BaylorInstitute for Faith and LearningProgramsThe Soundings ProjectThe Team

The Team

Soundings Leadership Team

Principal Investigator and Program Director – Darin Davis, Ph.D.
As Director of the Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL) since 2008, Dr. Darin Davis has experience with key programs already in operation that explore questions about vocation with Baylor students and educators alike. Dr. Davis also is the pastor of a rural, historic church in Falls County, Texas, and thus recognizes the dynamic relationship between a Christian university and congregational life.


Project Coordinator – Nathan Hays, Ph.D.
Dr. Nathan Hays earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor, where he has had teaching appointments in the Department of Religion and George W. Truett Theological Seminary. The author of a number of scholarly articles in the field of biblical studies, he has also served in churches in Texas and North Carolina.


Advisory Board

Supporting the work of the Soundings Leadership Team through counsel and advocacy will be an advisory board comprised of Baylor administrators, faculty, and students as well as a representative of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) and senior pastors from both within and outside the Baptist tradition.

Dr. Darin Davis, Soundings Principal Investigator/Project Director

Dr. Matt Homeyer, Director of W. Winfred Moore Center for Ministry Effectiveness

Dr. Todd Still, Dean of George W. Truett Seminary

Dr. Burt Burleson, Baylor University Chaplain

and Dean of Spiritual Life & Mission

Rolando Rodriguez (Texas Baptist Hispanic Ministry Director), Baptist General Convention of Texas representative

Dr. Dennis Horton (Associate Professor of Religion and the Raymond O. Hubler Chair of Ministry Guidance), representative of the undergraduate Ministry Guidance program of Baylor

Dr. Kelli McMahan (Associate Clinical Professor of Health and Human Sciences), Baylor faculty representative

Dylan Price, Truett student representative

Jessica Bost, Baylor undergraduate student representative

Dr. Dennis Wiles (Pastor, First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas), Baptist representative

Dr. Steve Moore (Executive Director of the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust), non-Baptist representative


Congregational Teams

Each congregation will appoint its own intergenerational leadership team comprised of one member of the pastoral staff and at least three and up to five lay leaders. These teams will assess the strengths and needs of their particular congregations and design projects that will help their churches explore and grow in areas related to Christian calling.


Coaching Team

Five Baylor educators will be selected to serve as congregational coaches. After receiving training, each coach will work with three partner congregations to imagine, design, and implement those church’s projects.


Student Cohorts

Each fall, the Soundings Advisory Board will select cohorts of five Baylor graduate and undergraduate students representing the various programs at Baylor already centered on the themes of calling and vocation, programs that we hope will benefit from the dialogue between the university and congregations. These students will participate in at least one event annually so that they can experience and learn from the community of partner congregations.

Existing Baylor student programs that will intersect with Soundings: