Trent Eastman

Trent Eastman grew up in Athena, a small farming community nestled at the base of the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. Raised in the home of a Baptist pastor, he developed an early and enduring love for the church as the people of God called together for mission in the world. During his early years, Trent worked summers on Alaska fishing boats, as a wheat and pea-field combine driver, farmhand, and house painter — a varied early life that gave him a practical, grounded sensibility he has carried into ministry ever since.

After completing his Bachelor of Science at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon in 1990, Trent responded to a call into international missions and joined Food for the Hungry International. For nearly a decade he lived and served overseas — first in Marsabit, Kenya from January 1991 to December 1994, near the Ethiopian and Somali borders, where as Program Manager he worked in community development, newly formed refugee camps, and local village water resource projects, and then in Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 1995 to January 2000, where he served as Country Director. Those ten years abroad gave him a deeply cross-cultural understanding of Scripture, suffering, and the faithfulness of God — an understanding that continues to shape his ministry today.

Returning to the United States with a clear sense of calling to pastoral ministry, Trent completed his Master of Divinity at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania in 2002, the same year he was ordained as a Baptist pastor at First Baptist Church of Pedricktown, New Jersey. He moved to Huntington, West Virginia, and in August 2002 began what would become more than two decades of pastoral ministry there. He first served Beverly Hills Baptist Church, guiding the congregation through a significant season of healing and renewal and ultimately leading a re-merger with another local Baptist congregation. Out of that reconciliation, New Baptist Church was born in 2008 — a new faith community established in the heart of East Huntington in a repurposed ice-skating rink, committed to community development and the proclamation of the gospel. Trent has served as its Lead Pastor ever since.

In 2016, Trent earned his Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, with a focus on spiritual discipleship. Since August 2006 he has served as an Adjunct Professor at Palmer Theological Seminary, teaching Introduction to the Old Testament, Introduction to New Testament Greek, Theological Field Education, and Enduring Models of Leadership in the D.Min. program. He also serves as an instructor for the School of Christian Studies and as an Executive Board Member of the West Virginia Baptist Convention, and has served for the past six years as the featured teacher for the Convention's Annual Bible Conference. He chairs the Guyandotte Baptist Association Ordination Council, serves on the West Virginia Baptist Campus Ministry Board, and mentors students in doctoral ministry programs. He is a founding board member of Faith Health Appalachia and a member of the International Society of Theta Phi, an honor society recognizing scholars and leaders in the field of religion.

Trent's preaching is expository, Christ-centered, and deeply rooted in the biblical text. He draws regularly on original languages, archaeological evidence, and primary historical sources to open the Scriptures to his congregation. His teaching has ranged from extended studies of Matthew's Gospel and the kingdom parables to a comprehensive series on the intertestamental period — tracing God's sovereign hand through the four centuries between the Old and New Testaments. He has led numerous study trips to Israel, Greece, and Turkey, and considers Holy Land travel and archaeological exploration vital tools for bringing the biblical world to life for students and congregation alike.

Theologically, Trent stands firmly in the tradition of the Protestant Reformation, embracing the Five Solas as the irreducible convictions of biblical Christianity. He believes that salvation is by Sola Gratia — grace alone; received through Sola Fide — faith alone; in the person and work of Solus Christus — Christ alone; all of it revealed through Sola Scriptura — Scripture alone; and all of it lived and proclaimed to the glory of Soli Deo Gloria — God alone. These are not merely historical slogans for Trent but the living heartbeat of his preaching, his teaching, and his pastoral vision.

In 1991, Trent married Christie Flanders of Springfield, Missouri, whom he met the previous year during a training in Alabama. Christie serves as Director of the Counseling Department at Cabell Huntington Hospital. Together they have two sons, Jacob and Joshua — both born to them while living in Dhaka, Bangladesh — and they have been doubly blessed by their daughters-in-law, Jacob's wife Hanna and Joshua's wife Anna. They recently welcomed their first grandchild, Theophilus Eastman, born to Jacob and Hanna.

Outside of ministry and the classroom, Trent is a woodworker, photographer, and creator of stained glass windows, and he enjoys exploring the beauty of West Virginia's mountains on the back of a motorcycle. Above all, he considers his greatest adventure, joy, and privilege in life to be the ongoing encounter with the beauty and holiness of God — Father, Son, and Spirit.