Texas Baptists to Study Relationship With Baylor University
Move comes in response to two Baylor student events being held on campus this week.
In an advisory sent to Texas Baptists the afternoon of April 17, Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri said the convention will study its relationship with Baylor University following concerns over recent campus events.
Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Photo courtesy of Baylor University/Matthew Minard via RNS
Baptist General Convention of Texas leadership has responded to the recent criticism surrounding the student-led Turning Point USA event and the alternate event “All Are Neighbors.” Both student-led events are scheduled to take place April 22 in separate locations on the Baylor campus.
Baylor administrators granted permission for student groups to host the “All Are Neighbors” event after receiving strong criticism for hosting a Turning Point USA event on campus. The “All Are Neighbors” event is set to feature two well-known self-identified gay Christians as guest speakers
It is believed this is the first time an openly gay, self-identified Christian advocacy speaker has appeared on Baylor’s campus, Baptist News Global reported.
Students petitioned Baylor’s administration and received permission April 8 to feature keynote speakers Kelley Robinson, president of the leading national LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, and Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president of Interfaith Alliance, a D.C.-based national nonprofit organization founded to defend religious freedom and promote democracy.
BNG columnist and Baylor faculty member Greg Garrett also will speak at the event.
According to BNG, the student groups that petitioned Baylor for the event “include the student NAACP chapter, Students Demand Action, Hearts for the Homeless, Baylor Democrats, and Texas Rising.”
‘All Are Neighbors’
Regarding the “All Are Neighbors” event, Guarneri said he had “conversations with Baylor leadership, the chair of the Institutional Relations Committee of our Texas Baptists Executive Board, several Texas Baptists pastors, and others.”
Dustin Slaton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Round Rock, is the current chair of the BGCT Executive Board’s Institutional Relations Committee.
“As executive director, I agree that hosting speakers who are Christian, identify as gay, and practice LGBTQ+ advocacy at a university-approved event is inconsistent with the convention’s long-standing views on biblical sexuality,” Guarneri stated.
“It is likely that the viewpoints to be shared at this event and others may not represent either BGCT’s or Baylor’s official positions, and convention messengers have made it clear that the traditional view of biblical sexuality is a matter of fellowship and harmonious cooperation,” Guarneri continued.
Texas Baptists logo
“I share the concerns of many of our Texas Baptists pastors and churches. While I respect the BGCT governance process and the final authority of convention messengers, I will ask the directors attending our upcoming May Executive Board meeting to initiate a study of our relationship with Baylor through our Institutional Relations Committee,” Guarneri wrote.
Messengers to the 2025 BGCT annual meeting in Waco considered two motions related to Baylor University and made by Mike Miller, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
The first motion was to remove Baylor from the BGCT’s 2026 budget, which was voted down overwhelmingly. The second motion was to direct the Institutional Relations Committee to evaluate the relationship between Baylor and the BGCT and report its findings to messengers at the 2026 BGCT annual meeting. This motion narrowly failed.
Baylor leadership is aware of the response described in Guarneri’s advisory and has expressed willingness to participate, he stated, noting the two institutions share a 140-year relationship.
TPUSA event
In addition, Guarneri said some Texas Baptists expressed concerns about a separate campus event hosted byTurning Point USA.
Texas Baptists leadership, including the Christian Life Commission, are calling for civility in public discourse while affirming Baptist commitments to religious liberty and rejecting dehumanizing language.
“Our focus needs to continue to be strengthening a movement of multiplying churches who live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in Texas and beyond,” Guarneri stated. “We must do that under the Lordship of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, and committed to biblical authority and convictions.”
Baylor’s response
“As an academic institution, Baylor University is committed to ensuring open dialogue and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives,” an official statement from Baylor reads. “We hold this commitment along with an obligation to provide a safe and nurturing educational environment within a caring Christian community.”
The statement noted the university worked with the student organizations from both TPUSA and “All Are Neighbors” to align their events with institutional policies and procedures.
“Historically, Baylor has opened its doors to a wide range of student-invited speakers with differing viewpoints on theology, politics, research, and many other subjects as we prepare our students for a challenging, diverse world post-graduation. Baylor does not institutionally endorse the views of speakers at these events or other individuals invited to speak by student organizations.”
Faith Pratt and Eric Black also contributed to this report. This article was originally published in two parts by Baptist Standard (You can read those original accounts here and here). Baptist Standard also published an explainer on the two events being held at Baylor this week. You can read that here.
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