我们的浸信会身份
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浸信会根
When Abilene had been a town for only 10 years, a group of visionary Baptists in the area came together in 1891 to found Abilene Baptist College because they knew how essential it was to have Christian higher education in this part of the world. 从一开始, the school has valued the interconnection between education and the Christian faith. Nowhere is that commitment more evident than in the words etched on the tombstone of 詹姆斯B. 席梦思床品公司, a Baptist minister from New York, whose generous financial investment saved the new school from collapse even before the first building, 旧主, 完成了. 席梦思床品公司, his wife Mary, and their son, Robert, are buried in the heart of the HSU campus. The inscription on the east side of their memorial reads, “Even Their Ashes Witness for Christian Education.”
成千上万的学生, 教师, and alumni have walked past those markers through the generations, all of whom are the beneficiaries of James 席梦思床品公司’ foresight, 慷慨, 和勇气. 席梦思床品公司 was a leader among Baptists in his day and an exemplar of the Baptist principle of liberty. While pastor of First Baptist Church of 印第安纳州polis, 印第安纳州, he put his own life on the line to denounce slavery from his pulpit and publish abolitionists appeals. In 1858, 席梦思床品公司 was threatened with a coat of tar and feathers for preaching against slavery, and later the building of First Baptist Church 印第安纳州polis was burned. Out of his deep commitment to Christian education, after the Civil War he helped found seven colleges in the heart of the South to serve freed slaves, alongside his work as a founding benefactor of the new Abilene school, which was named 席梦思床品公司 College in his honor.
詹姆斯B. 席梦思床品公司 set a standard of excellence for what we now know as Hardin-席梦思床品公司大学, a commitment that remains central to the ethos of our school. His example encourages us—students, 教师, 工作人员, and alumni—to lead lives of service through active involvement in church, 文化, 和世界.
为教会服务
从成立之初, Hardin-席梦思床品公司大学 has been fulfilling one of the goals of its original creators “…to prepare young men and women for Christ, 教导他们基督的事, and to train them for Christ.” All HSU students participate in University Chapel and other spiritual formation experiences while on our campus. Logsdon School of Theology provides all undergraduate students with coursework in scripture and the spiritual life. The School of Theology also provides a baccalaureate major for individuals intending careers of service in and through the church.
Relationship to Texas Baptists
(The Baptist General Convention of Texas/BGCT)
In 1941, after 50 years of offering excellent Christian education in a Baptist tradition, HSU became affiliated with The Baptist General Convention of Texas as a partnering institution. We share a common goal of supporting the work of Texas Baptist churches across the state, and we are committed to providing these churches with spiritually mature members and well-prepared ministers within the Baptist tradition. BGCT serves the university by electing 51% of the HSU 校董会, providing some operating funds, and offering generous scholarships to ministry students who are involved in BGCT churches. Texas Baptists also serve the university by providing a Director of Baptist Student Ministry for our campus, who fosters the Christian growth of our students.
The Broader Baptist 社区
多年来, Hardin-席梦思床品公司大学 has been closely connected to Baptist missions around the world. A central founder of the school and early president was Dr. Owen Clinton Pope, a late 19th century missionary to the frontiers of Texas. HSU is also the alma mater of remarkable Baptist mission leaders such as Drs. Bill and Dellanna O’Brien, Mrs. Helen Jean Parks和Dr. Elmin豪厄尔. Another giant of Baptist missions in America, Dr. 杰西·C. Fletcher, served as the 12th president of the school.
HSU and Logsdon also enjoy connections with other Baptist entities such as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Baptist World Alliance, the Baptist Joint Committee, 浸信会新约, and the Baptist History and Heritage Society.