James T. Draper, Jr.

James Thomas "Jimmy" Draper, Jr.
Born	October 10, 1935 Hartford, Sebastian County Arkansas, USA
Residence	Colleyville Tarrant County, Texas
Alma mater	Millby High School in Houston, Texas Baylor University Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Occupation	Southern Baptist clergyman; President of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1982 to 1984 Former president of Lifeway Christian Resources
Years active	1956 - present
Spouse(s)	Carol Ann Floyd Draper
Children	James Randall Draper Bailey Ray Draper Terri Jean Draper Wilkinson
Parent(s)	James T. Draper, Sr. Lois Jeanne Keeling Draper

James Thomas "Jimmy" Draper, Jr. (born October 10, 1935), is a prominent figure in the theologically conservative Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. He was the SBC president from 1982 to 1984.

Beginning in 1979, religious conservatives began a decade-long process to gain control of the denomination from a more moderate element that had been in authority. Draper was elected denominational president by the convention delegates, known as messengers, for two one-year terms in 1982 and 1983. The president is restricted to two consecutive terms, but he may sit out a term and run thereafter. From 1991 to February 1, 2006, Draper headed the LifeWay Christian Resources (formerly known as the SBC Sunday School Board).

Early years and education

Draper was born to a Baptist minister, James T. Draper, Sr. (1913–1966), and the former Lois Jeanne Keeling (1912–1997) in Hartford near Fort Smith in south Sebastian County in western Arkansas. The senior Draper was a pastor in Hartford at the time Draper, Jr., was born. The Drapers moved about in the ministry. Draper graduated in 1953 from Millby High School in Houston. He thereafter received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baylor University in Waco in 1957. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth in 1961. In 1973, the seminary upgraded Draper's credentials to Master of Arts in theology because of an overhaul of the curriculum.

Draper and his family have had a long connection with Southwestern Seminary. His grandfather was in the first seminary class in 1910, and his father, brother, and son-in-law all obtained theology degrees from Southwestern. He is a former chairman of the Southwestern trustees.

Draper was one of the leading voices in the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention.^[1] Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, scores of Southern Baptist moderates left the SBC and formed new seminaries and other institutions, including a theological seminary affiliated with Baylor University (the original home of Southwestern). Many of the moderates also joined the new, more liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

At the time of his death, the senior Draper was pastor in Warren, the seat of Bradley County in southern Arkansas. The senior Drapers are interred in Warren.

Pastoring seven churches

Draper has been a pastor in Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. In Texas between 1956 and 1965, he was a pastor in (1) Bryan, (2) Iredell in Bosque County, (3) Tyler, and (4) San Antonio. He then accepted the pastorate of the Red Bridge Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. After five years, he left Kansas City in 1970 for First Southern Baptist of Del City, a community within Oklahoma County and part of the Oklahoma City metroplex.

Draper left Del City in 1974 to return to Texas. He became associate pastor at First Baptist of Dallas, then the largest Baptist congregation in the world, whose members included the evangelist Billy Graham. He was being groomed to succeed the legendary W.A. Criswell as pastor. However, Draper concluded, correctly as it turned out, that Criswell was not yet ready to retire. So, in 1975, Draper accepted the pastorate of the large First Baptist of Euless, a suburban community near Fort Worth in Tarrant County.

James T. Draper Jr.'s name was taken out of a controversial book on Freemasonry by the author, Ed Decker. In the first printing of What You Need To Know About ... Masons, Decker wrote that Draper, while president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1982 to 1984, "was a Mason." The book does not mention that Draper resigned as a Mason in 1984. The reference to Draper sparked a firestorm of complaint against his book, Decker acknowledged. It "was never meant by me to be a slur against Jimmy Draper," Decker said.

