Review of Baylor relationship required by 2011 agreement

The Baptist General Convention of Texas’ announced intention to “review and consider changes” to the special agreement that defines its relationship with Baylor University is a routine matter delayed one year due to the COVID pandemic, BGCT Executive Director David Hardage said.

The BGCT has related to Baylor by special agreement for more than three decades. The renegotiated special agreement the BGCT and Baylor adopted in 2011 calls for periodic review.

“BGCT and Baylor agree to review the terms of this agreement at least every ten years to discuss mutually agreeable revisions to the agreement,” the agreement adopted Nov. 4, 2011, stated. “Notwithstanding the agreement to review at least every ten years, this agreement shall be treated as an agreement without a specific or definite term.”

Reviewing the agreement and considering any changes to it last year would have been “a challenge coming out of the pandemic,” Hardage said in an Aug. 19 interview with the Baptist Standard.

“We just postponed it a year. … It’s something we are supposed to do. … We are fulfilling our responsibilities and duties,” he said.

BGCT leaders are not entering into the review with preconceived ideas about desired changes, but they recognize it has been a decade of change both for Baylor and the convention, he noted.

When the 2011 agreement was negotiated, Linda Livingstone was not Baylor’s president, and Hardage was not the BGCT executive director.

Hardage identified a question for both parties to consider as they review the agreement: “What is the right way for us to relate going forward?”

Hardage:  Prism ‘not driving the conversation’

While Baylor’s decision in April to grant a charter to Prism, an LGBTQ student group, may be discussed as the relationship agreement is reviewed, Hardage said, “It’s not driving the conversation.”

On May 3, the BGCT posted a statement on its website from Hardage: “We are aware of the recent chartering of the Prism at Baylor student organization by Baylor University. We have heard concern expressed by many in the Texas Baptists family and are in the process of communicating those concerns to university leadership. There has been some confusion regarding the group’s chartering, and we are seeking clarification to determine the best course of action moving forward. The BGCT’s position on Human Sexuality and Biblical Marriage has not and will not change.”

Last year, Baylor’s board of regents adopted a resolution saying, “The university remains committed to extending Christ-like love and grace in caring for all our students and meeting them where they are, just as Jesus did, and adhering to traditional biblical teaching of Scripture regarding human sexuality.”

The university did not change its statement on human sexuality, which says in part: “Christian churches across the ages and around the world have affirmed purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm. Temptations to deviate from this norm include both heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior. It is thus expected that Baylor students will not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching.”

Baylor provided the BGCT “all the information and clarity we need” regarding the chartering of Prism, Hardage said in the interview.

“The convention is really grateful for the care and concern [Baylor has] exhibited for all their students,” he said.

“We know where they are. … As with all of our institutions, we want them to care about their kids on campus. That’s a unique situation. These are challenging waters to navigate, and we pray for them in navigating those challenging waters.”

The BGCT Institutional Relations Committee at its Aug. 18 meeting heard a report on the need to review the relationship agreement, but it took no action, Hardage said.

“Right now, there are no formal committees tasked with this,” he said. “It’s just convention and university leadership doing what we’re supposed to do—review the agreement and discuss any possible revisions.”