In an advisory sent to the Baptist General Convention of Texas on Friday (April 17), BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri said the convention will study its relationship with Baylor University following concerns over recent campus events.
Baptist General Convention of Texas leadership has responded to the recent criticism surrounding the student-led Turning Point USA event and the alternate event “All Are Neighbors.” Both student-led events are scheduled to take place April 22 in separate locations on the Baylor campus.
‘All Are Neighbors’
Regarding the “All Are Neighbors” event, Guarneri stated he had “conversations with Baylor leadership, the chair of the Institutional Relations Committee of our Texas Baptists Executive Board, several Texas Baptists pastors, and others.”
Dustin Slaton, pastor of First Baptist Church Round Rock, is the current chair of the BGCT Executive Board’s Institutional Relations Committee.
“As executive director, I agree that hosting speakers who are Christian, identify as gay, and practice LGBTQ+ advocacy at a university-approved event is inconsistent with the convention’s long-standing views on biblical sexuality,” Guarneri stated.
“It is likely that the viewpoints to be shared at this event and others may not represent either BGCT’s or Baylor’s official positions, and convention messengers have made it clear that the traditional view of biblical sexuality is a matter of fellowship and harmonious cooperation,” Guarneri continued.
“I share the concerns of many of our Texas Baptists pastors and churches. While I respect the BGCT governance process and the final authority of convention messengers, I will ask the directors attending our upcoming May Executive Board meeting to initiate a study of our relationship with Baylor through our Institutional Relations Committee,” Guarneri wrote.
Messengers to the 2025 BGCT annual meeting in Waco considered two motions related to Baylor University and made by Mike Miller, pastor of Central Baptist Church Jacksonville.
The first motion was to remove Baylor from the BGCT’s 2026 budget, which was voted down overwhelmingly. The second motion was to direct the Institutional Relations Committee to evaluate the relationship between Baylor and the BGCT and report its findings to messengers at the 2026 BGCT annual meeting. This motion narrowly failed.
Baylor leadership is aware of the response described in Guarneri’s advisory and has expressed willingness to participate, he stated, noting the two institutions share a 140-year relationship.
TPUSA event
In addition, Guarneri said some BGCT members expressed concerns about a separate campus event hosted by Turning Point USA.
BGCT leadership, including the Christian Life Commission, are calling for civility in public discourse while affirming Baptist commitments to religious liberty and rejecting dehumanizing language.
“Our focus needs to continue to be strengthening a movement of multiplying churches who live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission in Texas and beyond,” Guarneri stated. “We must do that under the Lordship of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, and committed to biblical authority and convictions.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kendall Lyons and Eric Black and originally published by Baptist Standard.
