Dear friends and colleagues,
Anglican theologian Oliver O’Donovan reminds us, “Faith works through love, and love is the outworking of faith in the world, the self’s emergence into the world from its origin in God’s summons” (Finding and Seeking: Ethics as Theology, Vol. 2). Engaging in the world with faith and love demands from each of us what O’Donovan calls “loving attention to the world.” In a world which seems ever more filled with challenges, violence, and brokenness, “loving attention” to the world may seem like the last thing we desire to give. Some days, heading home and hiding under the bed seems a lot easier. However, in these moments of despair and hopelessness, it is important to remember that “loving attention” does not mean solving all of the world’s many problems. Rather, faith and love can transform our small everyday actions. Among the joys I have experienced by participating in IFL faculty and staff Missio cohorts this fall has been learning along with other faculty and staff how our participation in university life through research, teaching, and service can be characterized by “loving attention” to our students, to our colleagues, and to the broader community. As O’Donovan also reminds us, hope depends upon our capacity for attention – attention to what God is doing in the world as we hopefully await the world’s redemption. By hope, we live like the servants waiting for their Lord to return from a wedding (Luke 12: 36), always aware of where and when God is calling us to act with faith and love in the world.
As the semester gets even busier, we invite you to join with us in seeking to pay loving attention, in faith, hope, and love to what God is doing across Baylor, our country, and the world.
In Christ,
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Yom Kippur begins this evening. IFL wishes our Jewish faculty and staff colleagues a meaningful holiday.
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Guest Column: Dr. John Barton
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| Register for the Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture 2026
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| Dr. Rowan Williams is Coming to Baylor
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Dr. John Barton, Faith and Learning Initiatives Consultant |
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I am the newest member of Baylor’s IFL team and grateful to be a part of good work at the intersections of faith and learning.
This kind of work is a thread that has run through the various streams of my own vocational journey. I grew up on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where my parents worked and taught at a small Christian college. Before I even realized it, I was breathing the air of faith and learning. My parents modeled lives rooted in faith and community, expressed in curiosity and robust intellectual inquiry, and framed by a blend of conviction and humility. I also witnessed them receive every student who came into their orbit as a divine gift worthy of attention and created for abundance. From all this, I learned that education is not about the transfer of information as much as an invitation to transformation. It is not merely about imparting skills to make a good living, but also about wisdom to live well. It is not simply for the development of critical thinking, but also for collaborative generosity.
My parents’ example has guided me through the years as I have worked in the United States and abroad, in faith communities and academic institutions, as a pastor, teacher, scholar, and administrator.
And now I find myself at Baylor working with IFL. I am grateful for this opportunity, in part because I am convinced that Baylor is uniquely positioned as an institution to blend a diverse, world-class education with robust, generous, Christian commitments. I am also grateful to join the IFL team as we seek to contextualize 2,000 years of Christian intellectual traditions within Baylor’s mission and contribute to a community that sees each of its members as a divine gift created for abundance of mind, body, and spirit.
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Last Thursday evening, we gathered for one of the most meaningful traditions of the Crane Scholars Program—our annual initiation dinner. This special event welcomed our newest cohort of scholars into the Cranes family while also bringing together sophomores, juniors, and seniors to celebrate the richness of our shared community. For sophomores, the evening marked the beginning of their Crane journey. For seniors, it was a chance to look back and remember their very first initiation dinner—and to see just how far they’ve come, both in friendships and in formation. We are excited for the year ahead and grateful to all who joined us to make this initiation dinner a night to remember. Welcome again to our newest Crane Scholars—we’re so glad you’re here!
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Faith & Science Colloquium |
The Faith & Science Colloquium meets most Fridays from 12 - 1 pm in Baylor Science Building E201. These informal brownbag lunches welcome members of the community to engage in discussions about sciences, faiths, and their interactions.
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Book Launch: "The Reformations of Medicine," by Dr. Ekaterina Lomperis |
Parchman Lecture with Dr. Rowan Williams |
As we continue to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Truett Seminary is pleased to host Dr. Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, October 28-29 for a series of lectures.
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Faith and Learning Around Baylor Campus |
- October 2: Faculty & Staff Chapel: Fall 2025
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October 6-8: Beyond Us Missions Conference
- October 7: "Risk, Faith, and the Kingdom of God," Talk by Rick Donlon, MD, CEO of Christian Community Health Fellowship
- October 10-11: Front Porch Republic Annual Conference on Work and Leisure
- October 13-14: Centennial Conversations: Exploring the Legacy of J. Louis Martyn
- October 15: A Conversation with Dr. Brett McCarty, Associate Director of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke University
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October 22: Book Launch: The Reformations of Medicine, by Dr. Ekaterina Lomperis
- October 28: Formation Series Lecture: Friends Talking Friendship
- October 28-29: Parchman Lecture with Dr. Rowan Williams
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November 13: "Starring the Earth: Our Planet and Other Worlds from Copernicus to NASA," Lecture by Dr. Dennis Danielson
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December 4: "Things We Don't Talk about at Dinner: Civil Discourse and Disagreement in Politics and at Church," with John Inazu and Tish Harrison Warren (Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics)
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Faith and Learning Outside Baylor |
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Gifts to our Excellence Fund fuel opportunities for faculty and staff growth and development.
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Are you hosting an event or working on a project related to faith and learning? We'd love to hear about it! Click the link below, share your information, and we'll follow up with you directly.
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Institute for Faith and Learning
One Bear Place #97270
Waco, Texas 76798
(254) 710-4805
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