RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) — A historic and prominent North Carolina Baptist church welcomes a new pastor to the pulpit June 21.
Christopher Chapman becomes pastor of First Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., a 1,400-member congregation organized in 1812. He moves there from Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he has served 11 years.
Chapman, a veteran pastor with more than 20 years in the ministry, called it an honor to become pastor of the Raleigh church.
"The people of First Baptist have embraced challenges and have helped make this community stronger for nearly two centuries," he said in a press release. "Today First Baptist again is asked to reach out and to strengthen our fellowship both within our church walls and with our neighbors across our region and the world. I am excited to be a part of this important work."
Chris Chapman preached his last sermon at Knollwood Baptist Church May 31.
|
Chapman, a native of Charlotte, N.C., attended college in Kentucky before receiving his master of divinity from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1987 and a doctor of ministry from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., in 1996. He has been active in interfaith dialogue throughout his ministry.
Anne Bullard of the church's pastor-search committee said Chapman's background is appropriate for the congregation, and his talents "will lead us as we face the challenges of our church and people of all faiths in the 21st century."
Before coming to Knollwood in June 1998, Chapman was an associate minister at Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.; assistant pastor at Moffett Memorial Baptist Church in Danville, Va., and pastor of Warrenton Baptist Church in Warrenton, N.C., and Ginter Park Baptist Church in Richmond, Va.
Chapman succeeds former First Baptist, Raleigh, pastor Daniel Day, who retired in 2007 after 11 years as pastor there.
Over the years First Baptist Church has produced a number of influential leaders in Southern Baptist life. They include Fannie Heck, who was instrumental in forming the first mission organization for women in North Carolina and was one of the founders of the national Woman's Missionary Union auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention.
The church, which has ordained women as deacons since 1874, approved a resolution of identity in 1998 formally separating from the Southern Baptist Convention. Today its primary mission partners are the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a moderate group that split from the SBC in 1991, and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.
Built in 1859, the church's sanctuary is located directly across from the North Carolina Capitol building and was used has a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. Today its ministries include Raleigh's largest free-clothing center, an AIDS ministry, two weekday school programs and a Japanese ministry.
-30-
Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.