[1]FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–The president of LifeWay Christian Resources and the longtime Tulsa, Okla., pastor were honored Oct. 20 as L.R. Scarborough Award recipients by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
LifeWay President James T. Draper Jr. and his wife, Carol Ann, along with retired pastor Warren C. Hultgren and his wife, Wanda, received the award at a luncheon held at the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary.
The award, named for the school’s second president, was first awarded last year as a way of honoring pastors, ministerial staff members and denominational leaders who have been “influential in the life of Southwestern Seminary,” said Jack Terry, vice president for institutional advancement at Southwestern.
Trustees, who concluded their fall meeting that morning, family and friends of the award recipients, seminary faculty and staff and other invited guests attended the luncheon.
In addition to serving as LifeWay president since 1991, Draper has pastored churches in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. He was SBC president from 1982-84.
“We’ve always had a great love for this place,” Draper said. “We can never repay the debt that was invested in us.”
Draper’s father and grandfather, two of his brothers and his son-in-law attended Southwestern. He said his earliest memories were as a toddler at Southwestern as his father attended the school in the late 1930s.
Hultgren was pastor of First Baptist Church, Tulsa, Okla., for more than 30 years, beginning in 1957. The native Minnesotan also served in churches in Louisiana and Texas and was president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Hultgren noted Southwestern’s heritage of evangelism that included Scarborough, the first-ever evangelism professor, a position that became known as the chair of fire.
“I hope that that fire never goes out at Southwestern,” Hultgren said, adding “that’s the bottom line of what it’s all about.”
Portraits of retired Austin pastor Ralph M. Smith, last year’s recipient, Draper and Hultgren will be displayed in Southwestern’s new Leadership Development Complex when it opens early next year.