March 2026 Newsletter
Our Newest Faculty
will become a Professor of Religion (Theology and Literature) in the Department of Religion in August 2026. He received his education at the universities of Manchester, Oxford, and Glasgow. He has taught at the intersection of the creative imagination and Christian faith for twenty-four years at Texas Christian University and five years at Rhodes College. In addition to being the Director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core in the Honors College at Baylor and a Professor of Theology and Literature, he is the John F. Weatherly Emeritus Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University.
joined our faculty in fall 2025 as an Associate Professor of New Testament. She has a PhD from Baylor. She taught at United Theological Seminary and then Campbell Divinity School before returning to Baylor. Dr. Myers is author or editor of six books, including Blessed Among Women? Mothers and Motherhood in the New Testament (Oxford, 2017) and, most recently, The Theology of the Gospel of John (Cambridge, 2025).
joined our faculty in fall 2025 as an Associate Professor of Bioethics. Dr Moyse came from the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University, and also served as a Research Fellow of Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, England. He is the author of three books and many other publications in theology and bioethics, including Resourcing Hope for Ageing and Dying in a Broken World (Anthem, 2022) and The Art of Living for a Technological Age (Fortress, 2021).
joined our faculty in fall 2025 as a new Lecturer. She arrived with teaching experience at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Phillips Theological Seminary. She has a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary in World Christianity and the History of Religions. Dr. Wong Smoak has published Cambodian Evangelicalism: Cosmological Hope and Diasporic Resilience (2023). She is teaching Christian Heritage and courses in World Religions.
Faculty Promotions
Dr. Elise Edwards (2025) and Dr. João Chaves (2026) earned tenure. Dr. Derek Dodson was named the department’s first Professor of Teaching (2026).
News Briefs
- Former New Testament professor, Dr. Sharyn Dowd, died on February 14, 2026.
- The Minette and Huber L. Drumwright, Jr. Endowed Colloquium in New Testament Studies celebrated the scholarship of J. Louis Martyn (Fall 2025).
- Dr. Mandy McMichael and Dr. David Moseman were 2025 recipients of the Elizabeth Vardaman Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduates.
- Listen to Dr. Devan Stahl’s Tedx talk.
- Dr. Mikeal Parsons (2025) and Dr. Deirdre Fulton (2026) delivered the W.C. Dobbs Endowed Lecture at Truett Seminary.
- The J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies’ Fall Lecture featured Thomas Tweed of Notre Dame.
- In 2025, Dr. João Chaves received a Louisville Institute Sabbatical Award and Dr. Ericka Dunbar a Louisville First Book Grant for Scholars of Color Award.
- Dr. Neil Messer hosted a Fall interdisciplinary symposium on “Pain and Bioethics.”
- Please check out the BNG article.
Retirement Notices
Dr. Blake Burleson
Dr. Blake Burleson retired in May 2025. His official start date at Baylor was May 1987 (38 years!). His official start in Department of Religion full-time was 1991 but he taught as a graduate student and adjunct since 1985. Dr. Burleson has been quite active since retirement with the Heart of Texas Network for Immigrant Rights.
News and Happenings
Alumni Awards
At our annual Christmas gathering we have added an alumni gift. We named Rev. Victoria Robb Powers and Dr. Jeter Basden as our first annual (undergraduate) Alumni of the Year. Rev. Powers is now the pastor of Royal Lane Baptist Church, Dallas. Dr. Basden, now retired, but our long time Director of Ministry Guidance, was also given a Distinguished Alumni Award by the Baylor Alumni Association (Baylor Line) last year. We look forward to honoring more alumni in the future!
Upcoming Event
Whitten Endowed Lecture featuring Skye Perryman
March 23 • 3:30 p.m.
Kayser Auditorium
(Hankamer)
Check Out Our Articles On Women In Ministry
Books Written By Our Faculty
By the Numbers
- 6,714 STUDENTS IN RELIGION COURSES
- 124 RELIGION MAJORS
- 324 RELIGION MINORS - LARGEST NUMBER EVER!
- 33 FULL-TIME FACULTY 46 PHD STUDENTS- (10 NEW EACH YEAR)
Ministry Guidance
Highlights from the Ministry Guidance Program
We held our annual Ministry Guidance Conference in conjunction with Truett's Ministry Conference on Monday, February 9, 2026. We hosted over 60 people for lunch to hear Jane Wilson, Moore Visiting Professor of Religion at Baylor, and Rev. Ty Gist, Student Minister at FBC Longview, present "5 Changes, 5 Challenges, and 5 Compass Points of Student Ministry." (We had Dr. Curtis Freeman of Duke in 2025).
This academic year has become the high-water mark for ministry student participation in our program with 355 students receiving the Baylor Ministry Scholarship (15% of tuition). A subset of 246 students also received the Baptist Ministry Scholarship (5% of tuition). All of these students must complete at least a Religion minor.
Please remember the Basden Family Ministry Scholarship as a great option for supporting our program. We are grateful for your support of our future ministry leaders.
Learn More About the BSIR Giving Day April 1 James M. Washington Fund
Graduate School
As we approach our 60th year as a doctoral program, the scholarly mission of the Department of Religion remains as steady and significant as ever. The core of what we do stays the same: poring over texts, refining arguments, and supporting our students throughout their doctoral research. We continue to train scholars in Old Testament, New Testament, Historical Studies, and Theology and Ethics, and have been pleased to grow our Bioethics concentration over the past few years. This fall, we will celebrate our 60th year as a doctoral program. If you would like to support our current students as they travel to conferences or conduct research, your contributions are deeply appreciated and make a tangible difference in their professional development.