Alex Lockridge returns to Corbin to lead congregation at First Baptist Church

Near downtown Corbin, a familiar face has returned to lead First Baptist Church into the future.

Alex Lockridge is beginning his second stint at First Baptist after spending the last couple of years leading a church in Morehead. He said, “The first time that I was here, I had been called to lead the ministry for youth and children. That was something that I loved doing, and I was really looking to do it at that time.”

“My wife and I moved down here from Cincinnati,” Lockridge said of coming to Corbin initially. “So we had to adjust a little bit to being in a small town, but we fell in love with it. We fell in love with the community, with the church, and all that was happening here.”

After about five years of leading the youth ministry at First Baptist Corbin, Lockridge said he began to feel the pull to move into senior pastoral ministry. He got the opportunity to work in that position during his recent time in Morehead, and he says that those experiences helped to prepare him for his new role moving forward.

“We loved it in Morehead,” Lockridge explained. “But this senior pastor position opened up, and my heart has always sort of been here. So, I had to look into it. I sent my resume over, had some conversations, and both sides agreed that this was the right way to go. We’re here because we truly feel like we’re coming back home.”

“I learned a lot about myself as a minister during my time in Morehead,” Lockridge continued. “I also learned a lot about what is required to lead a church. To have gained that perspective, and to be trained differently by some other folks, I think that was really important in my own development, and has helped me to be able to come back here now to lead this congregation.”

As for Lockridge’s vision for what the future at First Baptist will look like, he said, “This church really seeks to help people who need help. We try to be a good neighbor, and a good community partner. My goal is to continue to further explore that. We would like to explore, as a congregation, how to better utilize the resources that we have available to us in order to more effectively serve the community.”

In the immediate future, Lockridge said that First Baptist will continue to hold online worship services, and surveys are being sent out to church members in order to determine how the church should move ahead during this time of pandemic. “We are not rushing into resuming regular in-person gatherings,” he explained. “We don’t want to take the chance of spreading this virus right now. We want to keep people safe. There are ways that we can still worship, and still serve the community, without jeopardizing anyone’s health.”

Lockridge, his wife Maria, and their two young children, Kayden and Kinley, look forward to resuming their lives as Corbinites in the weeks, months, and hopefully years ahead. For more information on First Baptist Church, search for them on Facebook or call the office at 606-528-4738.