During its May meeting, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board heard reports concerning the relationship between Baylor University and the convention, as well as budgetary concerns expected to have a significant impact within the next couple of years.
Wayland Baptist University in Plainview hosted the meeting.
BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri called Texas Baptists to a “convictional commitment in challenging times,” framing his scheduled remarks within Isaiah’s call recorded in Isaiah 6:1-13. God called Isaiah during challenging and uncertain times, just as God is calling Texas Baptists now, Guarneri said.
Baylor relationship
“Speaking of challenging times, there has been much … said about the BGCT’s relationship with Baylor University recently. Two student-led events on the Baylor campus April 22 caused much controversy and have brought to the forefront the relationship between the BGCT and Baylor,” Guarneri said.
In an April 17 advisory, Guarneri stated, “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.”
Though a motion during the 2025 BGCT annual meeting to evaluate the relationship between Baylor and the BGCT narrowly failed, “the BGCT Executive Board and Baylor leadership have the freedom to have voluntary conversations that may result in future changes and recommendations to the respective governing bodies” of the two entities, Guarneri said.
The Institutional Relations Committee took up this request in an executive session during its meeting Monday afternoon, May 18. Dustin Slaton, chair of the Institutional Relations Committee and pastor of First Baptist Church in Round Rock, gave a brief report to the full Executive Board Tuesday morning, May 19.
“The committee reviewed a list of items that are being considered in regard to a potential change in the relationship between BGCT and Baylor,” Guarneri said. Stating changes may include funding and regent election, “it is too early now to share details, but we will keep you informed as the conversations advance,” he added.
Institutional Relations Committee report
“Many of us have been in conversation for a while about the relationship with Baylor,” Slaton said, noting the Institutional Relations Committee discussed the relationship in an executive session during the Executive Board’s February meeting in Dallas, “long before the Turning Point and All Are Neighbors events on [the Baylor] campus on April 22.”
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“It’s important for all Texas Baptists to know this look at the relationship with Baylor is not reactionary to the April events or any specific event, but something that we have already been considering,” Slaton said.
Institutional Relations Committee members heard from Baylor President Linda Livingstone during the May 18 executive session, Slaton reported.
“I believe she clarified, and those of us representing our convention also clarified for ourselves, that Baylor and Texas Baptists both share a foundational biblical commitment to gospel mission,” he said.
Unlike the churches making up the BGCT, “Baylor is not a church,” Slaton continued. “It is a top-tier university, and there will be times when, in their commitment to creating an atmosphere of open dialogue and learning, they are going to have events that would not be appropriate for a Baptist church setting. And that creates a tension point between Baylor, the BGCT, and our member churches.”
Guarneri and Slaton pointed out Baylor holds its position on sexuality and other issues within the framework of academic freedom. As such, Livingstone told the committee Baylor’s positions were applied consistently to both the TPUSA and All Are Neighbors events.
During its executive session, the Institutional Relations Committee voted “to ask Dr. Guarneri to work with Dr. Livingstone and others to conduct a nonbinding review of the relationship agreement between Baylor and the BGCT.”
Guarneri and Livingstone were asked to share their progress with the committee at the September Executive Board meeting, though there is not “a hard deadline” for completing this review, Slaton said. “Our hope is that we can bring something to the board in September and the messengers in November,” he added.
“I want to thank Dr. Guarneri and Dr. Livingstone for being proactive in this conversation. They were already discussing this before April. The events on Baylor’s campus merely demonstrated why this is needed at this time,” Slaton concluded.
Budget concerns
Guarneri and BGCT Treasurer and CFO Ward Hayes discussed the need to rightsize the BGCT’s budget in response to the long-term downward trend in Cooperative Program giving.
“Though this trend of church giving decline has been true for about 20 years, its cumulative effect on our ability to do ministry needs to be addressed now,” Guarneri said.
“BGCT is not in financial trouble today. Good stewardship has been exercised to date. However, if we don’t take the necessary measures, we could potentially be in financial trouble in the future,” Guarneri continued.
Hayes reported the BGCT is in a strong financial position, with Cooperative Program receipts at 98 percent of prior year as of the end of April, down slightly from 99 percent in March.
Repeating what he reported to the Executive Board in February, Hayes pointed to a steady decline in Cooperative Program receipts from 2015 through 2025. The average year-over-year decline has been about 2 percent, or $500,000. The total decline over the 10-year period is 17 percent, or about $5 million—$30.2 million in 2015 to $25.3 million in 2025.
