Our pastor of eleven years and our dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Chris Carson, died this week from a heart attack. He was only 54. We are heartbroken. I wrote this letter for Chris in 2021 when he and his family moved from Texas to Florida. I thought I would share it now. We will always miss him.

The Privilege and Pleasure Has Been Ours

So, my family has had the privilege and pleasure to witness Pastor Chris Carson lead our church’s congregation for eleven years.  During his time at Faithbridge Presbyterian Church, Pastor Chris has been our family friend, spiritual mentor, and a brilliant preacher.  In fact, while we will miss Pastor Chris on a personal level, our entire family is also worried that we will not be able to find someone new who can preach sermons that meet the high level to which we’ve become accustomed.  

We’re going to especially miss the particular way in which Pastor Chris delivers his sermons.  Pastor Chris begins every sermon with the word “so” and then proceeds to tell a story.  Most of the time those stories are personal in nature.  They might be about his childhood as a pastor’s son, visiting St. Louis, or getting hit by a car – twice.  The stories might revolve around the way he met his wife Becky, their early life together, or his previous churches.  Or they might be more current tales, including vignettes about his three children, even if those kids are sitting in the sanctuary listening.  He creates an atmosphere that is light and communal by using humor to make the congregants laugh and smile.

And then, he ties the story he’s just told to the Biblical lesson, and he reads the day’s scripture.  Our family has a running joke about the amount of time it will take for Pastor Chris to complete the reading.  That’s because he can’t help but take several detours to tell us about the history or context of the verses or elaborate on who is speaking or explain the significance to the audience at that time.  In his next to last sermon at Faithbridge, he read the first word of the selection, “Then,” and immediately said, “let’s talk about then.”  My family couldn’t help but laugh out loud, disturbing Pastor Chris and the sermon.  Of course, with our family’s arguing and fussing, we’ve probably disrupted worship more times than Pastor Chris or the Praise Team can count.  Eventually, he will finish the reading and explain the meaning of the scripture imparting his wealth of education and depth of knowledge. 

And then, Pastor Chris pivots to the point he wants to make to his audience.  At this stage, you could hear a pin drop.  The congregation is focused and quiet.  Every single time, the silence that fills the room as he reaches the main idea is a testament to his ability to reach people.  Pastor Chris teaches, challenges, and calls us to action on a weekly basis.  He appeals to our intellect and emotion and asks us to see God in ourselves and in others.  

Pastor Chris always asks God to speak and says we are not picky about the method.  But at least for my family, we have become picky about the way we hope God will speak.  We’ve listened to God speak through Pastor Chris for years now, and we have grown spiritually and flourished because of it.  We will miss Pastor Chris, but we are forever grateful for his time with us and that because of him, we have a better understanding of who we are and of whose we are.    

Love,

The Carter Family

Ben, Tina, Riley, Jed, Clay & Alex