Texas Tidbits: Truett scholarship

Truett receives major gift from disbanded Houston church. Members of the former First Baptist Church of Spring Branch in Houston gave $1 million to Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary to establish an endowed scholarship fund. Although the church disbanded in 2012 after 63 years, members of the former congregation began donating funds from the sale of the church building to deserving organizations throughout Baptist life. “Their doors may be shut, but their partnership in the gospel will live on in the ministries of the many who will receive this scholarship as they touch untold numbers of lives all over Texas, all over the United States and all over the world,” Truett Seminary Dean David Garland said. First Baptist Church Spring Branch also gave Cornerstone Family Ministries in Spring Branch $100,000 to start a scholarship endowment for the students the ministry serves. Andy Benton, a Truett graduate, is the executive director of Cornerstone Family Ministries.

Director appointed at ETBU Great Commission Center. Lisa Seeley, Lisa Seeleyadjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University, was named director of the Great Commission Center at East Texas Baptist University, effective Aug. 26. Seely has served seven years as adjunct professor in the College of Humanities/Social Sciences and the Gary Cook Graduate School of Leadership at DBU. Previously, she served as associate director of the Scarborough Institute for Church Planting and Growth at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She holds a master of arts in theology degree from Southwestern Seminary and a doctorate in leadership and ministry from DBU.

Texas Baptists named to national disaster response leadership team. Participants in the North American Baptist Fellowship’s Disaster Response Network elected a three-member leadership team that includes two Texas Baptists instead of having one convener. At its meeting in Dallas, the network elected Don Sewell of Baylor Health Care System to a one-year term, Pauline Hurst of the National Baptist Convention of America two years and Marla Bearden of the Baptist General Convention of Texas three years. The team will function in the leadership capacity previously held by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Harry Rowland, who served as convener 13 months concluding in April. The network—part of a regional fellowship of the Baptist World Alliance—also agreed to make long-term recovery efforts the group’s primary focus.

HPU names honors program after former president. Howard Payne University has renamed its multidisciplinary academic honors program the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy: The Program for Civic Leadership and Public Policy. Previously the Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom, the program was founded in 1962 under Newman’s leadership. The name change followed unanimous votes by the academy board of directors and HPU’s board of trustees. Newman served as president of the university from 1955 to 1973 and subsequently was named chancellor. He died in 1988 at age 82.

Ethics center merges with Institute for Faith and Learning. The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University has merged into the university’s Institute for Faith and Learning, effective at the beginning of the current semester. The center’s director, Robert Kruschwitz, professor of philosophy, has joined institute as a senior scholar. The center’s quarterly journal, Christian Reflection, will be published by the institute, with Kruschwitz remaining as general editor.