He was born and raised in Camden, Alabama. In 1971 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. Baldwin studied at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School from 1971 to 1975. He received his Master of Arts degree in 1973. In 1975 he received his Master of Divinity degree in Theology. In the autumn of 1975 he entered the Ph.D. at Northwestern University. He completed his degree in 1980. In 1978 he was ordained a minister in Greenville Alabama by his father, Pastor L. V. Baldwin, Sr. On June 16, 1987, Baldwin became a deacon in the United Methodist Church.