Issue: Spring 2018 | Posted: June 1, 2018
Fred Shackelford ('99)
Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
Presented to up to three Union University graduates who are age 40 or younger with a record of significant accomplishment in professional life and service to Union University or the world.
Fred Shackelford, senior pastor at Ellendale Baptist Church in Bartlett, Tennessee, graduated form Union in 1999. He said studying at Union set him up well to continue his biblical education and ministry.
“Having a foundation in biblical studies there at Union, even including the Greek and Hebrew languages, and building on that in seminary certainly created great guidelines for me to use consistently in ministry,” Shackelford said.
Upon graduation, Shackelford served as student minister at Malesus Baptist Church in Jackson. In 2004, he took his first role as senior pastor at Spring Hill Baptist Church in Paris, Tennessee, where he served for almost 10 years before taking his current position. During that time, he earned both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He has also been active in the Tennessee Baptist Convention, serving as convention president from 2011-2012.
Shackelford said his time at Union gave him many strong, encouraging relationships that he has carried with him through his years in ministry. Most importantly, Union is where he met his wife, Jennifer, who he said serves alongside him in every ministry.
A native of Memphis, Shackelford said when he was looking for a college to attend, he had already submitted to a call to ministry, and he wanted to find a place that would foster that calling. He said Union fit the bill and provided him with an education that is rare among higher-education institutions and reflects the university’s four core values of being excellence-driven, Christ-centered, people-focused and future-directed.
“The coming together of quality liberal arts education with a Christian worldview is the most significant thing that I noticed while I was at Union,” Shackelford said. “That’s what makes Union a special place.”
