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Pastor Steven

Follow Pastor Steven on FB, IG & Twitter @StevenCarterNY BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE REVEREND STEVEN EUGENE CARTER, SR. 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 “Empower People to Live Beyond Life Limitations”. God's favor has been upon the Mount Ararat Church in such a way that it has grown in excess of 1,500 plus members to join, 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, 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 who resides in Littleton, North Carolina. In Brooklyn he received his education at Public School 190, Thelma J. Hamilton Junior High School 275, and Thomas Jefferson High School. 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. Reverend Carter, under Reverend Dr. Elliott Cuff, 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 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. During his time at the 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. 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 and internationally in Uganda. In addition to preaching in Churches, he has lectured, participated in panel discussions, and delivered commencement speeches nationally and internationally. He serves as a proud Board Member of Precious Dreams Foundation, a national organization geared towards comforting kids in foster care and homeless shelters. As someone who is committed to learning, in addition to Dr. Elliott Cuff and Dr. Joe Samuel Ratliff, he is favored to have as his close mentors Dr. Ralph Douglas West, Drs. Floyd & Elaine Flake, and Dr. A. R. Bernard. He is the proud and esteemed author of the book “Resurrection from Rejection: Healing in 7 Areas of Rejection in Your Life”, which was released June 2014. As a result of the powerful message of this book, in less than 90 days more than 3,000 copies have been purchased, he has been the guest on The Keepin It Real Rev. Al Sharpton Radio Show, featured in numerous magazines and newspapers, and was recently the Keynote Speaker at the invitation of the White House for the United States of America Annual Family & Services Department. He was selected to be featured in the January 2015 issues of Ebony Magazine which displayed an intimate interview about his life story. He is also the author of “7 Lessons from Failed Relationships”, which was published in 2021. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. Last, certainly not least, he is happily married to Mrs. Brenda Carter (they literally met as young kids in the 80's at MABCBK, not knowing....) and is the proud father to Steven Eugene Carter, Jr. (S.J.), and step-father to Sinai, Miyaike, and Mason.

Church History

Mount Ararat Baptist Church was founded November 1961 in the home of the late Sister Annie Caldwell. The Late Dr. James Thompson Reeder was the first minister to be called and voted in as the Senior Pastor. Under his leadership the church grew leaps and bounds, and after years of continued growth, leadership development, young people becoming involved and finances increasing, Mount Ararat Baptist Church purchased our present location at 425 Howard Avenue in August 1965. Dr. Reeder served as the Senior Pastor and watched the church grow for more than two decades until his retirement. Upon his retirement, Reverend Albert P. Curly served as the second Senior Pastor for one year. In 1994 after a long and prayerful search, Mount Ararat called Dr. Elliot Cuff to assume the esteemed role as the third Senior Pastor. Under his leadership many things were accomplished such as establishing the Family Life Center of Mount Ararat, Economic Development, After School Assistance Program, Computer Training, and so much more. With the help of his wife, Minister Virginia Evelyn Cuff and volunteers, Mount Ararat Family Life Center was able to provide a quality education to children in the inner-city community who would not otherwise be able to afford private training. In addition to all of the ministries, in August 1996, Dr. Cuff led a renovation of the sanctuary which resulted in various enhancements to the sanctuary and overall building. Dr. Cuff served faithfully for ten years before the Lord called him to lead another flock. The ministry was sad to see his departure, but welcomed the fourth Senior Pastor with open arms. Through support and direction of Dr. Cuff, Reverend Steven Eugene Carter, who was raised, licensed and ordained at Mount Ararat Church was called with a unamamous vote to the Senior Pastor position. July 2004 Pastor Carter assumed the position and has since, because of the foundation that was laid, taken the ministry to greater levels. Pastor Carter adopted the motto “Loving God, Loving People & Impacting the Community.” As a result of leaders and members implementing this motto, the ministry has grown in excess of 1,500 new members and still growing. In addition, many ministries have been added to meet the needs of people in and outside of the church. Mount Ararat Church has also added additional services to accommodate the crowd who gathers on Sunday mornings for wonderful worship experiences. Under the leadership of Pastor Carter, many things such as Development of Youth Choir, Establishing Involvement with Brooklyn Congregations Together, Young Adult Ministries, Involvement with Local Officials, GED Revised Program, Touro College Campus on site, Community Karate Youth Program, Enhancement of the Community and so many other implementations that have proven well for the church and the community. In addition, Pastor Carter started a two year campaign known as Renovation 24 for the overall renovation of the church. Renovation 24 has resulted in a complete overhaul renovation of the church sanctuary, which is now fully advanced in areas of technology. While undergoing this renovation, we held our worship services across the street in the auditorium of Public School 12. In addition to the sanctuary, the lower level restrooms were renovated as well as the fellowship hall fully renovated and renamed The James T. Reeder Fellowship Hall. As a result of all of these new improvements and programs, Pastor Carter was led to change the vision of the church to "Empowering People to Live Beyond Life Limitations", which is inspired from John 10:10 that says, "The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy; but I come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly." We look forward to having many more years of impacting and changing lives through the glory of God. If you are looking for a place where love is expressed, forgiveness is felt, compassion is real and the presence is God is alive, we invite you to visit the Mount Ararat Church on any given Sunday in person or online.

Mission & Vision

We are committed to Empowering People to Live Beyond Life Limitations. We take it from John 10:10 that says "The devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy; but I (Jesus) come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. We believe that it is our assignment to use the gospel of Jesus Christ to help people rise above any limitations in life. We seek to accomplish this by Loving God, Loving People, and Impacting Our Community.