14 Facts About Morris Chapman

Morris Chapman graduated from Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi and earned the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Morris Chapman was awarded three honorary degrees, the Doctor of Sacred Theology, Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri ; the Doctor of Divinity, Mississippi College ; and the Doctor of Sacred Theology, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona.

Morris Chapman served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Rogers, Texas, First Baptist Church of Woodway in Waco, Texas, and First Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he served as president of the New Mexico Baptist Convention.

Morris Chapman became pastor of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, and was president of the 1986 SBC Pastors' Conference in Atlanta.

Morris Chapman was president of the SBC until 1992, when he was elected president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.

In February 2003, Morris Chapman called on Southern Baptists to return to their heritage.

In November 2005, Morris Chapman defended the SBC against what he saw as harsh criticism about the church's conservative direction in former US President Jimmy Carter's book, Our Endangered Values and attacked Carter's positions on subjects such as abortion and homosexuality.

Morris Chapman disputed the contention that Baptists had a negative image, and pointed out that the SBC was by no means a "white" organization since of the 43,071 churches 4,742 said they were mainly "ethnic" and 2,085 said they were mainly African-American.

In June 2006, Morris Chapman said that an excessive emphasis on Calvinism should be avoided to prevent division in the church.

Morris Chapman called on Baptists to avoid disputing minor issues and to commit to cooperation in missions to spread the word of Jesus throughout the world.

In May 2009, Morris Chapman spoke out against the Great Commission Resurgence Declaration, specifically Article IX of this declaration which was critical of the organization of the SBC and proposed a number of changes.

In September 2009, while announcing his plan to retire, Morris Chapman said he would launch an initiative to support a "Great Commission Resurgence".

Morris Chapman publicly opposed the report, saying "the recommendations are about moving the chairs on the deck of the Titanic while the ship goes down into an icy, watery grave".

Morris Chapman issued a list of alternate recommendations to those given by the task force.