Paine College is a private Historically Black college located in Augusta, Georgia. The mission of Paine College is "to provide a liberal arts education of the highest quality that emphasizes academic excellence, ethical and spiritual values, social responsibility, and personal development." Paine College prepares men and women for positions of leadership and encourages them to serve the African American community, the nation, and the world. Paine College strives to develop self-sufficient and productive citizens, committed to intellectual pursuits and aesthetic appreciation in a global society. Paine College was founded by the leadership of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, now United Methodist Church, and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Paine was the brainchild of Bishop Lucius Henry Holsey, who first expressed the idea for the College in 1869. Bishop Holsey asked leaders in the ME Church South to help establish a school to train Negro teachers and preachers so that they might in turn appropriately address the educational and spiritual needs of the people newly freed from the evils of slavery.