About Our Church
We are a family of faith seeking to love God and love others because He first loved us. We are closely connected to the Baldwin Baptist Association and the Alabama Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention. Why? Because we partner with these fellow Baptists to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth by sending missionaries through the entities of the SBC.What We Believe
First Fairhope holds to the beliefs outlined in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message. It is available via the button for downloading and it’s content below. The constitution of First Fairhope is available on this button as well.
PASTORS

Dr. Eric Hankins
Lead Pastor
Dr. Hankins started his ministry at First Baptist Fairhope December 1, 2016. He comes to First Baptist Fairhope from FBC Oxford Mississippi where he served as Pastor for 12 years. He is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Dr. Hankins has served churches in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and now Alabama. He is a graduate of Louisiana College, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary ( M.Div.) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D.). His ministry vision is to shepherd the local church in fulfilling her world-changing, disciple-making kingdom purpose through expository preaching, Spirit-directed leading and a shepherd’s care of individuals and families. He is married to his 7th grade sweetheart, Janet, and they have three children: J.D (married to Auguste), Emily (married to Nick Ellis) and Jake who is a student at Fairhope High School. 2021 brought the Hankins’ their first grandchild, a girl, Isla Sue.

Rev. Brent Shaw
Administrator
Rev. Brent Shaw began his ministry at First Baptist Church Fairhope, August 1, 2002. He served previously on the First Baptist Staff in the 80s as Minister of Youth. Brent served First Baptist Church in Dothan for 10 years prior to returning to Fairhope. Brent’s wife is Tammy and they have two girls: Lauren (Hardman) and Lindsey, and two grandchildren: Ann Waverly and Jack.

Rev. Shawn Trotter
Discipleship Pastor
Rev. Shawn Trotter began serving in 2018 as our Discipleship Pastor while he finished up seminary. In 2019 he became our full-time Discipleship Pastor, relieving Brent Shaw of those education responsibilities. . Shawn and his wife, Valerie, live here in Fairhope and have four children.

Rev. Robert Seaborn
Senior Adult/Congregational Care Pastor
Robert and his wife Letia have been members of First Baptist Church for 25 years. During that time, they have both served faithfully in a variety of areas of our church. Robert has been a deacon and Sunday School teacher. Years ago, the Lord gave him a passion for missions and he has played a key role in organizing mission work in the Yucatan Peninsula and Haiti. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Mobile for eight years. He also served as an adjunct professor in the School of Business there. In 2018, he surrendered to ministry at First Baptist and was licensed and ordained here. In 2019, he began e210 Ministries with a focus on corporate and hospital chaplaincy, and he has done a great deal of training in those areas. He serves as a Chaplain for several businesses and Bayside Academy. Before surrendering to ministry, he enjoyed a successful career in banking, rising to the position of bank president. He graduated from Auburn with a B.S. in Finance and M.B.A from Samford.

Rev. John Baldwin
Worship Pastor
Rev. John Baldwin has been serving as Minister of Music since 1988. He served previously in Florida and Alaska. John’s wife is Cyndee and they have three married girls: Ashleigh Barkley (Drew), Caroline Brown (Craig) and Janna Schmidt (Chase) and five grandchildren.

Rev. R Smith
Student Pastor
Ryan has been working with students over the past ten years as a lay leader in churches from Georgia & Alabama. He joined the FBC Staff in 2008. He has also served as Student Worship Leader at Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in Georgia. Ryan has a passion for students and desires to lead them to a deeper knowledge of God by creating Bible Study opportunities coupled with recreational events and relevant worship experiences. Ryan also leads worship at our 11:00am service. His wife is Amy and they have two children: Ellie, a freshman in college and Tyler a freshman at Fairhope High.

Rev. Kevin Nelson
Children’s Pastor
Kevin takes care of our children’s ministry needs and the needs of young families at First Baptist. He and his wife Leigh are parents to Kevin Jr. (K2), an 11th grader.

Jennifer Warren
Preschool Director
Jennifer oversees our preschool ministry part time and works closely with our Minister to Children & Families, Kevin Nelson to offer quality events and care for parents and preschoolers.
STAFF
Sharon Pippin
Communications Director
Kay Gaddy
Financial Assistant
LaSha Powell
Discipleship Assistant
Jennifer Coulter
Associate Pastor/Student Pastor Assistant
Delores Lund
Children’s Ministry Assistant
Elaine Beech
Receptionist/Pastor’s Assistant
Laureen Davis
Music Assistant
Dee Pace
Children’s Music Associate
Travis Carr
Audio and Light Engineer
Laurie Jensen
The Learning Tree Director
Sandi Williamson
Housekeeping Director