AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — God's people embody Christ's character when they reclaim their prophetic voice and speak truth to power, a Christian lobbyist told participants at an awards banquet sponsored by Associated Baptist Press.
“In the realm of convictions and the role of religious voices in the public square, we need to be reminded of the prophetic role — to speak to. Speaking to power is about the prophetic voice,” said Suzii Paynter, director of citizenship and public policy for the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission.
To remain prophetic, Christians must not be co-opted by the seats of power, she suggested. “Can you imagine the Old Testament prophets on a conference call with the king to get the message straight?”
Paynter brought the keynote speech at a banquet honoring Baptist philanthropist and social-concerns activist Patricia Ayres of Austin. Ayres received the ABP Founders Award at the Sept. 30 event, held in conjunction with the news service's board of directors meeting.
Ayres, a former national moderator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and president of the Shield Ayres Foundation, originally was slated to receive the award Sept. 13, 2001, but the event had to be postponed when air traffic was grounded after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Several speakers joked about spending four years “chasing down” Ayres to honor her, because she avoided the spotlight.
“This is not about celebrities of faith or a Baptist hall of fame,” Paynter said. “This is about showing up and being present when incarnation wriggles out of its cocoon hand-in-wing with God.”
She pointed to Ayres as an example of Christ-like character during a crucial period in Baptist life.
“In the community of faith, there appear from time to time singular or striking lives that awaken a new incarnation of the character of Christ — lives of persons who embody the convictions of community but in a new way, who share the vision of the community but with a new scope of power, and who exhibit the distinctives of the community but with significant differences,” Paynter said.
Ayres' life fits that description, she said, comparing it to “a hand holding up opera glasses to provide a lens so others can see a larger moral vision of the community of faith.”
Ayres emerged as an early advocate and key financial supporter of a freestanding Baptist news service, and the ABP Founders Award could be named for Ayres because no one exemplifies its spirit better, said Executive Editor Greg Warner.
“I truly believe philanthropy is a spiritual gift, and she has the rare ability to give graciously as well as generously,” Warner said.
He pointed to her contributions — not only monetary, but also in terms of time and energy — to freedom of the press, religious liberty, world hunger and the welfare of children.
She has served on the boards of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Religious Liberty Council, Bread for the World, the Baylor University School of Social Work, the T.B. Maston Foundation, Texans Care for Children and Baptist Child and Family Services.
She and her husband, Bob, also are active in many other charitable causes and community-based institutions.
During their two-day meeting, ABP directors adopted a preliminary 2006 budget of $484,000, a slight decrease from 2005. They approved filling two vacant positions — an assistant editor and administrative assistant — as soon as possible.
Directors welcomed three new members: Cheryl Allen, a financial planner and member of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss.; John Freeman, an attorney and member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas; and Bill Wilson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dalton, Ga.