|
|
 Bishop & Mrs. Kenneth W. Carter |
|
Mobile, Ala. July 2, 2010: During Friday’s evening session of the 37th General Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention in Mobile, Alabama, the Episcopal Standing Committee recommended an assignment of Bishop Kenneth W. Carter to the Sixth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The report was sustained and immediately the leadership torch passed. Georgia now has a new Presiding Prelate.
Carter, a native of Corinth, Mississippi, is the 55th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. His election in 2006 culminated a well-documented history of service in the church. At the age of 16, Bishop Carter was appointed pastor of Jones Chapel C.M.E. Church in Iuka, Mississippi. During his extensive itinerant ministry, he served congregations in Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Texas. He also served as presiding elder in the Greenwood-Jackson and Columbus-Meridian Districts.
Bishop Carter earned the B.S. degree from the University of Mississippi; the Master of Music Education degree from Delta State University; the M.Div. degree from Howard University; and the D.Min. from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
At the time of his election as bishop, he was pastor of the Carter Metropolitan C.M.E. Church in Fort Worth, Texas, where he served for ten years. During his tenure there, he distinguished himself as a caring, inspirational servant-leader, visionary, and advocate for the dispossessed.
As the former presiding prelate of the Tenth Episcopal District, Bishop Carter worked tirelessly to bring the ‘ripened harvest’ – particularly in Africa. The Tenth Episcopal District has grown from 5 countries to 23 countries; from 325 congregations to 1,800 congregations. Under his careful nurturing, the work in Africa now includes the nations of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, the Sudan, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Togo, and Uganda. The work in the original countries of Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia continues to flourish.
Bishop Carter has continued the work in Jamaica and in Haiti. The major foci of the work there include general and Christian education and support of orphans. Haiti has experienced two major catastrophes since Bishop Carter became presiding prelate. He responded to the challenges with compassion, dignity, vision, and action. The General Conference Episcopacy Standing Committee also recommended that the Sixth Episcopal District be expanded to include Haiti. The General Conference agreed and now Georgia and Haiti will be united in Christian service and mission.
As the former Chair of the Commission on Life and Witness, Bishop Cater was instrumental in developing the teaching documents, The Ships That Sail from Good to Great. This teaching material has set a course for new dimensions of growth related to ministry (in all its forms), worship, discipleship, leadership, and stewardship in the C.M.E. Church.
Bishop Carter is married to Rosia Carter. They have two children, Jill Lynette and Stacy Marie (Peter). He is the author of Stewardship: A Journey, Bless Me Big Time, Thirty-One Days Without Stewardship Makes One Miserable, and I Can Feel the Drums Beating In My Veins: Celebrating Fifty Years in Ministry and Missions.
|
|