Dr. Anthony Jordan, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) announced today that James Swain, current Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Kingfisher, OK has been named the new Director of Conference Centers at the Falls Creek Baptist Assembly and Conference Center. Swain will serve as director of the BGCO facility with oversight and responsibility for all facilities and services of Falls Creek. Falls Creek maintains a year round permanent staff which grows to over 150 each summer. Annually, the camp hosts 85,000 people, including over 50,000 during its summer youth camps.
“James Swain represents new leadership for a new era of Falls Creek,” Jordan said. “He is a proven and recognized leader among Oklahoma Baptists. The recent addition of the beautiful facilities at this historic treasure for Oklahoma Baptists are but a part of the legacy of this place in the hearts and lives of so many people. James has deep roots at Falls Creek. He came to Christ and met his wife there, led youth groups and churches to attend, and has been a part of dreaming the dream for a renewed and expanding camp. He knows Falls Creek is more than a camp. It is a vital ministry with a reach to the ends of the earth.“
Scott Phillips, Team Leader for the Church and Family Equipping Team led the search for the position and stated, “James not only brings a professionalism to this position, but a genuine love for the staff, people, and heritage of Falls Creek. Growing up in Oklahoma, he spent summers at Falls Creek while his parents worked there.”
Swain said that he is honored by this opportunity for service. “Falls Creek is more than a place. It is a memory for thousands of people; a heritage of faithfulness for those who have gone before us; and a state of the art conference center poised for future growth and development. Falls Creek has a vibrant history, but it has an even more dynamic future.”
Swain is native of Geronimo and a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to his service at First Baptist, Kingfisher, he served as youth ministry associate at Central Baptist Church in Marlow and First Baptist Church of Marlow, OK; Minister of Youth at First Baptist Church Purcell, OK; Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Medford, OK; Calvary Baptist Church, Sulphur, OK; and College Heights Baptist Church in Chickasha, OK. Swain also served as second vice-president of the BGCO in 2006. Swain’s father, James Swain, Sr., served as a pastor in southwest Oklahoma for 35 years.
Located in the Arbuckle Mountains of southern Oklahoma, Falls Creek has become the largest religious youth encampment in the world. More than 50,000 young people will attend its eight weeks of encampment every summer. It is also a year-round conference center hosting over 35,000 annually with events such as men’s and women’s retreats, the Baptist Collegiate Ministries weekend and the State Bible Conference. Falls Creek also hosts Native American Week, bringing together approximately 3,000 Native Americans from all over the United States and Canada and an annual children’s camp.
