Mike Martin

Missions Pastor/Elder

Mike has served Eastside Baptist Church for 36 years in various responsibilities as Student Director, Children's Ministry Director and since January 2009 he has served as our Missions Pastor. Mike has a passion to help and serve others for the sake of Christ!

Mike enjoys working with mission teams to prepare them for mission trips and outreach. Mike is married to Tina and has 3 children and 11 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. He enjoys doing yard work and enjoys fishing and watching sports.

Dr. Robert Hughes

Discipleship Pastor

Rev. Dr. Robert H. Hughes (Dr. Rob Hughes) is an ordained Christian minister who believes that all human life is valuable not disposable; and is capable of being redeemed, restored, and transformed through a lifelong relationship with God by accepting Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior. While living in the New York Metropolitan area and experiencing the life-changing events of 9-11; Dr. Hughes accepted his call to ministry and began his journey towards the development of his spiritual understanding, pastoral disciplines, and organizational leadership skills. He has made a lifetime commitment to practicing his faith through the work of the Church and Christ-centered missions by investing resources in building healthy relationships and advancing economic development in local communities.

Dr. Hughes lives in Covington, GA with his beautiful wife Mrs. Nwaka M. Hughes. As a family, they believe in education and enjoy making holistic impact in communities through supporting various Christian and nonprofit organizations.

Jeff Newton

Worship Pastor

Jeff has been in church his whole life and was saved at a young age. Throughout the years, he has been involved in various ministries, such as jail outreach, Awana, Celebrate Recovery, and Tribulation Trail. Through the ministry work at Celebrate Recovery, he began leading worship about 18 years ago. Soon after, he became the worship pastor at his church and has served on staff at several other churches. 

Jeff has a passion for singing praises to the Lord and to lead others in worship. He first came to Eastside as a volunteer for Tribulation Trail, which he has been a part of for over 20 years. Jeff began as the interim worship leader at Eastside in July of 2019, before coming on staff as the worship pastor in 2021.

Jeff has been married for 31 years and has 4 children. He is an IT professional and has been employed by a local hospital for the last 25 years. His interests include computers and electronics and he enjoys playing video games in his free time. 

Zack Hinton

Student Pastor

Zack Hinton grew up at Eastside. He has grown through the Student Ministry here and now he leads it, starting in August 2021. He has a passion to see students come to know Christ and then help them to become disciples of Christ.

Jennifer Buffington

Children's Ministry Director

Jennifer grew up at Eastside Baptist Church while her father served as Senior Pastor for 17.5 years. She has returned to our church and began to lead our Children's Ministry in October 2019. Jennifer has a passion to reach, teach and train children for the Lord.

Jennifer is married to Phillip. Together they have 5 children and recently gained a wonderful son by marriage. She loves spending time with her family, reading and teaching. Her favorite place is at the beach enjoying the ocean air and the sound of the waves.