Decker, who resides in Issaquah, Washington, said he considers Draper "as a hero, not as a villain for taking the only stand that a true man of God would take" concerning membership in a Masonic lodge: He resigned his membership. Decker's book, published by Harvest House of Eugene, Oregon, is now in its second printing. Draper has acknowledged becoming a Mason as a pastor in the late 1960s and serving as lodge chaplain for a year. He said he became inactive when he moved but continued paying dues to lodges in communities where he was a minister. He said he resigned his membership in 1984 after a Christian who had researched Masonry confronted him with some of its teachings.

Four honorary degrees

Draper has received honorary degrees from: Howard Payne University in Brownwood in Brown County in central Texas, Dallas Baptist University, California Baptist University in Riverside, and Campbell University in Buies Creek in Harnett County in central North Carolina. Draper has no earned doctorate and avoids use of the term "Dr." However, many address him accordingly because of the four honorary degrees.

The LifeWay years

Draper left Euless after sixteen years to assume the presidency of LifeWay; this required his relocation to the SBC national headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. Wayne L. DuBose, currently the Director of Missions in northwestern Louisiana, headed the search committee which initially tapped Draper for the position. At first, Draper declined the invitation on the grounds that his strength lay in pastoring, rather than administration. DuBose persisted, and Draper accepted.

LIfeWay is among the largest distributors of Christian literature and services in the world, with more than 151 retail outlets throughout the United States, but LifeWay sells worldwide. The outlets are mostly in larger cities. Under Draper, LifeWay broadened its offerings and promoted sales more aggressively. "We have a great group of employees. I freed them up to work and tried not to restrict their creativity," Draper said. The Drapers lived in Brentwood during that period of time.

Draper explained his retirement from LifeWay after almost fifteen years in the position: "Retirement from an administrative position in today’s world may sometimes be construed as a departure from labor altogether. In no way is this my intention. As a minister, I will never retire. I cannot retire from ordination, the call to preach or the compulsion of the Holy Spirit to work and witness as a Christian minister.”

Thom S. Rainer, (born 1955) was named to succeed Draper as LifeWay president. Rainer had been the dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Draper the author

Draper is also the author of more than twenty-five Christian books, including a history of LifeWay Resources. He has traveled in thirty-three countries to lead evangelistic services and activities as well as conferences and meetings with missionaries and Christian leaders in those countries.

Some of Draper's books include:

Authority: The Critical Issues for Southern Baptists (1984)

We Believe: Living in the Light of God's Truth (2004)

Biblical Authority: The Critical Issue for the Body of Christ (2001)

Every Christian a Minister: Finding Joy and Fulfillment in Serving God (also 2001).

Recent activities

Draper has also been a trustee of the Southern Baptist Annuity Board, which handles the retirement investments of pastors and SBC employees, and the vice president and president of the executive board of the Tarrant County Baptist Association. On August 9, 2015, Draper officially began serving as interim pastor at Cana Baptist Church in Burleson, Texas and is scheduled to serve until the church finds a replacement for their former pastor, Dr. Charles Stewart, who retired on May 31, 2015.

In November 2009, Draper signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that violate their religious consciences.^[2]

Family

Draper is married to the former Carol Ann Floyd, who was born in San Antonio in 1937 and grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas. They reside in Colleyville in northeastern Tarrant County. The couple has three children. Son James Randall Draper (born 1957) is in jewelry sales and is a lay preacher at his church, Fellowship Church. Younger son Bailey Ray Draper (born 1960), is a home builder. He recently built his parents' home. Daughter Terri Jean Wilkinson (born 1961) is the wife of Michael Don Wilkinson (born ca. 1963), former pastor of singles at Central Baptist of Bryan as well as pastor to young and median adults at First Baptist in Rockwall, Texas. He is currently Dean of the College at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Coincidentally, the senior Draper's first pastorate was also in Bryan but not at the same church that their son-in-law had formerly been pastor of the singles.

References

1. http://sbcvoices.com/paige-patterson/
2. Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

http://www.nycradio.com/weblogs/jdraper/date05312005.aspx

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http://www.cbcbryan.org/singles