Eight Decades of Ministry and Counting

With over eight decades of ministry experience in the Assemblies of God, Owen Carr is still preaching the gospel and serving however the Lord desires to use him.

Growing up on farms in Oklahoma and Kansas, Carr was raised to know and love God and His word. After graduating high school, Carr married the love of his life, Priscilla Seidner, and began to feel the Lord calling him into the ministry.

Unsure of where he was to serve, he asked the district superintendent of Kansas where he might be able to begin as a preacher. The superintendent said, “Let me see, what would I do if I were you but know what I know? I think I would go to Gerlane.”

Gerlane had a population of 20 and the church had only one family. “I think what he meant was that I could do no damage in Gerlane,” Carr says with a chuckle. “So that’s where I went.”

Faithfully he served the small church for one year and was then asked to go to Corwin, Kansas, where he and his wife would minister to a congregation of 25 for another year before taking a pastoral position in Pomona, Kansas, 100 miles from Topeka.

“The church in Pomona had around 30 or 40 people,” Carr says, “so we felt like we were moving up fast.”

The Carrs began to see the Lord bless their ministry at the small Pomona church and, as it began to mature and grow, the Lord led them to Iola, Kansas, where they began their first church revitalization efforts.

“We didn’t want to rebuild the church on parties and picnics, contests and gifts. We wanted to rebuild this church on the word of God,” says Carr.

With the help of an evangelist, Carr set up daily prayer meetings that ignited a move of the Spirit in the church. “We saw people getting saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and the church grew from 17 to 100,” he says. “It taught me a lot about the ministry.”

Just a few years later, Carr was elected to the Kansas district office to serve as the youth and Christian education director. This allowed Carr to begin preaching in churches across the state.

His ministry continued to grow and in 1961, Carr was asked to travel on behalf of the national youth department of the Assemblies of God and represent Speed-the-Light, only one year later to be appointed to the position of national youth director.

Carr was burdened with the youth of America and felt compelled to challenge them biblically while also growing them in their gifts and talents. This led to the foundation of Teen Bible Quiz and Teen Talent (now Fine Arts Festival), both of which are still vibrant programs within the Assemblies of God’s national youth department.

He eventually moved on and pastored other churches, including The Stone Church in Chicago, an Assemblies of God church that is 8 years older than the AG Fellowship and the church that hosted the 2nd General Council meeting of the Assemblies of God. While in Chicago, Carr also founded Channel 38 as a television station that delivered gospel presentations on air to over 10 million people across a span of 100 miles.

Carr went on to serve as the president of Valley Forge Christian College (now University of Valley Forge) and eventually returned to Springfield, Missouri, where, in his 80s, he planted a church. When Priscilla passed away in 2011, Carr married Norma Lee Shoults Fite and moved to Maranatha Village. He continues to stay active in ministry wherever and whenever he can.

At this year’s Southern Missouri Ministry Network’s conference, Carr was recognized by District Superintendent Don Miller for his eight decades of faithful ministry.

“We are privileged at our Network Conference to recognize Rev. Owen Carr who has been ordained in the Assemblies of God for 80 years. Brother Carr has greatly affected our movement and the kingdom through his years of ministry. Only eternity will reveal all the lives and churches his life has impacted,” says Miller.

Carr is celebrating his 102nd birthday this month, the same month he will return to The Stone Church to preach in the pulpit where he pastored 50 years ago. He continues to dedicate himself to studying Scripture, stating that he has read the Bible over 125 times in its entirety.

He hopes to encourage young ministers who are just stepping into their calling with his testimony. “One thing I would tell young ministers is that if you are what God wants you to be, He will teach you what he wants you to know, and help you do what He wants you to do," he states.

He points to the example of Joseph in the Bible. “Joseph never studied administration or leadership, but he walked out of a prison and became the head of a nation because he was what God wanted him to be.”

Ashley B. Grant

Ashley B. Grant has a master's degree in Human Services Marriage and Family Counseling from Liberty University and is a credentialed Christian counselor through the American Association of Christian Counselors. Grant also holds certifications in crisis pregnancy counseling and advanced life coaching. Ashley is a fourth generation Assemblies of God preacher’s kid and has one daughter and three sons.