San Marcos pastor named Baylor director of church engagement

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WACO—Baylor University appointed Mark Newton, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in San Marcos, as the university’s director for church engagement.

In his new role, effective March 19, Newton will engage Baptist churches, as well as nondenominational fellowships and other congregations friendly to the university’s Christian mission, in the life of Baylor University. mark newton130Mark NewtonNewton will serve as a link for these churches to Baylor’s academic resources and will help coordinate efforts on campus with the various entities involved in ministry outreach, such as spiritual life, ministry guidance and Truett Theological Seminary.

“We look forward to welcoming Mark into our Baylor Network family,” said Tommye Lou Davis, vice president for constituent engagement at Baylor. “His skills and experience give him valuable insight necessary for the success of this new program. We eagerly anticipate the meaningful relationships this position will bring.”

Newton noted he is “humbled and thrilled” to serve the university in church engagement.

“I have loved the local church and Baylor University for as long as I can remember,” he said. “Church engagement and Baylor University simply go hand in hand. I look forward to telling the Baylor story to as many churches as possible in the years to come. These are such exciting days at Baylor, and I am so honored to be a part of the Baylor family.”

A native of Burnet, Newton earned his bachelor’s degree in religion from Baylor in 1985 and his master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1989. He was licensed to the ministry at First Baptist Church in Burnet.

Ministry

As a student, he served as the minister of music at First Baptist Church in Silver Creek and First Baptist Church in Marlin. He also served as chaplain-intern at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, La., with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board and as associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Marlin, where he was ordained to the ministry in 1986.

He has served as pastor of First Baptist Church in San Marcos 11 years. Previous pastorates included Baptist Temple in San Antonio, First Baptist Church in McGregor and First Baptist Church in Chilton.


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Service

He is active in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Texas Baptists Committed and the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and is an honorary alumnus of Truett Seminary.

He has served as presiding officer of Leadership San Marcos, vice president of the San Marcos Education Foundation and on other committees within the San Marcos Consolidated School District. He supports Texas State University as a member of the Bobcat Club and Friends of Fine Arts. He also has been a part of the City of San Marcos Ethics Commission, the San Marcos Ministerial Alliance and the San Marcos Rotary Club.

Newton is married to Aurelia Northcutt Newton, also a Baylor graduate. They have two children—Adolynn, a freshman at Baylor, and Truett, a junior at San Marcos High School.


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