Baylor University was recently awarded a grant for more than $600,000 to “foster inclusion and belonging in the church.”
According to a university announcement, the $643,401 grant is designed to “help us better understand the disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA+ individuals and women within congregations to nurture institutional courage and foster change.”
The university announcement stated that “many LGBTQIA+ individuals and women experience what researchers call ‘institutional betrayal’ within their faith communities”—that is, “situations where the institutions they depend on for spiritual support fail to protect them or even actively harm them.”
The published announcement gave examples: “exclusion from church activities, family estrangement and painful conflicts that leave lasting emotional wounds.”
The Eula May and John Baugh Foundation awarded the grant to the university’s Center for Church and Community Impact.
The Center for Church and Community Impact is housed under the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.
Dr. Gaynor Nancy, director of the Center for Church and Community Impact, thanked the Baugh Foundation. She stated that the funding was “for research to study the inclusionary practices of congregations with people who are marginalized in numerous ways.”
The Center for Church and Community Impact claims to “help congregations who wish to create a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for everyone in their community” and aims to “[s]upport those in your community who feel hurt, vulnerable, and marginalized.”
The Eula Mae and John Baugh Mae Foundation “supports progressive, inclusive, nonprofit organizations that reflect the love of Christ.” It furthermore describes “[i]ntentional inclusivity” as one of its “values.”
Baylor’s announcement received criticism from author Megan Basham, who has documented left-wing attempts to infiltrate Christian organizations.
Basham explained how Baylor is “bringing in a program to teach its students how to use toxic empathy to steer Christian institutions so their schools, churches, ministries will to bend [sic] to [LGBT activists’] will.”
Baylor University did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
