Long-tenured foundation president: ‘That reminds me of a story…’

DALLAS—Lynn Craft loves to tell stories. A rare regret—in a 44-year career at the Baptist Foundation of Texas otherwise free from “if only” second-guessing—is that confidentiality prevents him from telling good stories that highlight the generosity of donors.

Lynn Craft is retiring as president and chief executive officer of the Baptist Foundation of Texas.

“I’ve been privileged to work with some wonderful donors—great people who have blessed so many Baptist institutions,” said Craft, who retires Dec. 31 as the foundation’s president and chief executive officer.

People familiar with Baptist institutions would recognize many of those donors because multiple buildings on widespread campuses bear their names. Others are individuals who lacked resources to make major one-time gifts but set up relatively small charitable trusts that grew over the years and continue to benefit Baptist causes.

While Craft honors the wishes of donors to keep their stories private, he loves to tell about people who benefitted from their gifts to Baptist institutions.

He recalls a young man from Brownwood who grew up in a home of modest means, received a scholarship to a Baptist university where he excelled, went on to continue his education and eventually became one of the state’s top neurosurgeons.

He remembers a woman who was fleeing from an abusive relationship when her vehicle ran out of gas, and she and her children found themselves stranded in Round Rock. She found help at the Baptist children’s home there and received training that enabled her to begin a promising career in social services.

Those kinds of stories—Baptist institutions making a difference in people’s lives—thrill Craft because they illustrate the reason why the Baptist Foundation of Texas exists.

“We represent the institutions,” he said. “We have no assets of our own. We manage assets for Baptist institutions. … We don’t push one institution over another. We work with all of them.”

Craft appreciates the role of generous donors and influence of Baptist institutions, in part, because they helped shape his life. Any recital of his family tree includes how each family member served in a Baptist church, worked on the campus of a Baptist children’s home, attended a Baptist school or otherwise related to some Baptist institution.

Craft also remembers one Sunday morning at First Baptist Church in Dallas when James Cantrell called him aside. At the time, Craft was a high school student considering colleges that might offer him a scholarship to play football. Cantrell asked if he would agree to go to Baylor University on a four-year scholarship and concentrate on his studies instead of sports.

“I thought about it for maybe four seconds and then said I would,” Craft recalled. “Later on, I found out he provided that scholarship himself, but I didn’t know it at the time.”

As a high school student, Craft knew Cantrell as the father of his camp buddy, Jimmy, and as a Sunday school department leader at church. After Craft graduated from Baylor and began a career in accounting, Cantrell—president of the Baptist Foundation of Texas—became his mentor.

Craft joined the foundation staff in 1968—“on April 16, day after the end of tax season,” he said. Within in a few years, he assumed responsibilities as chief operating officer, and he was named president and chief executive officer on April 1, 1976, when Cantrell retired.

Craft’s 36 years in the top leadership role at the foundation ranks him among the longest-tenured Texas Baptist agency heads in history, second only to R.C. Buckner, who served 40 years as founding president of what is now Buckner International. During Craft’s time as president and CEO, the foundation’s assets under management grew from $123 million to $1.5 billion. 

“Timing is everything,” Craft said, observing he joined the foundation just prior to years of significant economic growth.

Baptist institutions have changed significantly in recent decades, said Joyce Bagley, who also plans to retire from the Baptist Foundation after 23 years employment and 13 years as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

“Even the smallest institutions today have assets larger than they did 30 years ago,” she noted. Accounting rules, tax laws and other regulations also are far more complex.

However, Craft added, thanks to developments in technology, the foundation provides more services to donors and institutions than it did 20 to 30 years ago but with about the same size staff—fewer than 50 employees, many with long tenure.

“We have a lot of repeat business,” he said, noting many donors begin by establishing one relatively small trust and later set up increasingly larger ones. “They come back because we treat them right and make them feel good about what they’re doing.”

Through the years, Craft has earned a reputation among agency executives as a trusted confidante and adviser, whether they have questions about making a real estate deal or accepting a donated piece of property.

“You have to know which gifts to receive and which not to receive,” he said. “You never want to turn down a gift, but there are time when you don’t want the asset.”