FROM THE DIRECTOR
Earlier this month, Baylor welcomed Doug McNamee as our new athletic director.
Attending the welcome event on December 8 was a special moment that represented Baylor at its best. A standing-room-only crowd gathered inside the Hurd Center, where McNamee talked about his vision for Baylor Athletics.
I came away energized, encouraged, and reminded again of what makes Baylor a special place. As a Protestant Christian research university competing in Power Four athletics, Baylor is, as McNamee said, “one of one.”
Now, that does not mean Baylor always gets it right. There are plenty of examples in our past and present where we have fallen short. But it does mean that we do not give up on the mission. It means that we stay in the struggle.
Earlier this year, in an essay about golfer Scottie Scheffler, I unpacked this idea a little bit more. Here’s an excerpt:
“When I see a Christian athlete who says all the right things about identity and priorities while also standing at the top of his field, there’s a part of me that thinks, ‘See, you can have it all.’
Yet if you listen to the full five-minute clip from Scheffler’s interview, you can hear something more profound and perhaps even more relatable to our own situations. He speaks not as a man who has solved the problem but as someone in the struggle right now. ‘Why do I want to win the tournament so bad?’ he says. ‘That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.’
Life is long. The struggle doesn’t stop even if we say the right words. As soon as we think we’ve figured it out, we realize we’ve drifted down the wrong path. This is why we need Christ and each other. And it’s precisely why it’s good to be reminded that our striving and our achievements will not bring fulfillment—whether that reminder comes from the best golfer in the world, the athlete on the margins, or the ordinary believers who walk alongside us in our daily lives.”
As I think back over the past year, I am grateful for the opportunities we have had to collaborate with other Christians in sports who are in the struggle too, who are striving for both competitive excellence and authentic Christian formation and witness.
The challenges are immense. From drastic shifts in the college sports landscape, to the rise of sports gambling, to the pressures of youth sports, there are no easy solutions.
But those challenges are precisely why we need to be in the struggle together, seeking to bring out what is good, true, and beautiful in the sports that we love. Below, you can check out some of the ways we have been doing this in 2025. We’re grateful for all of you who have been right there with us along the way.
Paul Emory Putz
Director, Faith & Sports Institute
TRAINING AND EDUCATING LEADERS
Serving students is at the heart of what we do, allowing us to form and shape leaders who go on to influence sports ministry, high schools and colleges, churches, and more.
In 2025, 80 students enrolled in one of our online certificate courses, and we currently have 45 students enrolled in one of our graduate degree programs. The MA in Theology and Sports Studies degree, launched in 2022, celebrated a milestone this summer with its tenth graduate.
Scott Staal, Director of Ministry Strategies for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was one of those graduates. “The FSI program was nothing short of transformational,” he said, “as it reshaped how I view Jesus’ invitation for coaches and athletes to follow Him in today’s sports culture.”
BAYLOR COLLABORATIONS
Over the past year FSI has collaborated with Baylor Athletics in a variety of ways. We partnered on a grant focused on strengthening faith-based character formation in college sports, placed residential students as fellows with Baylor’s sports ministry team, and helped to host the Champions Redefined Retreat for student-athletes (pictured above).
In an interview with Sports Spectrum,new Baylor sports chaplain Kevin Washington talked about this growing relationship. “FSI has been transformational for us, a partner we can lean on, press into, and serve with,” he shared.
In addition to Baylor Athletics, FSI has developed strong collaborative relationships with Baylor’s Center for School Leadership (CSL) and the Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL), and John White also participated in a Baylor in Washington event focused on college sports.
SERVING THE CHURCH
Earlier this year we hosted our first Youth Sports Summit. Fifty people from the Waco area came to Truett to listen, learn, and build community around their shared desire to see churches and parents engage more deeply with the challenges and possibilities of youth sports.
One of our featured speakers was Brian Smith, a graduate from our MA in Theology and Sports Studies program. Brian recently co-authored Away Game: A Christian Parent’s Guide to Navigating Youth Sports, a book that was shaped in part by his time as a Truett student.
Beyond the youth sports question, several FSI students are currently serving within churches and FSI has also established a regular presence at the annual REACH Gathering, an event for church-based sports, recreation, and fitness ministries.
SERVING THE SPORTS/FAITH COMMUNITY
Over the summer, FSI hosted the 4th Global Congress on Sport and Christianity. More than 250 people from 35 different states and 10 different countries met at Truett to explore the connections between sports and Christianity in a deeper way. Attendees included sports ministers, scholars, coaches, pastors, athletic directors, and more.
Feedback from post-event surveys highlight the conference’s impact: 99% said that they came away inspired to continue studying or engaging in the intersection of sports and Christianity; 96% said that they learned something new that will be helpful in their research, work, and/or ministry; and 94% said they made a meaningful new connection or relationship.
Read Jenna Patteson’s reflections at the Faith & Sports blog to learn more.
In June, FSI, Baylor Athletics, and Baylor’s Center for School Leadership also collaborated to host the first FIT Sports Leadership Summit. Christian coaches and athletic directors at high schools and middle schools across the country gathered together to learn best practices for integrating faith within the sports experience. A cohort of 25 school leaders from that event continued to meet this fall as part of a Virtual Learning Network.
SHAPING PUBLIC CONVERSATION
As part of a Christian research university, FSI seeks to advance understanding and deepen public knowledge of the intersection of sports and Christianity. Subjects of research interest for our staff and network of collaborators includes youth sports, character formation, history, sports chaplaincy, theology, ethics, and more.
One highlight from the past year came from Paul Putz’s book, The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports (Oxford University Press). It was awarded the 2025 Brewer Prize from the American Society of Church History, which honors outstanding scholarship in the history of Christianity by a first-time author.
In addition, FSI staff and collaborators have published a variety of articles and appeared on several podcasts:
- John White co-authored an article with Matt Vos in Pro Rege: “Longing for Transcendence: Olympic Gold and Christian Virtue.”
- Austin Hallman wrote an article based on his interviews with athletic directors at Christian colleges: “Five Things to Know About Character Formation and College Sports.”
- Isaac Lee was a guest on the Sport Faith Life podcast: “Baylor, Badminton, and Becoming.”
- Paul Putz wrote several articles for Christianity Today, including an interview with retired baseball player Josh Lindblom, a look at the religious roots of Indiana’s basketball obsession, and a review of a new book about the concept of greatness in American life. He was also a guest on the Skyepod with Skye Jethani and the Gospelbound podcast with Collin Hansen.
Putting together all the pieces for what FSI is about, our 2025 chapel service featured Shelby Livingstone Anema, an assistant volleyball coach at Baylor and a graduate from our sports ministry program.
Watch her talk for inspiration as we head into a new year:
