Texas Baptist Missions Foundation holds beam signing ceremony for new Baylor BSM building

WACO – In September 2025, the Texas Baptist Missions Foundation (TBMF) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the new Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) building at Baylor University, after officially meeting the requirements of the Mabee Foundation Challenge Grant, awarded in July 2024. 

Saturday, Feb. 28, TBMF held a beam signing ceremony for the new BSM building.

TBMF Vice President Eric Wyatt opened the ceremony by recognizing the TBMF staff, George Loutherback, former Baylor BSM director, Mark Jones, director for the Center for Collegiate Ministry at Texas Baptists, and the site superintendent. 

“About four years ago, this was a piece of dirt, and we came to the Baylor administration, and we said, ‘What would it look like for Texas Baptists to partner with Baylor on a new BSM building on campus?’ And four years later, we're standing in [that building], so we're thankful,” said Wyatt. “We want to win Baylor students for Jesus. That's why we're here.” 

Jones said he is grateful “for this season in Baylor's history” and how “God has worked so faithfully over generations” at Baylor. 

“We have countless ministries and churches that are leaning in to see God's work at Baylor,” said Jones. “We see students coming to Christ, students discipled, students connected to local churches, students called out to do missions from Baylor. It's a true movement of God at Baylor now, and we want that movement to not be just for this season, but for countless decades and generations to come.” 

Loutherback said, “to be here and see this [building] is just an answer to a big, huge, magnificent prayer.” 

“I'm thankful for all of you who prayed for [the building] and walked with us through the journey,” said Loutherback. “We're here today to celebrate the reality of what God's done, and to see what is going to happen in the future for Baylor students as a result of this building.” 

Wyatt shared that the building’s leadership room will be named after Loutherback in recognition of his ministry at Baylor. 

Carly Bowden, International Leadership Training coordinator and wife of Baylor BSM Director Will Bowden, said having “a designated prayer area” in the new building is “the biggest win” for Baylor BSM due to prayer being “the backbone of everything that we’ve done over the last eight years.”  

“Inside of our building is a permanent prayer room, which means our students will have access to a place for corporate and individual prayer,” said Bowden. “[Having the prayer room] feels like a personal thing, [and it] feels like a safe place to run to for any of our students and for our staff to just come be next to Jesus.” 

Kaitlyn Kingsley, Baylor senior and BSM student leader, said she’s excited for the new generation of Baylor students to have “a community space.” She said she wrote the Great Commission on a beam to represent how “mission-oriented” Baylor BSM is. 

“I am so encouraged by how many missionaries come out of this program, and how even [through] short-term missions, everyone here is involved in missions,” said Kingsley. “I believe so many more missionaries will come because they get to meet here in this building.” 

Wyatt said TBMF anticipates the construction of the new building will be completed “by the end of August in time for the Fall 2026 semester.”

TBMF is working to raise a $2 million endowment fund to support the new building and ministry.  

To learn more and make a gift toward the building endowment, visit baylorbsm.com/bsm-building.  

Texas Baptist Student Ministry engages 1.6 million Texas college students to follow Christ and transform the world. Texas BSM currently has a presence on 130 campuses around the state.

Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation has helped fund new construction and building renovations for non-profit organizations since 1948. It funds projects in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas.