James T. Draper, Jr.

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.

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 known as the Moderates-Conservatives controversy. 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).

Draper was one of the leading voices in the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention. 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.

Draper is the author of more than twenty-five Christian books, including a history of LifeWay Resources. Some of Draper's books include:

• Authority: The Critical Issues for Southern Baptists (1984) (ISBN 978-0800713898)
• We Believe: Living in the Light of God's Truth (2004) (ISBN 978-0633091293)
• Biblical Authority: The Critical Issue for the Body of Christ (2001) (ISBN 978-0805424539)
• Every Christian a Minister: Finding Joy and Fulfillment in Serving God (2001) (ISBN 978-0767393799)

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.