Environmental Issues Lecture Set

09/04/08

Belton, Texas - The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will host the first Environmental Issues and the Christian Faith Lecture on Monday, September 8, at 11:00 a.m. in the Lord Conference Center of Parker Academic Center.

The guest speaker will be Suzii Paynter, director of the Christian Life Commission at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Paynter has served for the past five years as the director of Public Policy and Citizenship Education Christian Life Commission at the BGCT. Paynter manages the Austin office of the Christian Life Commission, speaking to Texas Baptists on a wide range of issues related to ethics and public policy. Mrs. Paynter and the Christian Life Commission have been recognized during recent Texas Legislative sessions for effective work by Capitol Inside, Texans Standing Tall, (advocates to prevent underage drinking) and the AARP. She is an active member of coalitions and interfaith efforts to affect legislation and policy.

Paynter has served in leadership in many Baptist groups and institutions, including the Baylor Alumni Association. Currently, she serves on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council, Texas Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and is a recent board member and officer of the Baptist Joint Committee, Washington D.C., Religious Liberty Council, Washington D.C. and Whittsett Baptist Heritage Society. In the Austin community, Paynter has served as president of the Samaritan Counseling Center Austin and is a board member of Texas Impact and the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas. Paynter was recently awarded the Distinguished Service to Social Welfare award from the North American Association of Christians in Social Work.

For 25 years Mrs. Paynter served as a national literacy professional, professor and consultant. In her role as an educational leader, she advocated in state and federal policy to provide systemic remedies for hard to teach populations. Previously on the faculty at Stephen F. Austin University and Baylor University, she has been an advocate for religious liberty issues, literacy and early intervention for high-risk children.

The one-hour event at UMHB will be hosted by the College of Sciences and will be free and open to the public.

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