Union Now

Union to break ground on new chapel April 10

April 1, 2026 - Union University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its new chapel April 10 at 2 p.m.  The freestanding chapel will be located on the eastern edge of campus next to the existing G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel in the Penick Academic Complex. It will be clearly visible from the heavily trafficked Highway 45 Bypass.  Demolition on the current chapel will begin once the spring semester concludes. Construction is expected to take about a year and a half, with plans for the new chapel to open during the spring semester of 2028.  “F... READ MORE

Gutierrez wins Union’s top academic scholarship

March 26, 2026 - Bronson Gutierrez, a high school senior from Canyon Lake, Texas, has received the 2026 Founders’ Scholarship from Union University.  This is Union’s highest academic scholarship, covering full tuition, room, meals, and student service fees for four years.  The scholarship was awarded following Union’s Scholars of Excellence event, an annual competition that invites the university’s most outstanding prospective students to campus for a weekend of interviews, discussions, and academic engagement.  “I just got the picture that if... READ MORE

Stewart affirms Bible’s reliability at 14th annual Bible Conference

March 26, 2026 - Christians have no reason to worry about the accuracy or preservation of New Testament texts, argued Robert Stewart at the Ryan Center’s 14th annual Bible Conference, held March 20–21 at Union University.  “The New Testament is the most evidenced ancient book of all time,” said Stewart, professor emeritus of philosophy and theology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the 2026 plenary speaker.  This year’s conference, entitled “Contending Earnestly: Becoming Faithful Stewards of the Word of God,” centered on apologetics, wi... READ MORE

Green urges courage and conviction in preserving Baptist and evangelical identity

March 24, 2026 - The health and faithfulness of Baptist institutions, Brad Green argued, depends on leaders willing to hold together both their Baptist identity and their broader evangelical convictions, even when institutions drift, battles are lost and the culture pushes back.  Green, professor of theological studies at Union University, made that case March 19 in Union’s 10th annual David and Lanese Dockery Lectures on Baptist Thought and Heritage.  Weaving together personal memoir and intellectual history, Green traced the historical and institut... READ MORE

Union to host NITOC debate tournament for 4th time

March 23, 2026 - Union University will host a national speech and debate tournament for home-schooled students May 17-23 that is expected to draw about 600 competitors along with their families.  This year marks the fourth time that Stoa, a national junior high and high school speech and debate league for privately educated Christian home-schooling families, has held the National Invitational Tournament of Champions on Union’s campus. Union also hosted NITOC in 2017, 2021 and 2024.  The tournament is one of the largest high school forensics national c... READ MORE

A ‘mighty evangelist’: Union mourns loss of alumnus Steve Gaines

March 20, 2026 - Ray Van Neste was a young professor at Union when he had lunch with Steve Gaines one day. Years before, when Van Neste was an undergraduate student at Union, Gaines had been his pastor at West Jackson Baptist Church and had officiated at Van Neste’s wedding with his wife Tammie.  The two had maintained a friendship and had enjoyed lunch together when Gaines was returning Van Neste to his office in Jennings Hall. Van Neste was about to get out of the car when Gaines stopped him.  “This doesn’t happen very often,” Gaines told him, “but ... READ MORE

Hoskins stresses importance of multicultural missions at annual Powell Lecture

March 17, 2026 - Multicultural missionary teams are the future, Ben Hoskins argued at the sixth annual W.D. Powell Missions Lecture in Union University’s Harvey Auditorium March 10.  “We're seeing the landscape changing,” said Hoskins, Union’s current missionary-in-residence and an East Asian cluster leader for the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. “With the maturing of the global church, we're seeing a shift in what global missions looks like. And the global church is now very much joining us in the Great Commission.”  Hoski... READ MORE

February 2: Snow at Union!

January 8: The Donroe Doctrine

December 24: Merry Christmas!

December 8: #38 Leigh Gray: An Honest Breath of Fresh Air

November 19: #37 Beyond the Finish Line: Connecting with Church in College

November 5: The Union University EDGE Program

October 27: #36 From the Grove to the Great Lawn: Margaret Anne's unusual Union journey