The Reverend Dr. Gary L. Carver of Chattanooga, Tennessee, an honorably retired member of Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery, died March 21, 2023. He had suffered with kidney disease. Dr. Carver was the pastor at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee (Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery), from 2009 through his retirement in 2015. During his time with First Cumberland, he was known for his powerful messages that contained small stories. The stories quickly brought home the Biblical truths he sought to share.

A native of Alabama, Carver was a graduate of Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He also studied at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and was a Charles E. Merrill Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was ordained in the Southern Baptist Church in 1965.

Carver served in leadership roles throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Tennessee Baptist Convention, Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Hamilton County Baptist Association. He is the author of several books including Out From The Ordinary, Acting on the Absurd, Distinctively Different, Search for Serendipity, Stories that Live, and, with Tom Garrison, Living a Victorious Life. His radio and TV ministry “Gotta Minute?” ran almost continuously for more than 35 years.

Prior to serving First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Carver served First Baptist Church in downtown Chattanooga for 23 years, longer than any other pastor in the history of First Baptist. He retired from First Baptist December 21, 2008.

His wife, Sharlon Carver, survives as do three adult sons.

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