The Reverend Steven Eugene Carter serves as the Senior Pastor of the Mount Ararat Church in Brooklyn, New York, which is the church he was raised in since his early youth. He believes that Mount Ararat is a ministry called to “Love God, Love People and Impact the Community”. God’s favor has been upon the Mount Ararat Church in such a way that it has grown in excess of 1500 members, established new ministries, started a 2nd service to accommodate the growth, developed community outreach programs, and much more since his arrival in July 2004. Prior to being called as pastor, he served for three years faithfully as Pastor to Singles, College & Young Adults at Brentwood Baptist Church in Houston, Texas (www.brentwoodbaptist.org), with a membership in excess of 12,000, under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Joe Samuel Ratliff.

Pastor Carter is the only child of Mr. Eugene and Mrs. Mary Carter of Brooklyn, New York, who have retired and relocated to Littleton, North Carolina. In Brooklyn he received his elementary education at Thelma J. Hamilton School and secondary education at Thomas Jefferson High School of East New York. He further received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia and the Master of Divinity Degree in Theology from Duke University School of Divinity in Durham, North Carolina.

Since his early youth, Reverend Carter has been actively involved in leadership positions and in the work of the Church. While in high school, he served as the high school spokesperson which afforded him to appear on a national television program on two separate occasions. He also served as a leader in the Future Business Leaders of America organization. Under the pastorate of Reverend James T. Reeder (Founder of Mount Ararat), he served as the president of J.T.R Youth Choir and Baptist Youth Fellowship. Under the previous pastor, Reverend Dr. Elliott Cuff, he was licensed to preach on July 9, 1995 and ordained on April 8, 2001 prior to moving to Houston.

While at Morehouse College, he was a leader in the nationally recognized Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel Assistants, under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr. While at Morehouse, he was selected as a recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship, NAACP Scholarship and several awards that afforded him many great opportunities. While at Duke University, Reverend Carter had the opportunity to serve as resident assistant to the undergraduate students, which afforded him several opportunities to serve as a mentor to others. In addition, during his academic journey at Duke, he served as Chaplain at University of North Carolina Hospital of Chapel Hill, which is rated the #1 trauma center in North Carolina. During his time at University of North Carolina, he was able to develop pastoral care skills that will continue to assist him in caring for people in unique Christ-like ways.

Since Pastor Carter has assumed the position of the Senior Pastor of Mount Ararat, the church has experienced the presence of God in many ways. Membership has increased in excess of 1500 new members since July 2004. Many new ministries have been established, in particular, youth ministries have been established to reach the youth in the community. As a result of the growth a second worship service was added at 8:00AM, which later changed to 9:00AM to accommodate the people. However, in the past two years, the continued growth is now pushing towards a third worship service. God is doing great things through the members of the church to make a difference in the life of the community.

Among the gifts and talents that God has granted Reverend Carter, his passion has been seriously directed towards preaching. Reverend Carter has been blessed to share the gospel at several Churches around the nation, which includes, but not limited to, St. Paul’s Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York; Salem Missionary Baptist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, Brookhollow Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, Greater Christ Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan; Abysinnian Baptist Church in Harlem; The Greater Allen Cathedra AME Church of New York in Jamaica Queens; Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn; Concord Baptist Church of Brooklyn; Cornerstone Baptist Church of Brooklyn; Mount Lebanon Baptist Church of Brooklyn; Berean Baptist Church of Brooklyn; Grace Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, New York; University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill, Duke University; Durham, North Carolina and several other Churches around the nation. His gifts have also afforded him the opportunity to be the keynote speaker for the 95th NAACP National Conference and the National African-American Medical Student Conference, both of which took place in Houston, Texas. In addition to preaching in Churches, he has lectured, participated in panel discussions and delivered commencement speeches. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated.

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