James Blaine "J. B." Chapman (1884–1947) was an American minister, academic administrator, and newspaper editor. He served as the president of
Arkansas Holiness and
Peniel College
Peniel College was a Nazarene college located in Peniel, Texas. It has since closed.
History
Texas Holiness University was founded by B. A. Cordell and E. C. DeJernett in 1898. It was then established on a 37-acre campus in 1899 by A. M. Hills a ...
, editor of the ''
Herald of Holiness
A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms.
Heralds were originally courier, messengers sent by monarchs or nobl ...
,'' and
general superintendent in the
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...
.
Early life and education
Chapman was born 1884 in
Yale, Illinois
}
Yale is a village in Jasper County, Illinois, United States. The population was 86 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Yale is located in northeastern Jasper County. Illinois Route 49 passes through the village, leading north to Casey and south t ...
, the second son and fifth child of Marinda and Thomas Smith Chapman.
[https://sail.cnu.edu/omeka/files/original/71f1570afa7fda763c2aad74573e058c.pdf ] The family moved to
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
when he was fourteen years old, where he was converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in 1899. Chapman's first academic instructor was his wife, a schoolteacher. When he took a pastorate at
Vilonia, Arkansas
Vilonia is a city in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 3,815 at the 2010 census, up from 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, A ...
, in 1908, he enrolled at the
Arkansas Holiness College there at age 24. After graduating in 1910, he left to pursue further study at
Texas Holiness University
Peniel College was a Nazarene college located in Peniel, Texas. It has since closed.
History
Texas Holiness University was founded by B. A. Cordell and E. C. DeJernett in 1898. It was then established on a 37-acre campus in 1899 by A. M. Hills a ...
in
Peniel, Texas
Greenville is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, about northeast of Dallas. It is the county seat and largest city of Hunt County. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city population was 25,557, and in 2019, its estima ...
, under president Roy T. Williams, where he received his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1913.
Peniel College
Peniel College was a Nazarene college located in Peniel, Texas. It has since closed.
History
Texas Holiness University was founded by B. A. Cordell and E. C. DeJernett in 1898. It was then established on a 37-acre campus in 1899 by A. M. Hills a ...
later awarded him an honorary
Doctor of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
degree in 1918, and
Pasadena College
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene. ...
did the same in 1927.
[''Spirit-Filled: The Life of James Blaine Chapman'' by David Shelby Corlett, Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press](_blank)
/ref>
Career
He began to preach at the age of sixteen, uniting with the World's Faith Missionary Association of Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah is a city in Page and Fremont counties in Iowa, United States. The population was 4,925 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Compan ...
, and then the Texas Holiness Association before forming his own Independent Holiness Church. He married Maud Frederick[ in 1903, at the church's first annual convention. His first pastorate was a church in ]Durant
Durant may refer to:
People
* Durant (surname)
Fictional characters
* Durant (Pokémon), a species in ''Pokémon Black'' and ''White''
* ''John Durant'' (General Hospital), a character on the soap opera ''General Hospital''
Places
* Durant, ...
, in Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, which he organized in 1905 and would become part of the Holiness Church of Christ, but he also became pastor of a church in Pilot Point, Texas
Pilot Point is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,856 at the 2010 census, increasing to 4,381 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Pilot Point is located at (33.396350, –96.958719). According to the United States Cens ...
, in 1907, for which he left Durant in 1908. That same year the Holiness Church of Christ joined the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the 19th-century Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism. It is headquartered in Lenexa within Johnson County, Kansas. With its members co ...
, and Chapman moved again, this time to a pastorate at Vilonia, Arkansas
Vilonia is a city in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 3,815 at the 2010 census, up from 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, A ...
. He left in 1911 after graduating from Arkansas Holiness College to pursue further education at Texas Holiness University
Peniel College was a Nazarene college located in Peniel, Texas. It has since closed.
History
Texas Holiness University was founded by B. A. Cordell and E. C. DeJernett in 1898. It was then established on a 37-acre campus in 1899 by A. M. Hills a ...
. His only other pastorate would later be at Bethany, Oklahoma, from 1918 to 1919.
After enrolling at Peniel in 1910, Chapman instead became president of the Arkansas Holiness College, but returned to Peniel University in 1912 to teach there and became dean of the college upon his arrival. After he graduated with his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1913, President Williams resigned and the college named Chapman president until 1918. At the time Chapman took the presidency, Peniel was ranked behind Asbury College and Taylor University
Taylor University is a private, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the country.
The university is named after Bishop William ...
as the third-best holiness college in the nation, but it eventually closed in 1920 to lend support to Oklahoma Nazarene College instead. As an educator, Chapman aided the General Board of Education of the Church of the Nazarene to establish educational policy. Chapman is quoted as having said:It was originally the plan to call every school we started a “university”... It was our ultimate aim to have universities and our schools were named according to our vision of future developments. But I am, personally, convinced that we should definitely abandon the idea of building any universities, that we should drop these names from our schools... oreover,/nowiki> it is my conclusion that we... cannot permanently maintain academies and they do not meet our need, that a special Bible school does not meet our needs and that we should express ourselves on this conviction.... That the College, with the necessary fitting school and Bible department /nowiki> is the school that we need and will build."
Chapman would later become editor of the ''Herald of Holiness'' from 1921 to 1928 and was then elected general superintendent. He joined the Nazarene community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
of Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
, in 1930, and served as general superintendent until his death in 1947.
A residential dorm on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University is named after Chapman.
Personal life
Through his daughter Lois Catherine (Chapman) Lehrer, he was the grandfather of journalist Jim Lehrer.[https://current.org/wp-content/uploads/archive-site/people/peop806lehrer.shtml]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, J. B.
1884 births
1947 deaths
American Nazarene ministers
American university and college faculty deans
Nazarene General Superintendents
Peniel College
People from Jasper County, Illinois
Presidents of defunct Nazarene universities and colleges