ARRINGTON, Tenn. — The memorial service honoring the long-reaching legacy of Morris H. Chapman pointed to a life of integrity and an unwavering commitment to God’s kingdom through the work and vision of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Chapman served as SBC president for 1990-1992 before stepping into the role of president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee (EC), a tenure lasting 18 years. He died Oct. 20 at the age of 84.

The celebration service was held Oct. 24 at Triune Baptist Church in Arrington, Tenn., where Chapman and his wife Jodi have been members for three years.

Chapman was “a rare man among men,” said Bob Rodgers, former vice president for the Cooperative Program at the Executive Committee and a retired U.S. Army colonel, in his memorial service message. Rodgers drew from James 3:17 to describe Chapman as a statesman who put personal interest aside for the long-term good of the convention.

“Morris was the champion of the Cooperative Program … and he pursued that with a passion,” Rodgers said, adding that Chapman’s life was marked with “a love and passion for the lost.”

A Mississippi native, Chapman received master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and served churches in New Mexico and Texas.

Under Chapman’s leadership as pastor of First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas (1979-1992), the congregation increased their giving through the Cooperative Program to 16% of total undesignated receipts.

For many, Chapman is known for his role in helping Southern Baptists refocus a commitment to evangelism, missions and cooperative giving and in helping implement the vision of the Conservative Resurgence.

As news broke of Chapman’s passing on Oct. 20, many entity leaders and those impacted by his friendship and leadership expressed their gratitude and regard.

James T. Draper Jr., a longtime friend and fellow entity leader during Chapman’s SBC service, reflected on his “dear friend” and their shared 50-plus years of ministry.

“(Chapman) pastored some of the great churches in the SBC before becoming president of the Executive Committee,” said Draper, former president of Lifeway Christian Resources. “He was the pastor for my mother’s brothers and sisters at FBC (First Baptist Church) in Albuquerque for years. We traveled together for Baptist World Alliance meetings around the world while we both served as presidents of Lifeway and EC.

“He nominated me for the presidency of the SBC in 1982. Our lives have been intertwined in many ways over the course of more than five decades. He has been a sterling leader with unbending commitment to the Word of God in all his ministry. … He will be greatly missed and always cherished for his leadership in our convention,” Draper said.

At the service, Jeff Elliott, pastor of Triune Baptist Church, acknowledged Chapman’s legacy to the convention but expressed his appreciation for Chapman’s pastoral care to his family in a moment of personal need.

“If truth be told, he was probably more of a pastor to me than I was to him,” Elliott said. To the family, he said, “Thank you.”

Chapman is survived by his wife Jodi; son and daughter-in-law Chris and Renee Chapman; daughter and son-in-law Stephanie and Scott Evans; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

In a moving tribute to his father, Chris Chapman spoke of his father’s love for people and for telling others about Jesus. While his father hesitated as a young man to answer God’s call to ministry from a sense of inadequacy as a speaker and preacher, Chris said God used his father to “touch people and change lives.

“I’m glad Dad said ‘I can’t’ rather than ‘I won’t,’” Chris said. He added that his father lived a genuine life of principle regardless of who was watching.

“He was the same at home as he was in the pulpit,” Chris said. “He was my example of integrity.” In closing, he added, “Dad was a regular guy who gave his whole life (to Christ). I was privileged to have a front row seat.”

In his tribute, Benjamin Cole, longtime friend and Baptist News Global writer, praised Chapman for his effective leadership through difficult times.

“For decades, he stood tall, most often above the fray, and exemplified to the thousands of us, and the tens of thousands of us who gather every June, a sense of the dignity, the purpose, the doctrinal fidelity and the cooperative unity that became ours when the Lord restored the fortunes of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Cole described his close friendship with Chapman, whom he described as “a counselor and advisor, my encourager, often my compass, and for nearly two decades one of my most trusted spiritual guides.”

On display below the pulpit during the service was a bronze statue of the Sower from Jesus’s parable in Matthew 13, an award Cole noted was presented to Chapman by the EC for his support and commitment to the Cooperative Program.

“Dr. Chapman would want that to be how we remember him,” Cole said. “He would want it to remind us that the fields are yet white unto harvest.”

Chapman’s leadership led to the week-long evangelistic and outreach initiative “Crossover” held in the host city each year prior to the SBC annual meeting.

At a 2002 luncheon honoring Chapman on his 10th anniversary as EC president, Chapman noted that honor belonged to Christ, rather than him.

“My heart sincerely is to be more of who God wants me to be and less of what I’m inclined to be,” Chapman said. Those who follow Christ are “imperfect people serving a perfect God, being saved by His grace and kept saved by His grace, to do, as best we can understand, the will of God and His purpose through our lives.”

At that same luncheon, Chapman challenged Southern Baptists to remember their calling.

“The greatest thing that could ever happen to any of us,” Chapman said, “is that, united together in the Spirit of the Lord, founded upon His holy Word, we pray, ‘God, help me be a part of shaking this nation and even the world for Jesus Christ.’”

The Morris H. and Jodi Francis Chapman Denominational Scholars Award at SWBTS provides support for students enrolled in the SBC Annual Meeting course through Southwestern Seminary and provides scholarships for research in areas such as denominational effectiveness, the Cooperative Program, the history of Crossover, or the life and ministry of Morris Chapman.

The family invites those who wish to honor Chapman to do so by a donation to the Southwestern fund at swbts.edu/chapman.

Chapman’s memorial service was livestreamed on Triune Baptist Church’s Facebook page and can be viewed here.