Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, has launched a scholarship in memory of Morris Chapman, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention who died earlier this week at the age of 84.
The seminary announced the Morris H. and Jodi Francis Chapman Scholarship on Wednesday, saying its Board of Trustees approved allocating $20,000 from the quasi-endowment fund to support the new scholarship.
“The Southwestern community is thankful for the opportunity to establish the Morris H. and Jodi Francis Chapman Scholarship, recognizing the Chapmans’ contribution to the life of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said SWBTS President David S. Dockery.
“We continue to pray for Jodi and the family during this time of loss while giving thanks to God for the hope of the Gospel.”
The Morris H. and Jodi Francis Chapman Denominational Scholars Award will support students planning to serve the SBC in some capacity, namely those enrolled in the SBC Annual Meeting course through SWBTS.
Chapman, a prominent SBC pastor who served as president of the denomination for two terms in the 1990s and then served as SBC Executive Committee head for 18 years, died on Monday.
Chapman had strong ties to Southwestern, the Southern Baptist seminary where he earned a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. He also preached at its chapel services.
At a service held at SWBTS exactly three years before he died, Chapman told those gathered that “our one objective is to lead others to know Jesus as we know Him.”
“I told God early on I cannot preach,” Chapman said at the time. “You know what God did? He said, ‘Well, son, we’ll just look at that.’ He said, ‘I think I will call you to preach.'”
“I trusted Him maybe 99%, but I was not sure. But He is faithful. […] I am a living example of how God can take the common and do with it the uncommon.”
Chapman was part of the SBC Conservative Resurgence, a movement within the denomination that led to the ousting of theological modernists and liberals from leadership posts.
He would be the last theologically conservative SBC presidential nominee to face a moderate challenger upon his election in 1990. The following year, he ran unopposed.
Former SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Dr. Richard Land, who knew Chapman for several years, told The Christian Post after his passing that “Morris was a man of courage and conviction” and at the same time sought to be a “reconciler.”
“He and his wife, Jodi, were tremendous assets for Southern Baptists,” stated Land, who also serves as CP’s executive editor.
