Bapticostal’s True Author Revealed

Bapticostal, written by Shawn Hunting, was originally published in 2018. In tandem with its title, the book shares the story of one man’s supernatural revelation of God from a previously traditional background. Shawn Hunting’s first book was also Kingdom Winds Publishing’s first printed work, arriving even before KingdomWinds.com was launched.

The only catch? Shawn Hunting wasn’t Shawn Hunting.

Shawn Hunting was actually Shannon Gibson, a Charter school founder, and administrator in the middle of a crossfire. A previous colleague was under federal and state investigation for unlawful activities. And while Gibson’s testimony was ready to be shared with the world, not every aspect of his circumstance could be revealed. what do you do when a story needs to be told, but you’re potentially liable as the storyteller? For Shannon Gibson, this meant finding a pseudonym.

At first, Gibson acknowledged that it did feel “cowardly” to publish under a name that wasn’t his. “But you always try to live with,” he said, “not necessarily is it right or wrong, but it is wise?” After consulting with two different attorneys, it was decided that the best option for his family was to use “Shawn Hunting” until the school’s affairs were settled.

Interestingly, the pseudonym came after one of his old work friends, Jonathan Edwards, changed Gibson’s name in his phone to “Shawn Hunting.” Edwards made the decision to edit his friend’s phone contact to further protect him from Charter school charges and settled on the name “Shawn Hunting, inspired by their mutual love for the sport. When the time came to brainstorm a pseudonym, Edwards shared the story and Gibson took the name in love for its comical origin.

However, while “Shawn Hunting” proved to be a temporary fit, Gibson knew from the beginning that he didn’t want to disassociate from the book any longer than he needed to. For him, it was just a matter of time before legal matters cleared. Thankfully, the investigation ended earlier this year after the alleged colleague was fined and prohibited from certain interactions with charter schools. Gibson was finally free to write publicly.

Now, you can catch the latest version of his book Bapticostal, updated with even more detail from his time at the Charter school, and republished under the name it was always intended to carry: Shannon Gibson.