wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] 1st candidate for moderator says he's 'just your

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8911 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05491
Sept. 19, 2005

Iowa pastor is 1st candidate for moderator 

Kerry Carson says he's 'just your average pastor'

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - The Rev. Kerry Carson, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church
of Conrad, IA, has become the first candidate in the race for moderator of
the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian 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 before entering the ministry. He has bachelor's and master's
degrees in music from Central Washington 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.

	Carson, who is in his early 50s, is married to Marijke Elrod Carson.
They have two children: a daughter, Leigh, 11, and a son, Drew, 6.

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