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Ed Carey: 'God Has Really Taken Us On a Ride'
By Craig Pinley
MIAMI (May 9, 2002) - It's a long way from Los Angeles where his ministry career
started, but Ed Carey likes the coast-to-coast journey on which God has
taken him.
Palmetto Covenant Church, which Carey has served the past four years as
senior pastor, is at a far different place, too. Since Carey arrived, the
congregation has grown from 60 to around 500. With 14 different
nationalities represented, it gets more different by the week. The pews are
gone. An energetic worship service is in place. But the cross remains very
visible in the building the church is now using.
Carey, whose wife, Anita, is an assistant pastor and directs the church's
preschool serving 20 children, hopes to keep it that way, even if
Palmetto's place of residence changes in the near future - the church hopes
to purchase property. "We have a vision direct from God, and it's pretty
big," Carey says.
Palmetto Covenant's diversity makes Carey's job unique compared to those of
many Covenant pastors. Many in the congregation are from Caribbean
countries and there are other Spanish-speaking people in the congregation.
An interpreter is used in the worship services.
In order to handle the rapidly growing ministry, 10 volunteer ministers
have been enlisted. They have been trained, their spiritual gifts have been
identified and they are working in specialized ministries within the
church. Some work specifically with Spanish-speaking people and a Haitian
contingent. Others work with youth and music. "They stepped up, they've
helped carry the load," Carey said of his core lay leaders. "Pastor Michael
Rose has done a great job with the youth and
Pastor Larry Walker (the pastor of worship) has been tremendous. I'm very
fortunate."
Carey carried a load of ministry experience to Miami, though there was no
deep interest as a youth. Carey had a church background, but didn't take
his faith seriously until he moved from Birmingham, Alabama, to Compton,
California, and become "a streetwise kid." Dr. Benjamin Reed, a visiting
preacher at the church the Careys were attending, challenged Carey about
his faith and eventually Carey committed his life to Christ.
"He was a streetwise preacher, he knew what was going on," Carey said. "He
saw through me right away and challenged me."
At Reed's urging, Carey began studying the Bible in earnest and became
interested in a sports ministry at the church Reed served in nearby
Inglewood. Carey, a three-sport athlete in high school, served as athletic
director for the church's sports ministry program while working full-time
as a technical illustrator at Lockheed Aircraft. Los Angeles Lakers stars
Magic Johnson, A.C. Green and James Worthy were often seen around the
church mentoring some of the teens and playing an occasional game of
basketball with them.
"The goal was to pull kids off the street away from gangs," Carey said.
"When there was a murder among the gangs, they'd have the funeral at our
church. We'd recruit kids out of both rival gangs to get them to play
together. It developed into a serious outreach ministry."
After seven years, Carey and his family left Southern California for
Georgia, where he served four years at Atlanta's Community Church of God
under pastor Rudolph Smith. There, Carey said, "Ministry took on a whole
new meaning," as he recalled his work with about 150 homeless people in a
church neighborhood program.
Carey didn't discover the Covenant church until he was a pastor for an
independent church in Atlanta. He met with Southeast Conference Supt. Kurt
Miercke, Church Growth and Evangelism Executive Director Jim Persson and
Atlanta Covenant Pastor Robert Owens, who now serves as associate
superintendent for the Southeast Conference. Owens knew Carey's brother,
Samuel, from California - the brother served a church across the street
from Carey's home in Compton. He urged Carey to serve as a Covenant pastor
in Miami, where a hurricane had recently destroyed the area around a
neighborhood church.
"When they showed me the video of Palmetto Covenant, my wife and I jumped,
- we felt God's spirit moving," Carey said. "My wife said we might be
interested in coming to Miami and after we got home, the whole thing shook
me up."
Miercke met with Carey again in Atlanta and shortly thereafter the Careys
went to Palmetto Covenant and preached during worship services. By then
Carey said, "I had fallen in love with the people. And God has really taken
us on a ride here."
To learn more about Palmetto Covenant Church and its ministries, contact
Carey by telephone at 305-238-7852 or by email at ecareyy@bellsouth.net.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
