[2] He began to preach at the age of sixteen, uniting with the World's Faith Missionary Association of Shenandoah, Iowa, and then the Texas Holiness Association before forming his own Independent Holiness Church.
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.
He joined the Nazarene community of Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1930,[4] and served as general superintendent until his death in 1947.
[5] A residential dorm on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University is named after Chapman.