Lawrence Owen Cooper, Sr. was a businessman and Southern Baptist layman from Mississippi who served as President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1972-1974. Cooper was born in Warren County, Mississippi, on Easter Sunday, April 19, 1908, to William Samuel and Malena Head Cooper. He graduated from Mississippi State University (B. S. in Agriculture, 1929), the University of Mississippi (M. A. in Political Science and Economics, 1936), and the Jackson School of Law (1938). In the business and civic arenas, Cooper served as Assistant Director of the Mississippi Planning Commission (1936-1940), Executive Director of the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation (1940-1948), Executive Vice President of Mississippi Chemical Corporation (1948-1960), and as MCC President (1960-1972). Cooper also took an interest in improving agricultural conditions in India, maintained interest in improving conditions in rural hospitals, and became an advocate for improved race relations within the SBC. In addition to his service as President of the SBC, Cooper remained active throughout his life in a broad scope of denominational service positions including serving as Mississippi State Baptist Union President (1927-1928), Superintendent of the Hinds-Warren Sunday School Association (1946), President of the Mississippi State Training Union Convention (1946), Member of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi (1946-1952), Vice President of the Mississippi Baptist Convention (1947), Moderator of the Yazoo County Baptist Association (1951-1952), Chairman of the Board of Trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (1951-1958), Chairman of the Education Commission of the Mississippi Baptist Convention (1953-1959), President of the Mississippi Baptist Convention (1955-1956), Chairman of the Laymen’s Committee of the Crusade of the Americas (1966-1969), President of the Pan American Baptist Layman’s Congress (1968), Vice President of the Baptist World Alliance (1970), as member of the SBC Executive Committee for 21 years and as the EC’s Chairman from 1971-1972. Throughout his denominational service, Cooper was an outspoken advocate for involvement of laypersons in Southern Baptist Convention life. Owen Cooper married Elizabeth Thompson on September 2, 1938. The Coopers had five children. He died on November 8, 1986, at age 78.
This oral history interview was conducted by James Young of Baptist Press in the summer of 1974 near the conclusion of Cooper’s service as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. In the interview, Cooper describes his views of Southern Baptists’ greatest accomplishments from 1972-1974, and his impressions of regrets and trends in SBC life. Throughout the interview, Cooper outlines his strong belief in the value of increased involvement of laypersons in all areas of SBC missions and ministry and expresses his opinions of the vital role of the SBC Brotherhood Commission in providing opportunities for lay involvement in the Convention. Cooper provides his perceptions of the Baptist Faith and Message Fellowship and controversies between conservative and liberal Southern Baptists. He recalls the extensive time and travel commitments of serving as SBC President and discusses his views that the role of the President of the SBC should not be stereotyped. Cooper discusses his plans after retirement, including his hopes of working more with the Baptist World Alliance Men’s Department, serving as President of the Pan America Union of Baptist Men, and ministry in India. Cooper also provides his thoughts and impressions of the SBC Cooperative Program, stating it “has proved to be the most effective way of channeling our support for our mission agencies and other agencies of the Convention than anything we’ve found heretofore.” The interview concludes with Cooper’s overall assessment of the Southern Baptist Convention as optimistic.
