Texas Tidbits: Howard Payne receives grant for scholarships

Howard Payne University has received $25,000 in scholarship funds from TexasBank through the Doss Foundation. The gift to HPU for its Heart of Texas Scholarship Fund was part of an $88,000 contribution to Brownwood-area high schools and colleges for scholarships in 2015. In the last seven years, the Doss Foundation has donated more than $500,000 to educational institutions in the region.

CBF elects Texans to leadership. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship elected nine Texas Baptists to national leadership positions during its 2015 general assembly, June 17-19.  Beasley, senior pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, was elected to the governing board. Jackie Baugh Moore, vice president of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation in San Antonio, and Mark Wingfield, associate pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, were elected to the missions council. Katie Sciba, medical social worker with AARN Health Services in Stafford, was electged CBF recorder. Christopher Mack, minister of young adults at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, and Jenny Howell, a doctoral candidate and adjunct faculty member in the Religion Department at Baylor University in Waco, were elected to the nominating committee. Patricia Ayres, a ranching, business and investment professional from Austin; Os Chrisman, a judge and attorney from Dallas; and George Cowden, an attorney from San Antonio, were elected to the CBF Foundation.

Electrician killed at Baylor construction site. Jeffrey Thaemert, 51, of Waco, an independent electrician, died June 12 in an accident at the construction site of Baylor University’s Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. Jeffrey Thaemert“This is a terrible tragedy that touches every member of our community,” Baylor President Ken Starr said. “Our thoughts and prayers go immediately to the family of Mr. Thaemert and his friends. As those whose hope outshines our earthly bodies, we find peace in these unhappiest of times knowing that the Lord we serve is near to the brokenhearted and that he goes to prepare a place for us. We pray that this same peace, which transcends all understanding, would provide comfort to the Thaemert family at this very sad hour.” The incident marked the second death involving a construction worker at Baylor in the recent past. Last year, Jose Davrio Suarez was killed while working on the pedestrian bridge to connect McLane Stadium to the Baylor campus. 

BUA named most affordable Bible college in Texas. Baptist University of the Américas ranks No. 1 in Texas in terms of affordability and among the top 20 most affordable Bible colleges in the United States and Canada, according to a survey of 1,200 colleges and universities conducted by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. The survey determined the top 50 institutions that offer Bible-based, Christian education. Schools were selected on the basis of their ministry programs, academics, financial aid and focus on Christian culture. BUA offers bachelor’s degrees in business leadership, biblical and theological studies, human behavior, music, and Spanish language and literature, along with an associate degree in cross-cultural Studies.

Women in Ministry honors Austin church. Baptist Women in Ministry presented its 2015 Church of Excellence Award to First Baptist Church of Austin on the eve of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly in Dallas June 17. The award recognizes congregations for the advocacy of and support for women engaged in ministry. The Austin church was a leader in ordaining women as deacons and ordaining women to the gospel ministry, the award presentation noted. From 2000 to 2014 under the leadership of former Pastor Roger Paynter, the church ordained 10 women to ministry, and all of them still are active in ministry. At First Baptist, leaders come from both genders, “just as God intended it to be,” Paynter said.

CBF Foundation honors two Texans. Babs Baugh of San Antonio and Patsy Weeks of Bangs received awards from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation during the CBF general assembly in Dallas. Baugh accepted the Patricia Ayres Award for Generous Giving. She is president of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, which has supported a wide array of Baptist causes across several decades, and she has served on boards of directors of numerous Baptist organizations. Weeks received the CBF Foundation Award of Excellence. She is a retired librarian and has supported CBF weekly for years. Both 2015 recipients reflect “a lifestyle of giving,” CBF Foundation President James Smith said.

Randall tapped to lead Religious Liberty Council. The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty’s Religious Liberty Council elected Mitch Randall, pastor of NorthHaven Baptist Church in Norman, Okla.—a congregation affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas—as co-chair June 19. Randall’s election occurred during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s general assembly in Dallas. The council’s representatives on the Baptist Joint Committee board are Jackie Baugh Moore of Fair Oaks Ranch, vice president of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, and Jesse Rincones of Lubbock, executive director of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas.