Rev. Dr. Matthew Sturtevant
Senior Pastor
Pastor Matt has been the senior pastor at FBC since 2009. After growing up in Illinois, going to high school/college/seminary in Kentucky, and working as a hospital chaplain in South Carolina, he and his wife Kimberly have called Kansas home. Pastor Matt has degrees from a Baptist school (Georgetown College in Kentucky), a Presbyterian school (Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary), and a UCC school (Chicago Theological Seminary), and is thankful for God’s diverse and colorful Church. He and First Baptist together have worked to meet food insecurity needs in the area, address affordable housing issues in Lawrence, and care for all of God’s creation. He has served in leadership roles with the Ministers Council of the Central Region helping to support fellow ministers across Kansas, and now serves in a similar way supporting fellow ministers across the nation as President of the ABCUSA Ministers Council. Pastor Matt is a proud husband of a public school educator and father of two, and an avid hiker, trail runner, and lover of the outdoors. He has been a Cubs fan since before they were good.
Rev. Cristina Adams
Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, & Families
Cristina grew up in American Baptist Churches, a preacher’s kid like many in our congregation, worked in children’s ministry since she was a young person, and youth ministry as she got older. She has worked at a variety of types of churches, including different denominations; she graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PCUSA) in December 2020, and her April 2021 ordination and installation at First Baptist in Lawrence was sponsored (and attended virtually) by North Hills Community Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA.
Cristina has been specifically trained in Godly Play, an approach to children’s ministry that begins with the belief that children have an innate sense of the presence of God, and helps them to explore their faith through story, to gain religious language, and to enhance their spiritual experience through wonder and play. She has a heart for young people and families, a love for the American Baptist Churches, and is happy to be able to return to the Midwest.