Sunday, August 12, 2001
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Sunday, August 12, 2001 |
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Carrier retiring from pastorate
45 years of ministry comes to a close Aug. 19
The congregation of Christ's Church at Whitewater (Kenwood Christian Church) will celebrate the life and ministry of its senior pastor, Paul Carrier, Aug. 19 as he retires from full-time pastoral ministry after 45 years. Carrier, 65, felt that the timing was right for his retirement at this time since "the church needs to enter into an intense period of goal setting, achievement and intentional evangelism" in addition to entering into another building program. He served as supply preacher at Kenwood Christian Church until the spring of 1984, when he was called to be the senior pastor. At the time, he was president of Atlanta Christian College. During his six-year tenure at the college, he traveled and spoke extensively, setting the college on pace toward regional accreditation, as well as tripling the size of the library holdings, sending professors back for their doctorates, bringing in good Christian businessmen as trustees and improving the overall administrative aspects of the college. Carrier states that although he enjoyed his role as president of the college, he was anxious to reenter full-time pastoral ministry. The enthusiasm of the nucleus of the church and its willingness to try new things, as well as its desire to change and not be a traditional church, were what attracted him to Kenwood. When Carrier began his career at Kenwood, the six-month-old congregation of 60 members was meeting in Tri-City Realty's sign shop. The church continued to expand under his direction and leadership. Carrier has helped oversee the church's growth from its worship facilities in the sign shop and on Ga. Highway 279 in Fayetteville to its current worship center in south Fayette County, where the congregation has been worshipping since June of 1994. Carrier is a native of Hammond, Indiana, where his father served as senior minister at Hessville Christian Church for more than 30 years. He graduated from Minnesota Bible College and Lincoln Christian Seminary. He and his wife Donna have been married for 45 years. They have three children and six grandchildren. He has also served as associate minister at Forest Lake Church of Christ in White Bear Lake, Minn., and at South Louisville Christian Church in Kentucky; as senior minister at First Christian Church in Lansing, Ill., First Christian Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., and Spring Branch Christian Church in Houston, Tex., before becoming president of Atlanta Christian College in 1978. Throughout his ministry, he has served on numerous college and executive boards including the North American Christian Convention. He has spoken at numerous revivals, seminars, retreats and graduations. As he retires from full-time pastoral ministry, Carrier hopes his congregation remembers that he was authentic in teaching the Bible, was a person of integrity, and that he truly loved people. Although he has no immediate ministerial plans, he does envision himself assisting churches who are in need of a short-term pastor. He states that he has always been effective at ministering to churches who are divided and in need of healing and who need to become united again so that good things can happen.
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