First Baptist Church is located at 640 Grace Ave, Panama City, FL. The megachurch is listed as the 220th largest church of the Southern Baptist Convention in the nation. The Senior pastor is Craig Conner, Associate pastors include Pastoral care minister Clyde Ellison, Music minister Ken Brookins, Minister to adults David Flatt, and Minister of community evangelism Rick McClung. Other church department heads include Brandon Phillips as Minister to students, Ty Clark as Minister to middle school, Ginger Owens as Minister of childhood education, Andy Lambert as Minister of administration, Hispanic ministry pastor Hugh Redmon, Youngstown campus pastor Joe Mclendon, and David Watson as Associate music minister and Youngstown campus youth pastor.
History
Before First Baptist Church of Panama City was built, early residents of Panama City worshipped in a one-room schoolhouse with other denominations. First Baptist Church was started in 1908, and the first pastor was H. S. Howard, who served from September 1909 until June 1911. From March 16, 1926, to November 1929, W. A. Burns served as senior pastor for the church. He moved the church from its first location to a more stately location. In July 1931, E. D. McDaniels became pastor and led the church through the days of the Great Depression; he also began to record the history of the church.
Building and facility
The church grew and finished building the sanctuary that it continued to use as of 2008. First Baptist Church also bought several properties and buildings to accommodate their ministries and mission. They constructed an educational building in the 1950s, as well as utilizing many different sanctuaries over the years. The Church purchased the town's old National Guard Armory to renovate it into the Family Life Building. When parking became a problem for churchgoers, the Church decided to construct a parking garage in 2008, making it the only Parking garage in Panama City.
Ministries and missions
First Baptist Church hosts ministries for all age groups, including a music ministry, discipleship groups, The Most Excellent Way, and FAITH evangelism training. The church also heads missions locally, nationally, and internationally, and also have a separate church service lead by Hugh Redmon for Hispanic Christians which is taught in the Spanish language. The church also broadcasts television ministries to Bay County and the surrounding areas.
