Profile
by Andrea Laurita
Dr. Baylis became known for his quick comebacks
Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice
Hardships deepen
seminary professor
One of Dr. Baylis' greatest joys is spending time
with his two grandchildren. -Dr. Baylis, photo
In 1971, the president of Multnomah Bible College, Dr. Willard Aldrich, traveled to Dallas because one of his sons was graduating from Dallas Seminary. Multnomah had grown quickly, and Dr. Aldrich was interviewing Dallas graduates, including Dr. Baylis, to join his faculty. "I had never heard of Multnomah before," Dr. Baylis said, "but people said it was a wonderful place and if I had a chance to teach there then I should take it."
Fresh out of seminary, Dr. Baylis and his wife, Theota, traveled west with few possessions and little foreknowledge of what to expect when they arrived.
The first year of Dr. Baylis' teaching career was challenged him. "My first class was History and Poetry, " Dr. Baylis said. "I was the new teacher and there were a bunch of smart, enthusiastic students who decided to put me through the paces." Several students in his first class tried to test their new professor by asking questions about details in the text.
"I would go home and read the commentaries and go over my material again," Dr. Baylis said. "They kept me on my toes, and I returned the favor." Dr. Baylis became known for his quick comebacks to his students' random questions.
Dr. Baylis and Theota started their family soon after arriving in the Northwest.
They had three children, Elena, Al and Mark, during their first six years at Multnomah.
One pivotal night in 1985, while Theota was driving home from Fellowship Bible Church where Dr. Baylis was the co-founder and a pastor, she was killed in a car accident.
Dr. Baylis took off a month of work after his wife's death. The school's summer vacation was one month away, so other faculty filled in for Dr. Baylis during the final month of the semester. "I spent most of the time with the kids, getting used to running things without mom," Dr. Baylis said. "That was an important summer for our family."
The following school year, he started teaching at the seminary. He taught morning classes and exercised flexible office hours to be with his children when they were home from school. "Having what I consider to be an important ministry gave me some reason to get up in the morning," Dr. Baylis said. "Teaching students and ministering God's Word is a privilege; I wondered how it would be for people who had mediocre jobs to go back to work."
In May of 1987, Dr. Baylis married Barbara Falletta, a single mother who was a student at Multnomah. Dr. Baylis and Ms. Falletta met at the church where Dr. Baylis had been a leader with Theota. Ms. Falletta also served food in the faculty dining room at Multnomah. "She is very attractive and intelligent, and I noticed her," Dr. Baylis said. The Baylises slowly adjusted to their new blended family. They made every effort to be involved in their children's activities, and they set Saturday nights aside as family pizza night.
In 1993, Al, Dr. Baylis' son, was diagnosed with cancer. Al was an 18-year-old freshman at Multnomah when he learned of the rare bone cancer in his hip. "It was all-consuming," Mrs. Baylis said. "We spent more than half of that year driving young Al back and forth to Children's Hospital in Seattle." The Baylises took turns staying home with the other children. Dr. Baylis spent his weekends staying in the hospital with his oldest son.
"Twice Al went into the hospital for a biopsy on his hip, and both times I kept expecting the lab technician to report that he could not find the cancer," Dr. Baylis said.
"I wasn't lacking in faith; I was expecting the Lord to do everything the way that I wanted it to happen."
Al endured nearly 30 surgeries, and he tried to take classes in between his double-dosed treatments. Dr. Baylis penned a revision and expansion to his book "On the Way To Jesus" while at the hospital with Al during the hip replacement operation. "I was finishing my writing about the Psalms during that time," Dr. Baylis said. "It gave me a feel for the pain expressed in the those chapters."
Young Al died in September of 1998.
"My husband had such an attitude of hope," Mrs. Baylis said. "He continued to do what needed to get done. because we were in such a difficult circumstance, we had to learn to be good receivers of people's love."
"There is a kind of fraternity of pain," Dr. Baylis said. "People who have been through certain things are able to make an automatic connection. "God has so many things that he desires to accomplish with some event in our lives, and we try to see one thing and to simplify it. But what he has in mind is not just for us."
The difficult experiences of Dr. Baylis' life have given him a greater passion for teaching. He is the chairman of the Bible and Theology Department at Multnomah's Seminary, teaching theological and apologetics classes.
Last year Dr. Baylis led the committee that started the M.Div. of Theological Studies program. "When you think of dreams and visions, being a part of the seminary and seeing that grow and come together has been a big part of what I have been pleased to be a part of," he said. "I don't really have any hobbies. I like teaching Scripture and interacting with students; that's what I do."
"Dr. Baylis' contribution to the seminary is enormous on both an academic and on a personal level," Dr. Don Brake, MultnomahVice President and Dean of the Seminary, said. "He has a warm heart for God, and he is a real scholar, which is rare to find in a man."
Dr. Baylis has come a long way from the one-room school house where he started his formal education years ago. Through hardships and accomplishments, his greatest desire remains to instruct his students to know the Word of God well and to impact their lives for the benefit of their future ministry.
Now, at 61 years of age, the man who is so highly respected by his peers sits behind a can of Diet Pepsi and a tidied desk. His soft blue eyes scan the ceiling-high shelves filled with volumes of theological books, including the two he wrote, and he smiles." I always thought I'd like to die with my boots on teaching," he said. "My genetics show that I've probably got about 10 more years, so I'm going to keep teaching."
Previous Profiles | Top Of Page
Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website
© 2003 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.