As finals loom larger by the day and each study session becomes more essential, spiritual life leaders say staying grounded in faith means choosing presence over panic.

“My hope is that this program will equip, enable and empower participants to be more thoughtful, faithful and fruitful in serving the Lord and those with whom they are privileged to serve,” Still said.

In order for the conversation to be productive, Fakhriravari said both parties must be willing to have their own mind changed, rather than solely determined to change someone else’s.

“The best vision of it would be to think about a house in Hogwarts,” Aughtry said. “It is a way of designating students who are studying at a multi-denominational seminary such as Truett, but who belong to a particular denomination or tradition, such as Methodism, or in this case, broadly Anglicanism.”

The number of Baptist students at Baylor is dropping, but students and faculty say this trend is bringing unity rather than division.

Not many people have a 100th birthday party that brings together theologians, students and professors from across the country, but Texas-born New Testament scholar J. Louis Martyn did just that.

What began as a night of worship turned into a moment of calling. Students thought they were just attending weekly worship at Vertical, but they found themselves face to face with University Chaplain Dr. Charles Ramsey and Compassion International Representative Meghan Foley as they introduced the Beyond Us Missions Conference — a week dedicated to reminding students that faith and good works don’t stop at Vertical chapel.

Both Flavin and Van Gorder sketched an invitation and a warning. The real test isn’t in the heat of headlines, but in the quieter spaces — dinner tables, living rooms, classrooms and pews — where people chose to alienate or to listen. The health of democracy and national change, they argue, will be decided in those very regular, small acts of civility and grace.

In honor of the First Council of Nicaea’s anniversary, the Institute for Faith and Learning held three public lectures Tuesday and Wednesday on topics ranging from the literary merit of the Nicene Creed to the council’s impact on modern Christianity.

At the edge of a black hole, we will drag ourselves into a pit that we or our mockeries of creation will not escape. We will have given consciousness to something that cannot think, eyes to a being that will never truly see and a mouth to something that will never be able to scream.

The Baylor community worshipped hand in hand on Fountain Mall, honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot at Utah Valley University Wednesday afternoon.

“We want to create opportunities, experiences and [an] atmosphere where you can ask where you are in your faith journey,” Ramsey said. “We want you to ask the big questions and to explore faith [and] move at your own pace, but you can’t do it alone. You’re going to [need] community; It’s vital for your journey.”

Sometimes people approach faith like it’s a competition. A verse or passage is read, and instead of seeking to understand it, the focus shifts to proving who is right. When the rush to be right takes over, conversations that could be moments of learning or reflection turn into debates about who can quote Scripture the fastest or defend their interpretation the strongest.

“We should be proud of our cultural and ethnic identities, but that pride should never, of course, make us feel better than other people,” Van Gorder said. “We should use our cultural heritages as resources, not only to share who we are, but to learn and listen and validate other people.”

Truett Seminary, the University Libraries and the College of Engineering and Computer Science will be hosting “AI and The Church” conference on Monday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The conference will feature five presentations over topics related to AI and its application to seminary as well as a panel Q&A. According to the event’s schedule, each speaker will present for an hour followed by a 15 minute break.

I was so terrified of the answers to my questions that I simply stopped asking. How could the Church love gay people but hate that they were gay? Why did the same people who quoted Exodus and Deuteronomy refer to other human beings as “illegals”? Was I actually going to go to hell because my family went to church on Sunday instead of Saturday? If God was good, why was I so alone?

“That’s the most fundamental category with which we ought to interact with one another,” Foley said. “You are a person created in the image of God, and therefore worthy of my love.”

Maxwell said that while this is a season of mourning for the Catholic community, it can dually function as a season of remembrance and gratitude for the dedication Pope Francis showed the church.

Hallow app founder Alex Jones left the Catholic Church in high school but told The Pillar, a Catholic news publication, that he returned to the Church after college through meditative and contemplative techniques. In April 2021, venture capital group General Catalyst poured $12 million into his idea for a Catholic version of the secular meditation apps he enjoyed in his early adulthood.

What’s beautiful is that you don’t need the aesthetic to be Christian. I have been to churches with beautiful stained-glass walls, and I’ve been to churches with no walls at all. I’ve experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in a small worship service with less than a dozen people singing in a dialect I barely understand, and I have experienced the Holy Spirit in a gathering of hundreds.

“The goal is mostly to build an environment of Catholic fellowship,” Foley said. “It gives people an opportunity to go to the kind of event that typically college students want to go to, but hosted by a Catholic organization and with a Catholic mindset.”

“All Christian traditions can appreciate Easter for what it is, and I think the preparation season is a really good opportunity, for reflection, for connection, for understanding,” Menesses said. “I think that’s something that we should be able to share in and should be encouraged to be a community wide process.”

Dr. Holly Oxhandler, School of Social Work professor and associate dean for research, is involved with research having to do with the connection between faith and mental wellbeing. She wrote a book titled “The Soul of the Helper: Seven Stages to Seeing the Sacred Within Yourself So You Can See It in Others,” which relates to how social workers must train to look out for their own needs, as well as those that they are serving.

Daniel closed by warning that when people become captivated by the intensity and reach of power, a whole society will fall apart, noting the relevancy of this notion present day, not just in the context of Russia, but in the U.S. too.

The real issue is this: as political beliefs and systems are always changing, rooting morals completely in political affiliations can be an unstable ground.

“At Baylor there is no need to hide or shed your religious beliefs to engage in academic study. That is a real gift that Baylor offers to students,” Stahl said. “Professors may not start every class with their faith beliefs, but students can be assured that all their teachers are faithful people who do their work for the enrichment of both Baylor and their faith communities.”

By partaking in the cultural practice of fasting this season, Shafiq said she feels an extra level of connection with those who are suffering in Gaza currently.

“We exist with one foot in the Baylor world and one foot in the larger world of academic publishing,” Jarrell said. “It is our hope to serve both spheres, bridging excellence in our industry and prestigious service to our leadership while playing a role in furthering Baylor’s missional life as an R1 institution.”

In addition to giving students an opportunity to “have fun and fellowship with like-minded believers,” Oramalu said the event will be centered around Black History Month.

The Gold Standard Award is an honor that faculty in the Robbins College receive if they have received the Pure Gold Award previously and are considered to be outstanding staff. Five are chosen from the Pure Gold Award recipients: outstanding staff, outstanding lecturer, outstanding clinical faculty, outstanding tenure-track faculty and outstanding tenured faculty. Adeyemi received the most outstanding lecturer this past semester.