Roger A. Paynter Jr.

Roger A. Paynter, minister, professor, and pastoral counselor who led progressive Baptist congregations across the South, passed away peacefully after complications from a stroke on March 6, 2024. He was 74 years old. Roger was known as an extraordinary preacher whose theology embraced the ambiguity of the human experience, the importance of speaking truth to power, and the transformative and healing nature of grace. Roger stood with thousands of his congregants, students, and friends during their most joyful and tragic moments, and always met these experiences with a humanity that eschewed platitudes, orthodoxy, or evangelism–choosing instead to weep, celebrate, or face life’s deepest questions alongside them. His faith was centered around action and living out the teachings of Christ: Roger possessed a deep compassion for those who were suffering and felt called to take on controversial issues in the pulpit and beyond, always with the hope of creating a more just and understanding world.

He is survived by his children, Grayson (Kelly) Paynter and Mary Kathryn Paynter, his grandchildren, Scout and Sailor Paynter, his partner, Janet Hale, his sisters Maita (Charlie) Smith and Laura Lee Graham (Mike) Flynn, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents, Roger Allen Paynter, Sr. and Juanita Goss Paynter, his brother, Brad Liggett, and his sister Donna Liggett Heartsill. He is also survived by his former wife, Suzii Youngblood Paynter March, and the many members of the Youngblood family he dearly loved.

He was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma and spent his teenage years in Oklahoma City. Athletic, quick-witted, and extroverted from a young age, he became a star football player and was crowned Homecoming King at Putnam City High School. He attended Oklahoma State University to play football as a redshirt freshman but transferred to Baylor University soon after, where he graduated in 1972. He was a lifelong Boomer Sooner and some of his most cherished memories were at the OU games he regularly attended with his father.

In the summer of 1969, upon the prodding of his Young Life leader, Frog Sullivan, Roger took a job as a counselor at the newly-formed Laity Lodge Youth Camp in Leakey, TX, a position that would change the course of his life when he met his co-counselor and fellow canoeing instructor, Suzii Youngblood. Suzii would become his wife in 1971 and the family they created together over their forty-four year marriage was Roger’s greatest delight in life.

He received his Master’s degree in Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY and completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. While a student at TCU, he received a fellowship to study at Oxford University as part of his doctoral work. He spent one term at Mansfield College in Oxford, focusing on Patristics and Jeremiah, and returned to TCU where he completed his work in Pastoral Care and Counseling. He was elected to the Theological Honor Society by TCU faculty.

Roger began his pastoral work as a Youth Minister at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco while a student at Baylor. During seminary, he was a pastoral intern at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, following two of his mentors, John Claypool and Grady Nutt. He was ordained in 1975 and returned to Texas, serving as the Associate Pastor at The Church at Highland Park in Austin. He served as the Senior Pastor at Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi, and at First Austin, retiring in 2014. He was most recently leading the congregation at First Christian Church in Smithville,TX, a position that brought him great joy.

He dedicated his career in ministry to challenging the growing wave of fundamentalism in the Baptist church and offered a theology that was authentically aligned with the Baptist heritage of religious freedom and the priesthood of every believer. He was an early leader of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, an alternative denomination for churches who withdrew from the Southern Baptist Convention. He was a strong and early advocate for women in ministry and ordained sixteen Baptist women as clergy in his career.

Roger‘s gift for preaching and mentorship also led to a meaningful career as a teacher, serving as an Adjunct Professor of Homiletics at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest for twelve years and Adjunct Professor of Spirituality for two years, where he was elected by the faculty and students to receive the Durstan R. McDonald Award for Outstanding Faculty Member. He was also a Visiting Lecturer in Homiletics at The Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and at The International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. Additionally, Roger was a prolific writer and published numerous essays and sermons, many of which are now used as educational texts.

Throughout his life, he was active in community ministry and justice-oriented positions of leadership. He was the President and Founding Board Member of the first Texas location of the Samaritan Pastoral Counseling Center, providing free and low cost counseling services-–first in Nacogdoches, then in Waco and Austin. He was appointed Co-Chair of the Racial Reconciliation Task Force by the mayors of Jackson, MS and Austin, TX and created a chapter of Interfaith Hospitality Network in Austin, recruiting and organizing places of worship around the city to provide shelter for hundreds of unhoused Austinites weekly. He also served on the boards of Baptist Women in Ministry, Seton Cove, Habitat for Humanity, the Baptist House of Studies at Duke, the Baptist Board at TCU, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists. Additionally, Roger was instrumental in the early development of both Laity Lodge Youth Camp and Southwest Baptist Youth Camp, creating faith-based camping experiences for youth that have thrived annually for over fifty years since.

Roger’s signature benediction prayer features a quote from one of his favorite theologians, William Sloane Coffin, and will remain his most powerful call to action: “May God give you grace not to sell yourself short; grace to risk something big for something good; and grace to remember the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.”

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to R.Norris FBO Roger A. Paynter Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 160520 Austin, TX 78716.

Two services will be held to honor Roger’s life. An informal night of music. The Church at Highland Park & storytelling to celebrate Roger Paynter, called his Jubilee, will be held on Tuesday, April 16th at 4:30 PM at The Church at Highland Park in Austin, Texas. His funeral will be held on Thursday, April 25th at 2:00 PM at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. A reception and visitation will follow at 3:00 PM. . The service will be live streamed on The Youtube channel for those unable to attend.

https://www.youtube.com/@thechurchathp/streams