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C mmunity C nnection
Deans Column
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Visit us online:
www.baylor.edu/
social_work
TM
TM
Funds sought for
endowment scholarship
Story on page 5
I would look at a situation,
and it would just make an
inordinate amount of sense
to me what they were say-
ing, the whole thing about
relationships, the whole
thing about justice, what
love really is.
Davis was born April
17, 1937, in Baskerville,
Va. She was baptized at
Ebenezer Baptist Church
and dedicated her life to
ministry at the age of 13.
She grew up in the arms of
Womans Missionary Union
(WMU), participating in
womens mission activities
throughout her childhood.
She attended Averett
College, Danville, Va., in
1958, and later transferred
to Westhampton College, in
Richmond, Va., (1955-58),
supported by WMU schol-
arships. It was in her junior
year that she found her lifes
work when she enrolled in
an Introduction to Social
Work course.
It was like somebody
was singing my song, she
remembered. I just knew
that was what I wanted to
do.
Davis attended the
Carver School of Missions
A
fter a lifetime of do-
ing what Jesus did,
until He comes again, Cora
Anne Davis died Thursday,
Nov. 9, 2006.
Davis was a pioneer
of church social work. Her
passion for the Lord and for
serving others became the
basis for her quest to inte-
grate faith with professional
social work.
It just came natu-
rally to me to put the two
(theology and social work)
together, Davis told an
interviewer in March 2005.
School remembers mentor and teacher
C. Anne Davis, first dean of Carver School
Newsletter from Baylor University School of Social Work Volume No. 16
continued on page 3
C mmunity
C nnection
and Social Work, Louisville,
Ky., (1958-60). From 1960-
1966, she was appointed by
the Home Mission Board,
Southern Baptist Conven-
tion, to the Elkhorn Baptist
Associations Baptist Center
in Lexing-
ton, Ky. In
1966, Davis
returned to
Louisville,
served on
the ministry
staff at Crescent Hill Bap-
tist Church, and pursued a
Masters of Social Work at
University of Louisvilles
Raymond A. Kent School of
Social Work.
Davis was one of the
first female faculty members
at Louisvilles The Southern
Baptist Theological Semi-
nary, appointed in 1970. In
1984, she completed her
Ph.D. in higher education
from University of Louis-
ville and became founding
dean of the Carver School
of Church Social Work at
the seminary. Davis led her
colleagues to develop the
concept of church social
work and educated gen-
erations of church social
workers currently leading
todays Baptist congrega-
tions, mission programs and
religiously affiliated organi-
zations. In addition to her
faculty role, Davis sermons
and writings urged Baptist
churches to
take seri-
ously their
social
responsibil-
ity in the
world and
their obligation to provide
community leadership for
important social and ethical
issues.
For Southern Baptist
women seeking ministry
positions from the 70s
I am in this work
because I believe that
as a Christian, I have
no other alternative I
love the name of the
semester that begins in
January Spring Semester.
The words conjure hope in
a future not yet seen but
remembered, one full of
blooming azaleas and tulips
and warm showers of rain.
Those images enliven these
gray winter school days
with anticipation for the
seasonal changes but also for
the changes that will occur
in the lives of our students
who will join the growing
ranks of Baylor Social Work
alumni in a few short months. I
look at the promise of their lives of
service, and I know they will become
a transformative presence in hurting
lives just as surely as I know spring
will come. Its a future not yet seen,
but I have memories of its reality as
Ive watched one class after another
graduate and then later learned of
their inspired service in some of the
hardest places in the world.
My very favorite part of my job
is collecting stories of the work of
our alumni. I see that work with
my own eyes as I travel around the
country and meet with you. You will
read stories in this issue of some of
those very special people we have the
joy of calling our alumni, such as
Darla Bailey, who is leading the effort
to gather our alumni and encourage
them to remember C. Anne Davis
with an endowed scholarship in her
name (see story, page 5). Alums, when
you tell us stories of your professional
work, you give us a great gift. We
celebrate your commitment and
successes.
Celebrating social work
One of my passions is gathering
groups of social work alumni both
from Baylor and the Carver School

