Dr. Stephen Cutchins is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church North Augusta and serves on the Executive Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. He holds a Doctorate of Ministry degree with an emphasis in Christian Apologetics, which he teaches at Fruitland Baptist Bible College in North Carolina.
Stephen is completing the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies program at Dallas Baptist University with a dual concentration in Higher Education and Ministry. He is the author of “Prove It – Defend the Christian Faith,” co-author of “Green Hearts – God’s Goodness in the Worst of Times,” and a contributing author for the 2016 Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook. Stephen’s first book, Prove It, is now available as an online course. Dr. Cutchins is a Christian leader who helps curious and growing people answer hard questions about life, leadership, and learning so they can know who they are and defend what they believe. “Know who you are. Defend what you believe.”
Stephen currently lives in the home of the Masters Golf Tournament, Augusta, GA, with his wife, Wendy, and his two daughters, Madelyn and Sarah. His hobbies include running, golfing, and traveling. He has completed three marathons as well as numerous half marathons. His passions are spending time with his family, teaching the Word of God, making disciples, and talking to people about God’s amazing grace. In 2020, Stephen and his wife Wendy launched a collaborative blog committed to regularly posting relatable content.
BACKGROUND
Stephen was born in Atlanta, GA. After graduating from high school, he earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. Before becoming a Pastor, he was a Band Director for the Fort Mill School District in South Carolina and served as a part-time church music director. During that time, he was very active as a freelance trumpet player/instructor in the Charlotte, NC area. He also served as the adjunct trumpet professor at Wingate University in Wingate, NC.
In 2008, Dr. Cutchins completed a Master of Arts in Religion degree at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC, where he went on to complete his Doctorate of Ministry degree in 2012. While attending Seminary in the evenings, Dr. Cutchins served at Grace Life Church of Pineville, where he was both licensed and ordained to the ministry. During his nine-year tenure at Grace Life Church, he held the positions of Worship Pastor, Elder, Youth Pastor, and Pastoral Director of the Grace Life Academy.
In 2012, Dr. Cutchins moved to the Asheville, NC area to serve as the Pastor of Worship at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, NC. While there, he began teaching both on-campus and online classes for Fruitland Baptist Bible College. In addition to teaching New Testament and Homiletic classes, Dr. Cutchins taught the first Christian Apologetics courses at Fruitland Baptist Bible College in the Fall of 2014.
In 2015, Stephen joined the Executive Team at Hyde Park Baptist Church of Austin, TX. During his time there, he planned and led worship for a weekly televised worship service as well as supervising a team of worship leaders and technology teams to lead worship services on multiple campuses. Dr. Cutchins also taught and preached on Sunday mornings and during mid-week services. His book on apologetics, Prove It, was published during his time in Austin, TX, and he also planned and led a two-day regional Apologetics Conference with over 500 participants in collaboration with Southern Evangelical Seminary. While in Austin, Stephen was accepted into the Ph.D. program at Dallas Baptist University.
Stephen first joined the team at First Baptist Church of North Augusta as Pastor of Discipleship. Not long after he arrived at FBCNA, the Senior Pastor position became vacant. After serving as the Interim Pastor for three months, Stephen was named Senior Pastor of FBCNA in October of 2017.
