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Executive Minister
Rev. Dr.
Lawrence O. Swain
A native of Glendale, California,
Dr. Swain attended the First Baptist Church of
Glendale. He received Jesus Christ as his personal
savior while attending an Easter Bible camp with the
church in April 1962. He was baptized November 11th
that year. During his senior year of high school,
Larry received a very clear call to the pastoral
ministry. He attended college and graduated in 1971
with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the California
State University, Northridge, California. After
college he married Linda M. Fuller and began his
seminary education. He graduated with a Master of
Divinity degree in 1975 from Fuller Theological
Seminary in Pasadena, California.
Upon completing seminary the Chevy
Chase Baptist Church in Glendale called Larry to
become the pastor, where he served for six years. In
1981 he answered the call to serve as the pastor of
the First Baptist Church of El Segundo, California. In
1989 he moved to Washington, Pennsylvania and became
the pastor of the Allison Avenue Baptist Church. In
1993 he completed studies at the Pittsburgh
Theological Seminary and received the Doctor of
Ministry degree specializing in congregational
worship. In 1998 he received the Honorary Doctor of
Divinity degree from Alderson-Broaddus College in
Philippi, West Virginia.
Dr. Swain served the American
Baptist Churches of Ohio from 1995-1998 as the South
Area Minister, and in 1998 he assumed the position of
Executive Minister of the Pittsburgh Baptist
Association. Following a successful merger of the
Pittsburgh Association with the American Baptist
Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware, Dr. Swain
answered the call of the American Baptist Churches of
Ohio to become the Executive Minister October 1, 2004.
Dr. Swain’s ministry experience
includes twenty years of pastoral ministry, promotion
of American Baptist missions, leadership training,
conflict management, and vision development and
congregation transformation. Dr. Swain is currently
leading the American Baptist Churches of Ohio in the
vision “Rise Up and Build” that seeks to transform
churches into healthy missional congregations.
Dr. Swain and his wife, Linda
recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary.
They have adult children, Matthew and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is married and is a registered nurse working
in Pittsburgh. Matthew will be married in July 2007,
is the Minister of Worship at Briarwood Baptist Church
in GA. Dr. and Mrs. Swain enjoy serving together
providing encouragement and spiritual nurture to the
American Baptist Churches in Ohio. |