Cooperative Program receipts increased slightly in 2022, leading the BGCT to adopt an increased budget. However, the downward trend in Cooperative Program giving returned in 2023 and continued through 2025, creating a gap between budget and receipts and a need to rightsize the budget.
The BGCT’s 2025 Cooperative Program budget was $27,795,750. Receipts were $25,306,588, a gap of $2,489,162. Investment income in excess of budget and expenses under budget brought the net deficit to $842,888 in 2025. By contrast, the net deficit in 2026 could be as much as $3.6 million to $4.1 million, Hayes reported.
Hayes attributed Cooperative Program declines in part to “attrition” of churches, or churches that have stopped or suspended their Cooperative Program giving to the BGCT, saying this has had a significant impact.
While some churches have decreased their Cooperative Program giving, other churches have increased their giving, Hayes said. Additionally, endowment income and designated giving have increased. The bulk of designated giving supports Baptist Student Ministry staff. In 2015, there were 75 BSM staff; in 2025, there were 160 serving more than 135 campuses across Texas.
Staff reorganization
Guarneri announced a reorganization of Texas Baptists staff, stating the change is not a reaction to the convention’s financial challenges, but is an effort to align staff to implement the GC2 Strong strategy more effectively.
The four remaining ministry centers—Center for Church Health, Center for Ministerial Health, Center for Missional Engagement, and Center for Collegiate Ministry will be replaced with three teams: Church Strong, Minister Strong, and Missions Strong.
The Christian Life Commission and Collegiate Ministry Team will carry out their ministry mandates as two separate teams, along with the Resource Development Team and Relational Development Team.
The Resource Development Team, overseen by Joshua Minatrea, was formed in April 2025 with the aim of developing “financial and material resources and the messaging around them to advance” Texas Baptists’ mission.
This team includes Texas Baptist Communications, the Office of Cooperative Program Ministry, GC2 Press (formerly BaptistWay Press), and the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation.
David Ritsema, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Waxahachie was recently named publisher of GC2 Press. East Texas Baptist University also recently named him dean of ETBU’s B.H. Carroll Theological Seminary.
Kalie Lowrie rejoined Texas Baptist Communications recently after serving Howard Payne University as associate vice president for communications and alumni engagement. As Texas Baptists director of communications, she will prioritize storytelling, Minatrea said.
Jeff Donnell became the Texas Baptists’ Cooperative Program director April 13. He previously served Lakepoint Church in Rockwall.
Insurance update
In its first six months, KingsCover has provided property insurance coverage to more than 260 churches, saving those churches more than $2.6 million, Craig Christina, BGCT associate executive director and president of Covenant Solutions, reported.
KingsCover provides property insurance to churches. Covenant Solutions provides liability coverage to churches.
Starting March 1, Covenant Solutions includes a religious institution liability endorsement on each of its policies, including those sold prior to March 1. The endorsement applies to religious liberty and communication, pastoral counseling, armed and unarmed security teams, and high-hazard activities.
Other product enhancements to be offered by the end of 2026 are follow form excess liability of $5 million, expected in May or June, and commercial auto coverage, expected in October.
Insurance coverage opened in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Arkansas in April, and Georgia in early May. Other states to have coverage available in May are North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, and Virginia. Coverage will expand to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois by early fall 2026.
GC2 Strong update
Sergio Ramos, senior director of the Relational Development Team and GC2 Strong, gave an update on the development of a GC2 assessment instrument. Two churches have completed the assessment, with two more churches in the process of completion.
An upcoming pilot phase will include 20 churches selected from an initial 100 churches representing the full spectrum of BGCT churches. With the data generated by this pilot phase, Ramos hopes to launch a broader scale GC2 Strong assessment engaging 150 churches by March 1, 2027.
Religious liberty
John Litzler, BGCT general counsel and director of public policy for the Christian Life Commission, briefed Executive Board members on the growing challenge to protecting religious liberty.
He cited Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, chair of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, calling the separation of church and state “the biggest lie that’s been told in America since our founding.” Litzler, who frequents the Texas Capitol, has heard the content of Patrick’s assertion being repeated more frequently in Austin.
Recalling the historic Baptist principles of religious liberty and the separation of church and state, Litzler said a common understanding of what the founders meant and what Baptists mean by the two principles is gone.
Other business
The Executive Board approved three policy changes recommended by the Administrative Support Committee related to social media posts by Texas Baptist employees, compensation, and requiring background checks on all BGCT Executive Board members.
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