J. Frank Norris was born in Dadeville, Alabama. He was graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He was ordained to the ministry in 1899 and soon after began his long, stormy career by serving as editor of The Baptist Standard, the official voice of Texas Baptists. He aided Dr. B.H. Carroll in the founding of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1909 he accepted the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Fort Worth and remained there until his death. In 1935 he also accepted the pastorate of Temple Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan, and held joint pastorates of these two great churches separated geographically 1,300 miles for 15 years. During those years, the combined attendance of both churches, under the leadership of one pastor, constituted the world's largest Sunday School.