Rev. James G. Lumpkin, Sr.

James G. Lumpkin Sr. was born on October 26, 1929, in Columbus, Georgia. His mother trained him up in the way he should go and prayed earnestly that he would find a special partner in life, one who would share in his good and his quest for life’s best. He met that partner as a young soldier, and on August 13, 1949, James G. Lumpkin Sr. married Jean Rosebraugh.

Although the Lumpkin-Rosebraugh union was a major milestone in the life of the Lumpkin family, the most important event occurred in the spring of 1951, in Sherman, Texas. The union was eternally sanctified as the Spirit of the Lord entered the lives of the young couple.

Brother Lumpkin immediately felt there was a special call from the Lord on his life. In 1956 James and Jean moved with their family, which now included Jim Jr. and Mickey to St. Paul, Minnesota, for him to attend Apostolic Bible Institute (ABI). He graduated from there in 1959, and became a member of the school faculty for one year. In 1960 he assumed the pastorate of his first church in Knoxville, Iowa. While he was pastoring there, the second Lumpkin daughter, Tanya, was born.

James Lumpkin returned to his alma mater to serve on the faculty of ABI from 1964 to 1965. The following year in St. Louis, Missouri, he became promotional director of the Harvestime radio broadcast, a position he held for one year. He then became director of the Harvestime radio broadcast, a position he held for four years. In 1969 he began pastoring in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a role he filled until 1984. In 1974 he was elected the district superintendent of the Arkansas District and was an exemplary leader of that state until 1996. He was founder of Northside Christian Academy in Fort Smith in 1978, and received the national Accelerated Christian Education Sword of the Spirit award in 1979.

Brother Lumpkin was an honorary member of the UPCI General Board, pastor emeritus of Northside United Pentecostal Church in Fort Smith, chairman of the Board of Directors of Tupelo Children’s Mansion, and vice president of Apostolic Bible Institute. He served as a member of the UPCI Executive Board, and as chairman pro tem of the UPCI Budget Committee. For more than twenty-five years, he served annually as the captain of the Tabulating Committee for the UPCI General Conference. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Lighthouse Ranch for Boys and as chaplain of the Arkansas State Police.

Their son, Jim Lumpkin, and his wife, Jelaine, pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their daughter, Mickey, and her husband, Anthony Mangun, pastor in Alexandria, Louisiana.

He passed from this life on April 17, 2007.