Waco creates public authority to book Baylor Stadium. The Waco City Council voted to create the public Baylor Waco Stadium Authority to lease Baylor University’s new stadium and oversee a private contractor that will book it for non-Baylor events year-round. As a local government authority, it will have limited legal liability that will give Baylor legal protection during non-Baylor events, according to Mayor Malcolm Duncan. The public authority also will be able to allow events that serve alcohol without conflicting with the university’s no-alcohol policy, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported.
DBU receives $1 million challenge grant. The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., awarded Dallas Baptist University a $1 million challenge grant for construction of a building housing the Gary Cook School of Leadership. To receive the grant, the university must raise the remaining $2.5 million to complete the project by July 2014. In 1991, the Mabee Foundation issued a challenge grant of $750,000 toward the completion of the John G. Mahler Student Center. The foundation also gave a $1 million grant in 1998 toward the $6.3 million Spence Hall women’s dormitory and in 2006 issued a $1 million challenge grant to complete the $24 million Patty and Bo Pilgrim Chapel campaign. The Mabee Foundation assists religious, charitable and educational organizations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Texas giving to SBC increases. Giving by Baptist General Convention of Texas-affiliated churches to the Southern Baptist Convention for 2013 has increased 2.7 percent compared to the same time period last year. From January through September, Texas Baptist churches gave $13 million to support the SBC Cooperative Program, compared to $12.7 million in 2012. Giving to the SBC had been declining since 2007, BGCT Treasurer Jill Larsen noted. Giving to designated funds for the SBC, including the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, increased by 2.3 percent in 2013, totaling $8.5 million in gifts through September. Through partnership with the SBC Cooperative Program, Texas Baptist churches gave $6.5 million to support the International Mission Board, $2.86 million to support the North American Mission Board and $2.85 million to six theological seminaries across the United States.
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