Dr. J. Matthew Pinson

President | Professor of Theology

Matthew Pinson is Welch College’s fifth president, having served in that office since 2002. A native of Pensacola, Florida, he attended Welch College in the 1980s and went on to graduate from the University of West Florida with a B.A. in humanities and M.A. in history.

President Pinson received his Master of Arts in Religion from Yale University, where he met his wife Melinda, a North Carolina native who was a graduate student at Yale. They were married in the summer of 1994 and began a pastorate in South Georgia. While there, he engaged in doctoral studies in history at Florida State University, and Mrs. Pinson managed a historic hotel and restaurant. The Pinsons have two children: Anna and Matthew.

After assuming the presidency of Welch College, President Pinson completed his doctorate in higher education leadership from Vanderbilt University. He is the author or editor of numerous articles and books, including Perspectives on Christian Worship (B&H), Four Views on Eternal Security (Zondervan), A Free Will Baptist Handbook (Randall House), Classical Arminianism (Randall House), Arminian and Baptist (Randall House), Gender, Sexuality, and the Church (Welch College Press), and The Apologetics of Leroy Forlines (Welch College Press).

Education

Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy, Vanderbilt University (2007)
Dissertation: “Environmental Scanning for Strategic Planning: A Case Study of Middle Tennessee University”
M.A.R. in Theology, Yale University (1994)
M.A. in History, University of West Florida (1993)
Thesis: “Religious Social Reform in Antebellum New England: Abolition and Temperance Reform Among the Northern Freewill Baptists: 1800–1860″
B.A. in Humanities, University of West Florida (1990)

Areas of Interest

Free Will Baptist History
General Baptist History
Cultural Engagement

Select Publications

Select Courses

Free Will Baptist History
Christian Worship