Elder Craig Carr has accepted the invitation of the Mid-America Union Conference Executive Committee to serve as the director of the union’s Ministerial department. He begins his new role on Jan. 1, 2022.
Carr, who holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and a Doctor of Ministry from Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado, has served the Washington Conference since 2017 as vice president for administration. Carr was ordained to the gospel ministry in 2003 while pastoring in the Georgia-Cumberland Conference.
“We are so blessed to have Craig Carr moving to Mid America!” said MAUC president Gary Thurber. “This is much like coming home for him and his wife, Carisa. They are both graduates of Union College, and are thankful for the excellent education they received. Craig served in the Rocky Mountain Conference for over ten years as lead pastor of the Boulder Church and then Ministerial and Church Ministries director for the conference. He comes with a wealth of experience in leadership, but most of all, he loves ministry and he’s giving his life to it.”
Carr said he is looking forward to doing everything he can to support the six conference Ministerial directors as they grow their ministry with their pastors. “I have a deep love for pastors. And I hope to support them by being a prayer partner to their directors, a sounding board, and a chief encourager in the good times and challenges that ministry brings,” he stated.
Experienced, passionate, hopeful
In addition to preaching frequently, chairing many committees and providing support to numerous departments, Carr has experience with a wide range of activities, including facilitating Restore the Joy of My Vocation seminars on emotional and spiritual maturity. Carr credits his mentors, including his dad Curtis Carr, father-in-law Gordon Retzer and friend Joe Kidder, for developing his passion for ministry.
“My earliest memories of knowing Jesus bring to mind our family singing hymns around the piano and my dad emphasizing the lyrics of the love and grace of Jesus,” Carr said. His favorite Scripture verse is Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Carr believes some of the best things about being a Seventh-day Adventist are being messengers of God’s grace to a world in need of the healing and wholeness that can only be found in Jesus Christ; the gift of salvation; Sabbath rest; and the hope of Christ’s soon return.
What gives Carr hope for the future of Adventism? He says it is “every young person who says Yes to Jesus and lives out the gospel in authentic and practical ways by serving in their community and touching the lives of others out of love for God and nothing more.”
Craig and Carisa (Retzer) have been happily married for 25 years. “Carisa is my partner in life and ministry, a master teacher, super mom, and friend to many,” added Craig. They have two children: Cassie (preschool teacher married to Blake Unsell ) and Christian (crew chief in the U.S. Air Force).