and forming regional networks. As
social workers, we know that each
of us is like an individual thread
and can easily be broken. But, when
woven together we become a virtually
unbreakable rope of strength. For
where two or three come together
in my name, there am I with them
said Jesus (Matthew 18:20). That is
empowerment!
Will you help me form a
network in your city or region?
Network gatherings do not have to
be elaborate. Gathering for a cup of
coffee is a great way to begin. We will
share postal and e-mail addresses for
Join us in Dallas and DC for birthday parties
by Diana Garland
Diana R. Garland is dean
of the School of Social Work
Dean Garland met with a
group of alumni in
Ridgecrest, N.C., this fall,
and provided three hours
of CEUs in a workshop.
alumni in your area. One of
your faculty members can
join you. We also can offer
a CEU workshop.

The two most
important gatherings in
the next six months are
in Dallas, the NACSW
Convention (March 8-
11) (www.nacsw.org),
and in Washington, D.C., at the
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (June
28-30) (www.thefellowship.info). At
both occasions, Friday night in Dallas
and Thursday night in D.C., we will
be having a blow-out celebration
for alumni and friends. Please try to
make at least one of these parties!
Events for our alumni are being
planned at both of these events.
We will be celebrating the
centennial year of social work
education in Baptist life for the
church. The WMU Training School
was founded in 1907, and because
we are the proud carriers of that
tradition, we are celebrating our
birthday. There is more information
about both of these events elsewhere
in this newsletter.
Please share your news with us.
We love to feature the stories of the
work our alumni are doing. If we can
help you weave a rope of support in
your region, let us know. You are the
delight of our lives.
NACSW Convention
March 8-11 in Dallas
h g
CBF Assembly
June 28-30
Washington, D.C.
 Celebrating social work
Davis
continued from page 1
through the 90s, Davis was a model
and a source of encouragement, both
written and verbal. She was a skilled
preacher and the first woman dean
in a Southern Baptist seminary. For
social workers called to professional
ministry, Anne Davis provided a
model for integrating that calling
with professional social work prepara-
tion.
Davis reflected upon three rea-
sons why she gave her life to church
social work: a) she was imitating the
life and model of Jesus; b) she drew
from scripture a justice mandate
and priestly mandate that called
Christians to serve others; and c) she
understood social ministries to be
an integral part of the nature of the
church: that Christians were to do
what Jesus did until He comes again.
Davis twice saw her beloved Carver
School closed. But she had faith that
God would allow her to continue
the work to which she was called. In
1997, Davis launched a series of Bible
studies called, Come Go With Me.
The following year she moved
to Waco, Texas, where some of her
friends and former Carver School
colleagues had settled. Davis served
as Director of Operations for the
Advocacy Center for Crime Victims
and Children, an agency directed by
one of her former students. Davis also
served as a consultant to Baylor Uni-
versity School of Social Work, help-
ing to design a new MSW curriculum
to carry on the dream of social work
education for the church that was
deferred when Carver was closed.
In 2003, struggling with health
concerns, Davis retired. But she kept
in touch with many students, col-
leagues and church workers who have
been inspired by her ministry and
leadership. She died in Waco at the
age of 69.
Davis left a tremendous legacy
for ministers and laypersons con-
cerned about social ministry. She
articulated a biblical basis for helping
and a reminder that every Christian is
called to minister to one another.
In 1979, Davis spoke of her
motivation. I am not in this work
because of the needs of the world.
I am in this work because I believe
that as a Christian, I have no other
alternative but to be in this work, she
said. You see, its not because of the
sad condition of the world that the
church needs to minister; it is because
it is inherent to the very nature of the
church that it must do that, as bodies
must breathe. By Laine Scales
T
hose of us privileged to have studied with Anne
Davis will always remember stories that she told.
Much like the Master Storyteller, Jesus, Anne taught
us with stories that had multiple layers of meaning
illustrations about human behavior, social work practice,
or theological truth; usually all of the above at one time.

One story in particular that has stayed with me
comes from her days as director of the Baptist Center in