Bruce C. Carroll Sr. was born June 8, 1964 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is the eldest of six children born to Reverend Benjamin Carroll Sr., (deceased) and Mrs. Ruby L. Carroll.  He confessed Christ at the age of seven at First Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri under the leadership of his father, who was also his pastor.   At age fifteen, his family moved to California where Bruce graduated from Oakland High School in Oakland, California. 

After much prayer, Bruce accepted his calling to preach the Gospel in December 1990.  He preached his first sermon on May 19, 1991 at the Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. While in California, he also worked diligently in several leadership positions in the California State Baptist Youth and Young Adult Convention.  Additionally, he worked as an Executive Board Officer in the Progressive Baptist Educational District Association of Northern California.

 

In July of 1993, Pastor Carroll earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Florida Memorial College in Miami, Florida.  After completing his undergraduate course work, he obtained his Master of Divinity Degree from Morehouse School of Religion at The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia in 1997.  His primary area of concentration was Christian Education.  During his matriculation at Morehouse, he served as President of the Junior Class and President of the Morehouse School of Religion Baptist Student Fellowship. As further indication of his gifts, the Home & Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, USA, also selected Minister Carroll as a summer intern.

 

Due to his various gifts, training, and wide-ranging skill-set, Rev. Carroll has held staff positions as Youth Minister at the Church of the Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Oakland, CA and at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia. He also served as Associate Minister at True Faith Baptist Church of Oakland, California and at Trinity Baptist Church of San Mateo, California and currently at Lindsey Street Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia. His Pastoral experience includes serving as the Interim Minister of the Wesley United Methodist Church of Mansfield, Louisiana and as the Senior Pastor of the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Athens, Louisiana.

Pastor Carroll served as Minister of Christian Education at the Historic Salem Bible Church, Senior Pastors, Jasper Williams, Jr., and Joseph Williams.

For the past six years, Bruce has served as the Special Assistant to the Pastor and Director, Christian Education of the Stonewall Baptist Church of Bossier City, Louisiana. Senior Pastor, Uelyss Reed, Jr.

 

Pastor Carroll currently serves as Pastor of the Historic Antioch Baptist Church (Mother Church) Shreveport, Louisiana.

 

Pastor Carroll takes seriously the proclamation and instruction of the Word and the holistic pastoral care of persons. His ministerial gifts have allowed him to travel across the country and work with persons in various denominations while seeking to maintain a relevant and Christo-Centric approach to African American Ministry in the 21st Century. 

Pastor Carroll was published in the summer 2009 issue of The African American Pulpit, a quarterly journal that served as a repository for the very best of African American preaching and provided practical and creative resources for persons in ministry.

Pastor Carroll is married to Vickie Barber-Carroll of Atlanta, Georgia.  He has four children, Ryan, Krystal, Bruce Jr., and Victoria.

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