Our Leadership

Matthew Tarpley was called to be the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Lake Waccamaw in February of 2020. He and his wife, Sarah, married that July, welcomed their firstborn in 2022, and are awaiting the birth of their second child in 2025.

He received his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences from Dallas Baptist University in 2016 and his Master of Divinity in Preaching and Pastoral Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2024.

Matthew’s passion is to feed Christ’s sheep through faithful exposition, personal counseling, the development of Biblically-ordered families, and zealously evangelizing the lost. Matthew formerly practiced open-air preaching in Texas, mission work in the Himalayas, and is currently working with the Baptist State Convention of NC for the abolition of abortion. Additionally, Matthew works to turn his sermons into devotionally rich Bible Commentaries.