On the road
Oklahoma Baptists take Falls Creek worship to the people
First Baptist Church of Cushing has rented a cabin at Falls Creek each summer for at least the last 60 years.
The COVID-19 related cancellation of the popular Falls Creek youth camp sessions prevented youths from traveling to the encampment this year.
So Falls Creek went to Cushing. Oklahoma Baptists are taking their popular youth camp program on the road this summer.
On June 26, First Baptist-Cushing was the first stop for the new “Falls Creek Road Show.”
“We loved it. We hate the circumstances for Falls Creek to be canceled this year but in light of those circumstances, really it's an honor to have something like that come to our church,” said the Rev. Michael Martin, senior pastor of First Baptist-Cushing.
“I was trying to tell our youth that you think it's neat now, but one day you will really appreciate it. They will look back and say `Wow! This was that summer where Falls Creek came to our church.'”
The mobile Falls Creek program will continue through July 29 with a last stop at First Baptist Church of Claremore. In all, the road show will visit 14 churches across the state.
Two Oklahoma City-area churches
on the road show tour are First Baptist Church of El Reno on July 17 and First Baptist Church of Choctaw on July 22.
Todd Sanders, Falls Creek program director, said youths attending sessions at First BaptistCushing and at First Baptist Church of Woodward responded favorably to the COVID19-era twist on Falls Creek youth camp.
The church cabins and some Falls Creek traditions can't be replicated outside the picturesque setting of the Arbuckle Mountains, but what can be re-imagined in a different place are the nightly Falls Creek worship services where thousands of youths are connected to Christ.
“The response has been really great as far as people being appreciative of having something like this — it's the effort just to provide something in this crazy time, some kind of Falls Creek touch in their summer,” Sanders said.
On the go
The youth camp sessions at Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center near
`Falls Creek Road Show'
The Falls Creek Road Show will stop in the following metro-area locations:
• July 17: First Baptist Church of El Reno.
• July 22: First Baptist Church of Choctaw.
For more information about road show stops across the state or to watch the road show presentations online, go to oklahomabaptists.org/fallscreek2020 or skopos.org/fallscreek.
Davis were canceled in May due to concerns about spreading the coronavirus.
Leaders with Oklahoma Baptists, the state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention — which owns and operates Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center— said they consulted with pastors, lay leaders and obtained information from public health officials before making the difficult decision to cancel the popular camp sessions.
A summer tradition for church youth groups across Oklahoma, Falls Creek youth camp had only been halted a few times since 1917. The camp sessions have been canceled only three previous times — 1943, 1944 and 1945. Oklahoma Baptists' official newspaper, The Baptist Messenger,
reported that the 1943 session was canceled due partly to a poliomyelitis outbreak, according to historical records. Factors related to World War II halted the 1944 and 1945 sessions.
Sanders said Oklahoma Baptists leaders knew they wanted to make some of the elements of Falls Creek available to churches due to the canceled 2020 camp sessions.
“What we wanted to do is create an evening experience like what we would experience at Falls Creek,” he said.
This includes a time of worship and Gospel preaching — hallmarks of a Falls Creek evening worship experience.
Sanders said a special aspect of the road shows are presentations by Caleb Freeman and his father, the Rev. Jeremy Freeman, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Newcastle. Caleb Freeman suffered a life-threatening brain injury during a 2017 car accident. His remarkable recovery has attracted attention from people around the world.
“That's a story that I know many Oklahomans would be familiar with just from watching the news and that sort of thing so we're privileged to have him,” Sanders said.
Jeremy Freeman said
he and his son have been excited about teaming up with Sanders and other leaders to take Falls Creek 2020 on the the road.
“Honestly, it's working fantastic. When you think about it, it's the best of a bad situation because instead of everybody going to Falls Creek, Falls Creek is now going to these places,” he said. “What's great is that Falls Creek picked out some of the more remote places. We're going to the Panhandle. We went to South Ardmore last night. We went to Woodward, and we're going to Claremore. So, we're really trying to pick places that are not in the main cities but are outside the main cities.”
The minister said Caleb is enjoying the opportunities to share his faith testimony with more Oklahomans.
“Caleb is loving it because No. 1, he's getting to share his story again, and the minute the story is over, there's a line of people who always wanted to come up and meet him and take a picture because they're just so amazed at his story,” Freeman said.
The pastor said the teen loves to meet people, and he has liked meeting with youths in the smaller group settings at the road show sites.
“He believes that sometimes if you have 6,000 kids in a room, they may not listen as well, but now that you have 200 kids in a room, they might listen better. So one of the things that Caleb has said over and over again is that maybe God wanted to minister to smaller groups this time because maybe the kids will listen better,” Freeman said.
Efforts are appreciated
Other road show highlights are opportunities to connect with Baptist Collegiate Ministries and Oklahoma Baptist University's Global Outreach (GO) Mobiliization program that helps train young adults for mission opportunities and helps them embark on such mission efforts.
Sanders said people have appreciated “the effort just to provide something in the midst of a crazy time.”
“The response has been really great just as far as people's appreciation for the opportunity to have something like this. I think with Oklahoma Baptists and our churches, just to have some kind of Falls Creek touch in our summer is a positive,” he said.
“We're off to a great start.”