Leadership Staff at First Baptist

Pastor

Dr. Mathis is a graduate of Clayton State College (A.A.), the State University of West Georgia (B.M.), and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div. and D. Min.). Dr. Mathis has been our pastor since December, 1988. Prior to coming to First Baptist Church, Dr. Mathis served churches in Georgia and Ohio. His hometown is suburban Atlanta, GA.

Minister of Youth and Education

Drew is a lifelong Kentucky native, raised in a one stoplight town just north of Louisville. He graduated from Cumberland College with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and now attends the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he is pursuing a Masters Degree in Biblical Counseling. Drew is married to his wife Jennifer and has two children, Aidan and Morgan. He enjoys all sports (except for Nascar which really isn’t even a sport), playing guitar and drums, and has a passion to preach the name of Jesus to a lost and dying generation.

Director of Music

Nate Craddock is an unabashed Yankee, raised just south of the Washington DC beltway. He recently completed his Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition at Asbury College, and is currently pursuing a dual Master's of Divinity and MA in Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is married to Jodie, and they are expecting their first child in February of 2010. Nate has a tremendous passion for restoring the Acts 2:42 vision of Christ-following to the American church. Aside from ministry, his interests lie in opera singing, language learning, reading voraciously and working with visual art and music.