05491
Sept. 19, 2005   

Iowan is 1st candidate for moderator

by Jerry L. Van Marter

Church (U.S.A.).

     North Central Iowa Presbytery endorsed Carson’s candidacy on Aug. 20.

     Carson, who says he is “just your average pastor, trying to faithfully lead God’s people to meet and fall in love with Jesus Christ,” has been pastor of the 196-member Conrad church since 1997. The 1987 graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary previously served a 10-year pastorate in Buffalo, MN.

     Carson, a native of Portland, OR, taught music in public school and in college beforeentering the ministry. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from CentralWashington University in Ellensburg, and has served as music director and youth director for several congregations in Oregon and Washington.

     Carson says his call to stand for moderator   “comes as a cry from my heart, a heart that yearns for our church to forcefully reclaim its voice, to focus on its calling to fulfill the Great Commandment (radically love God and neighbor) and the Great Commission (to share the good news and help others experience God’s transforming power).”

     In a posting on the Conrad church’s Web site, Carson specifically addresses the PC(USA)’s continuing membership losses. “I feel called to encourage the turn-around of membership ‘drain,’” he says. “I feel I am called to encourage and challenge every Presbyterian to ‘Each One Reach One,’ by learning how to tell our unique story of faith and then sharing that with someone else.”

     Carson has been active in the presbyteries of the Cascades, Central Washington, Whitewater Valley, Twin Cities Area and now North Central Iowa. He has been active in several community organizations and has traveled to PC(USA)-related mission stations in Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Wales, Madagascar, Thailand and Korea.