Truett Seminary Groundbreaking Set for Feb. 2
The much-anticipated groundbreaking ceremony for Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary will be held at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 2, at the corner of M.L. Cooper Drive and Dutton Avenue across from Russell Hall on the Baylor campus.
The ceremony is part of the university's Founders Day celebration, which honors those whose service and contributions to Baylor have been significant to its growth and prosperity. This year's recipient of the Founders Medal is Baylor Chancellor Herbert H. Reynolds, one of the driving forces behind the establishment of Truett Seminary in 1994. Reynolds will be presented the award during the Founders Day celebration at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Waco Hall.
The $17 million, 64,000-square-foot seminary complex will feature a 550-seat chapel, funded by a $2.5 million gift from the Robert M. Rogers Foundation of Tyler and named for Dr. Paul W. Powell, a current member of the Baylor board and president and chief executive officer of the foundation; a Great Hall; a 100-foot by 100-foot landscaped, enclosed courtyard; a teaching chapel named in honor of Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr., who was Truett Seminary's founding dean; classrooms and meeting rooms; and faculty and administrative offices. The proposed chapel spire, towering at more than 100 feet, will be visible from Interstate 35, adding a new dimension to the Baylor skyline. Fundraising for the seminary complex began in November 1997 with a $5 million lead gift from John and Eula Mae Baugh of Houston.
"We have anticipated and prayed for this day since we began the seminary six years ago," said Truett Seminary Dean J. Bradley Creed. "This will be a time of celebration to not only thank those who have made this project possible but also to give thanks to God as we remember the sacred responsibility we have in training a new generation of Christian leaders.
"We have made encouraging progress in raising funds for a permanent home on the Baylor campus and we are now ready to take this important step for our future growth as a semimary," he said.
The first opening convocation service for Truett Seminary was held on Aug. 28, 1994, in the worship center of First Baptist Church Waco. Seminary classes officially began on Aug. 31, 1994, with 51 students registered. Since then, Truett Seminary's enrollment has quadrupled to more than 200 students, while 92 students have received their master of divinity degrees from Truett. With 12 full-time faculty members, the seminary also continues to grow academically with the addition last year of a doctor of ministry degree, a joint master of divinity/master of music degree in conjunction with Baylor's School of Music, and a joint master of divinity/master of social work degree in conjunction with the School of Social Work.
For more information, call Truett Seminary at (254) 710-3755 or visit the Truett Seminary web page at https://www.baylor.edu/~seminary.