Draper Named President of Southern Baptist Publishing Organization

Biblical inerrancy has traditionally been defended by the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board and will continue to be a key emphasis in the future, the Rev. Jimmy Draper said this week at his inauguration as the eighth president of the board, the world’s largest religious publishing operation.

Draper, 55, was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1982 to 1984. He was the unanimous choice of a search committee to succeed the Rev. Lloyd Elder as head of the board, which has a budget of $190.4 million and employs more than 1,800 people.

Elder had been under fire from conservatives who charged that he had become involved in the theological-political controversy in the 15-million-member convention. Draper, who had been pastor of the 8,300-member First Baptist Church of Euless, Tex., since 1975, has a reputation of being both a reconciler and a strong champion of theological orthodoxy.