W. Winfred Moore

William Winfred Moore​ (Figure in the Southern Baptist Convention in 1980s)
Born	February 15, 1920 Milan, Gibson County Tennessee, USA​
Died	May 8, 2015 (aged 95)​ Amarillo, Texas​
Spouse	Elizabeth Campbell Moore (married 1941-2012, her death) ​ Children: Anne M. Preston ​ Fred Moore ​ Maria M. Patterson​ Alma mater: Lambuth College ​ Union University George Peabody College​ ​

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​ William Winfred Moore, known as W. Winfred Moore (February 15, 1920 – May 8, 2015), a former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Amarillo, Texas, served as the president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and was a prominent figure in the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Nashville, Tennessee, during the second half of the 20th century.​

Background

Moore was born to W. E. Moore and the former Sadie Hammonds (1900-1997) of Milan in Gibson County in western Tennessee. Hisfive sisters included Mary Evelyn Eddings, June Moore, Wanda Cooper, Betty Gass, and Phyllis Riley, the latter of Louisville, Kentucky.​ ​ Moore was educated at Lambuth College and Union University, both in Jackson in western Tennessee. He then enrolled at George Peabody College in the capital city of Nashville. He holds an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview in Hale County, north of Lubbock, Texas, and an honorary doctor of laws from Baylor University in Waco.​ ​ Moore and his wife, the former Elizabeth Campbell (1921-2012), married in Calvert City, Kentucky. She was the daughter of a pastor. The Moores had three children: Anne Preston of Amarillo, Fred Moore of Chicago, Illinois, and Maria Patterson of Lewisville, Texas.​

After service at FBC in Amarillo from 1959 to 1989, Moore became the W. Winfred and Elizabeth Moore Visiting Distinguished Professor of Religion and Director of the Center for Ministry Effectiveness at Baylor University. During his time in Waco, he was also the interim pastor of churches in Waco, Lampassas, Sugar Land, Austin, and San Antonio.​ ​

Baptist affairs

From 1984 to 1986, Moore was elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, one of the more moderate of the state conventions, He was also the first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1985 to 1986. In 1985, Moore, as the moderate candidate, lost the SBC presidential contest in a challenge to the fundamental-conservative incumbent, Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia. Moore received 19,795 votes (44.7 percent) to Stanley's 24,453 (55.3 percent). SBC presidents normally served only two consecutive one-year terms.​ ​ In 1986, Moore told his Amarillo congregation that he would allow his name to be placed again in nomination for the SBC presidency to succeed Stanley. Moore indicated that he had long "been deeply disturbed about the direction of our convention. At the present we are headed in the direction of making doctrinal agreement a prerequisite for cooperative missions and evangelism. Our Cooperative Program (unified method of support) was established [in 1926] because Baptists were confident that it is the most effective way to reach the world for Christ. History consistently has shown the basic rightness of that decision. . . . We have agreed and do agree on the authority of the Bible, but we have not and will not completely agree on the interpretation of the Bible. What we did back in 1926 . . . was to trust each other and to agree on the priority and wisdom of cooperative missions and evangelism."​ ​ Moore, however, despite the extensive Baylor University network that campaigned on his behalf, was defeated again in 1986, losing to Adrian Rogers, then the pastor of the large Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and the choice of the fundamental-conservative wing. SBC conservatives, who maintained their majority in denominational leadership after 1979, considered Moore a liberal in theology though he preferred the term "moderate-conservative."​

While in Amarillo, Moore was also for four years the chairman of the Baylor board of trustees.

Prior to coming to Amarillo, Moore served in churches in Borger in Hutchinson County, Texas, Tupelo, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama. He formerly served on the boards of the Southern Baptist Blue Mountain College in Blue Mountain, Mississippi, Wayland Baptist University, and Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.​

Civic service and honors

The Amarillo Globe-News named Moore "Man of the Year" in 1977 and 1989. His involvement in civic causes encompasses United Way, Rotary International, and the High Plains Baptist Hospital in Amarillo. He headed a board that raised $6 million to build the hospital. He also worked to raise funds for the Baptist St. Anthony's Hospice and Life Enrichment Center and the Amarillo Ronald McDonald House.

In 1990, he joined the Baylor faculty. In 1993, the W. Winfred and Elizabeth Moore Visiting Professorship in Ministry Guidance was established in honor of the Moores. In 1997, he was named director of the Center for Ministry Effectiveness, a program jointly sponsored by Baylor and the Baptist General Convention of Texas.​

In 2000, he was named by The Amarillo Globe-News among the one hundred "History Makers of the High Plains" of the 20th century. Other receiving the same accolade were former state Representative Malouf Abraham, Sr., of Canadian, Texas, former state Senators Grady Hazlewood, Max R. Sherman, and Teel Bivins, and former Amarillo Mayor and Texas Railroad Commissioner Ernest O. Thompson.

In 2004, he received the "Baptist Elder Statesman" Award.​ ​

References

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