Staff & Officers

Debbie Keaton, Ministry Associate

Debbie serves in our association office as full-time associate. Debbie has a degree from Wallace State Community College in Business Management.
 
She has been an active member of First Baptist Church of Fairview for more than 30 years, where she has served as Sunday School Teacher, Discipleship Training Teacher, Mission Friends Teacher, Discipleship Training Director, VBS Kitchen Coordinator, and WMU Director. Currently, she serves as WMU Director and Community Thanksgiving Meal Coordinator at her church, while volunteering for other activities throughout the year.  In addition to her activities at her home church, Debbie has been active in the ECBA WMU, having served as ECBA WMU Director for 7 years, and continues to serve on the ECBA WMU team. She has also served on several ECBA Construction Mission Trips.
 
She has two sons. Justin graduated from Jacksonville State University, where he received his Masters in Special Education. He works as a teacher of special needs students in Huntsville.  Kyle graduated from Auburn University’s Architecture & Design Building Science Program in May 2016. He works as a supervisor on commercial construction projects. He married Brooke Hamm Keaton in August 2016. Kyle and Brooke have two children, Brylynn Grace and Harlee Faith.  Debbie is known as Nonnie to her grandgirls.
 
 
Matt Smith, Moderator
Pastor East Side Baptist Church
 
Matt Smith became the Senior Pastor at ESBC on January 1, 2016. Since the summer of 1992, he has preached and served in churches in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He genuinely loves people and enjoys building relationships with them to share the love of Christ. Matt passionately shares his faith and enjoys preaching the timeless truth of God’s Word.
 
 
He graduated with honors from the University of Mobile in 1996, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. In addition, Matt earned a Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages and a Master of Theology while studying at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate at Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity.
 
 
Matt and his wife Julie have been married since 1995 and have two sons, Spencer and Skyler. He has also served as a law enforcement chaplain since 2006 and is the lead chaplain at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office. In 2019 Pastor Matt established a 501(C)(3), the First Responders Foundation of Alabama, a ministry for law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS.
 
Matt served faithfully from 2021-2023 as Vice-Moderator for the East Cullman Baptist Association.  He was elected as Moderator on October 10, 2023.
 
 
Jason Vinson, Vice-Moderator
Pastor Center Grove Baptist Church

 

Jason Vinson became the Senior Pastor at Center Grove Baptist Church on October 1, 2021. Jason began his ministry as a Summer Youth Worker at FBC Phil Campbell in Phil Campbell, AL in the summer of 1993 and continue on a volunteer basis in youth ministry at FBCPC for 2 years. He was called to preach in the spring of 1994. Since that time Jason has served in churches in Louisiana, and Alabama. Jason genuinely loves people and passionately shares the timeless truths of God’s Word Sunday after Sunday at CGBC.

Jason graduated with an Associates Degree in Science from Northwest Shoals Community College in 1996. Later, he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in General Studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1999. He has continued his educational pursuits by working towards his Masters Degree in Biblical Studies beginning at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Extension Center in both Huntsville and Birmingham, and transferring to Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity.

Jason and his wife Jenny have been married since 1992 and have 3 sons, Austin, Caleb, and Matthew, and one daughter, Allison. In September of 2019 their son Matthew married Nikki Clines of Cullman and they have Jason and Jenny’s only grandchild Lukas, born on Christmas Day 2020.

In addition to his pastoral ministry, Jason is currently serving as a Campus Coach for First Priority at Fairview Middle School. He also serves as the Chairman for the ECBA Evangelism Committee, as well as a member of the ECBA Disaster Relief Team. He was elected Vice-Moderator on October 10, 2023.