payton Chumbley, a sophomore from Cleburne majoring in criminal justice; Mariah Garcia, a junior from Aubrey triple-majoring in chemistry, criminal justice and the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy; and Patricia Garibay Bartolo, a junior from Nolanville double-majoring in allied health sciences and the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy. They expressed gratitude for HPU and the scholarships that have helped make their college experience possible.

Houston Christian University marked the graduation of 313 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in two commencement ceremonies Dec. 16. The conferral of these degrees brings the total to 25,961 diplomas awarded by HCU since its first commencement in 1967. HCU President Robert Sloan brought an exhortation from Isaiah 40 and Luke 2 as the commencement address, encouraging the graduates to celebrate the great joy of their graduation in light of the greater joy and restoration that has broken into the world because of the coming of Jesus Christ: “I challenge you to take advantage of all that you have learned not only in terms of your professional competencies, but take advantage of all that you have learned in terms of the presence of God in the person of Jesus Christ,” Sloan said. “I challenge you to be salt and light in the world. I challenge you to be a people who bear the name of Christ, to be a people who do the work of God in the world.”